The quick version: a related list is configured on the page layout, through the small wrench icon on the list itself, and that is where you set the columns, the sort and the buttons. The limits people run into are the column cap, the fact that sorting is a single field, and a handful of standard related lists that render through their own components and ignore most of what you configure. Dynamic Related Lists in the Lightning App Builder are the escape hatch for the rest.
Configuring the columns
Edit the page layout, hover over the related list, click the wrench. You get a dialog with available fields on the left and selected fields on the right, plus a sort field and direction.
There is a cap on how many columns a related list can display, and it is low enough that you will hit it on any object anyone cares about. Choose deliberately. The useful columns are the ones that let a user decide whether to open the record: a name, a status, a date, an amount.
Sorting is one field, ascending or descending, and only certain field types are offered. Long text, multi-select picklists and some formula outputs are not sortable and simply do not appear in the sort dropdown.
The dialog can apply your column selection to other layouts containing the same related list. That is the only bulk edit you get, so use it.
Buttons and related list quick actions
The same dialog has a Buttons section. Standard buttons such as New can be switched off there, which is how you stop users creating child records directly when they are supposed to go through a guided process.
Quick actions defined on the child object can be surfaced on the parent’s related list, which gives you a button that creates a child record with fields pre-filled from the parent and a cut-down create screen rather than the full layout. This is the single most useful thing in related list configuration and the least used. A “Log Site Visit” action on a related list beats a New button plus a validation rule every time.
Custom buttons defined on the child object appear in the same section. JavaScript buttons do not work in Lightning at all, so anything inherited from an old org needs rebuilding as an action or a screen flow.
The ones you cannot customise
Several related lists have their own rendering and ignore most of the layout configuration:
- Activities, both open and completed. Column choice is constrained and the display is driven by the activities components rather than the generic related list.
- Files and Notes. These are attachments to the record through a junction rather than an ordinary child relationship, and the components have their own fixed presentation.
- Approval History. Fixed columns showing the step, the actor and the date.
- Chatter, which is not a related list at all despite sitting in the same visual stack.
Dynamic Related Lists
The Lightning App Builder offers a related list component that can be filtered and configured on the page rather than on the layout. That buys you two things layouts never gave you: a filter, so you can show only open cases rather than all of them, and per-page configuration, so different Lightning pages can show the same relationship differently without cloning a layout.
The trade is that configuration now lives in two places. A team maintaining columns on the layout will be baffled when the page ignores them. Pick one approach per object and write down which.
Why a related list is missing
Run through these before assuming a bug:
- It is not on the layout. Related lists for lookup relationships are available but not added automatically.
- The child lookup field has the related list name suppressed, which is a setting on the field.
- The user lacks read access to the child object, so the list is gone entirely rather than empty.
- The Lightning page uses individual Related List Single components and nobody added this one.
- The list is there and empty, because sharing returns no child records for this user.
Frequently asked
How many records does a related list show before View All? A small number by default, with a setting on the component to show more. Pushing it up hurts page load, so leave it low and let people click through.
Can I sort a related list by two fields? No. One field, one direction. If the ordering genuinely matters, a formula field that concatenates the sort keys is the usual workaround.
Can a related list show grandchild records? Not directly. A related list shows direct children only, so reaching further means a report chart on the page or a custom component.
