Answer
When you clone a record from the Salesforce UI, the cloned record inherits the values from the source record. Therefore, the custom field in the new (cloned) record will have the same value as it had on the original record — not the field’s defined default value.
Why this happens
Default values defined on a field are applied only when creating a new record via the standard New page (or via API when no value is provided). The Clone action is not treated as a fresh “New” operation: it pre-populates the create form with the source record’s existing values. Because the clone operation copies existing values, the field’s configured default value is ignored during cloning.
Practical scenarios
– If the source record has a value for the custom field, the cloned record will show that same value.
– If the source record’s field is blank (null), the cloned record will also have the field blank — the default won’t be applied.
How to enforce a default value on clone (options)
If you need the default value to apply when cloning, consider one of these approaches:
- Use a before-insert Apex trigger or a Flow (Record-Triggered Flow on create) to set the field value when certain conditions are met (e.g., detect cloning logic or when the field is null).
- Create a custom Clone button (Lightning Component or Quick Action) that calls Apex to duplicate the record while explicitly setting the desired default on the new record before insert.
- Use a Process Builder/Flow to populate the field after insert if it was created by cloning and the field is empty.
Notes & tips
– Formula fields and auto-calculated fields behave differently — they compute values dynamically and are not impacted by field default settings.
– Cloning via UI is different from creating a new record via the New button or from API calls; test each scenario if your business logic depends on default values.
Short summary
Cloning copies values from the original, so the cloned record will retain the source value (or null) for the custom field — the field’s configured default value will not be applied during a clone.