Common reasons you can’t find your object
So you just finished building a new data structure, but when you go to create a Salesforce custom object report, the object is missing from the list. It’s one of those “scratch your head” moments that happens to the best of us. Don’t worry, you haven’t lost your mind and the object hasn’t vanished into thin air.
Usually, this comes down to a few small settings that are easy to overlook when you’re in the middle of a big project. Let’s walk through the most likely causes so you can get your data showing up where it belongs. The short answer? It’s almost always a checkbox or a permission issue.
The “Allow Reports” checkbox
This is probably the most overlooked feature when people are first starting out. When you create a custom object, there’s an “Optional Features” section. Inside that section, you’ll see a checkbox for “Allow Reports”. If you didn’t check this, the object won’t even try to show up in the report builder.
I’ve seen teams spend hours debugging complex sharing rules only to find out they just forgot this one click. To fix it, go to the Object Manager, find your object, hit Edit, and look for that checkbox. Once you save it, Salesforce starts building the underlying connections needed for reporting.
Deployment status
Here’s the thing: if your object is still marked as “In Development”, it’s basically invisible to anyone who isn’t a System Admin. This is meant to keep users from seeing half-baked features, but it often trips people up during testing. If you want everyone to be able to start a Salesforce custom object report, you need to flip that status to “Deployed”.
You can find this right under the general settings of your object in the Object Manager. Just change the radio button and hit save. It’s a quick fix that solves the “I see it but my users don’t” problem instantly.
Troubleshooting your Salesforce custom object report visibility
If you’ve checked the basic object settings and things still aren’t working, we need to look at how users are trying to access the data. Salesforce is very strict about what it shows in the report builder. If a user doesn’t have the right access, the object won’t even appear as an option for them.
Profile and permission set issues
Salesforce only shows objects that the specific user has “Read” access to. If you’re an admin, you see everything, so it’s easy to assume it’s working for everyone else. But if a user’s profile doesn’t have that “Read” permission checked, the object stays hidden in the report selector. You might want to brush up on Salesforce roles vs profiles to make sure your security model is tight but functional.
Pro tip: Always log in as a test user when you’re checking report visibility. What you see as an admin is never the full story when it comes to end-user experience.
Custom report types
Sometimes the standard report type that Salesforce creates isn’t enough. If you’re trying to report on your custom object alongside other related objects, you might need to build a custom report type manually. This is common when you need to show “Accounts with [Your Custom Object]” or other complex relationships. For a deeper look at this, check out this guide on Salesforce report types: Standard vs custom explained.
Go to Setup, search for Report Types, and create a new one. Make sure you set the status to “Deployed” there as well, or you’ll run into the same visibility issues we talked about earlier. Now, your Salesforce custom object report will finally have the fields and relationships you actually need.
External and Big Objects
If you’re working with External Objects (via Salesforce Connect) or Big Objects, the rules change a bit. These don’t always support standard reporting right out of the box. You’ll need to double-check the specific documentation for those object types because they have a lot of “gotchas” that can prevent them from showing up in the standard builder.
Key Takeaways
- Always verify that “Allow Reports” is checked in the object’s optional features.
- Make sure the object status is set to “Deployed” so it’s visible to non-admins.
- Check that users have at least “Read” access via their Profile or a Permission Set.
- Build a custom report type if the standard one doesn’t meet your needs or isn’t appearing.
- Remember that External and Big Objects have their own set of reporting limitations.
Fixing a missing Salesforce custom object report usually takes less than five minutes once you know where to look. Start with the “Allow Reports” checkbox and the “Deployed” status, as those cover about 90% of the cases I run into. If those are fine, move on to permissions and custom report types. You’ll have those reports running in no time.