Validation Rules Trigger on Untouched Fields

Validation Rules Trigger on Untouched Fields

In Zoho Desk, validation rules trigger for ALL fields during an update—even fields that weren't modified in the current edit. This behavior is fundamentally different from Zoho CRM and other Zoho products, where validation rules only apply to fields actually being changed during an update.

This creates several significant problems:

  1. Impossible to implement certain business logic: We can't create rules that only apply to new data entry without breaking existing records.
  2. Blocks simple updates: Users attempting to update one field are blocked by validation errors on completely unrelated fields they didn't even touch.
  3. Forces unnecessary data cleanup: Having to update historical records to comply with new validation rules that weren't in place when those records were created.

Example Scenario

We recently added a validation rule for Field A. Now, when agents try to update any other field on old tickets, they're blocked by validation errors on Field A—even though they never intended to modify Field A and it's been in that state for months!

Requested Fix

Please update Zoho Desk validation rules to only validate fields that are actually being modified in the current update—consistent with how validation works in other Zoho products like CRM.

Has anyone else encountered this issue or found workarounds? Is this behavior intentional or a design oversight?

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