Introducing the locking option for CRM records

Introducing the locking option for CRM records

Last modified on 06/04/2023: Record locking option in CRM is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all DCs. Note that it was an early access feature available only upon request. 

Hello All,

Hope you're doing well!

We're thrilled to introduce our latest enhancement to CRM—record locking. 

Certain business scenarios demand that records in your organization's modules be safe from editing or deletion once they reach a certain stage in your sales process or satisfy specific conditions.

For example, if a deal has reached the final stage—"closed won" or "closed lost"—then perhaps it shouldn't be further edited or deleted.

Alternatively, let's say a record is in its proposal or review stage. During such a stage, the details of the record need to be verified, and even though a sales rep may be the record's owner, you can't allow them to update the record while the review is ongoing.

There might also be situations where the record doesn't match certain criteria, but the user dealing with the record might want to lock the record to avoid changes. For example, when a sales rep is in touch with a prospect, they may want to temporarily lock the record while prospecting is in progress to prevent other reps from adding incorrect information to the record.

Zoho CRM's record-locking feature enables you to lock records manually or automatically when certain conditions are met.

NOTE (added on 02/03/23): The locking configuration must be set up separately for each module. You can navigate to the specific module in Modules and Fields under Customization in your setup page, and you will find the Record Locking Configuration tab.

Record locking configurations
Now that we've established why locking records can be useful or necessary, let's take a quick look at the different configuration options available:

  • Users can lock records manually from the record details page if they have lock permissions.


  • You can set up automatic locking by setting some default criteria. Create conditions, name them, and decide whether to apply the conditions and lock existing records, or to restrict the conditions only for newly created records.

  • There might be scenarios where, say, you want members of the accounts team to be able to edit quotes, but not other profiles. You can simply lock the records for all profiles except those belonging to members of the accounts team, any other set of exceptions using the multi-select menu. Additionally, you can also choose to lock records for all profiles.

  • You can lock the records that are accessible to your portal users.
  • For locked records, the edit action is disabled by default, but you can restrict other types of native actions, as well as custom buttons.

  • Even when a record is locked, you can configure certain fields which don't affect your business process to remain editable. For example, you might want the Description or comment fields to remain editable. You can leave a maximum of 15 fields unlocked. 

What happens when a record is locked?

Once a record is locked, you will see the lock icon on the record image and in the UI of the record detail page itself. Only fields you've enabled will be available to edit.



The details of the locking, such as the reason (i.e., the locking condition), locking date, and the fields available for edit will be shown on the details button available on the record detail page.

In the record's timeline, you can also see timestamped details like when the record was locked and the condition that was followed.

On the record list view, locked records are indicated by a lock icon.

Additionally, you can filter records in the list view based on the pre-defined filter option, as well as based on the system-defined custom view.

Who can unlock records and how is it done?

If a user locks a record manually, they can unlock it themselves. Admins can unlock records, too. On the other hand, automatically locked records will be unlocked only when they're no longer subject to the lock conditions or criteria.

However, deleting a rule or locking configuration will automatically unlock all records the rule or condition had previously locked.

Additional notes
  • Set up to five rules per module. Each rule will have a name that is displayed on the record detail page when a record is locked.
  • System actions like automation and integration syncs will still be performed on locked records, even when a user who is excluded from locking triggers those processes.
  • Locked records are still displayed in list views. However, bulk actions done from list views are not allowed if the respective action is restricted under the record locking configuration.
  • Record locking configuration is available for enterprise and ultimate editions of Zoho CRM. If an user downgrades from enterprise edition, locking configurations will be ineffective and all records will be unlocked.
Locked status can not be regained upon upgrading back.

That's all for this exciting new enhancement. Read more about the record locking configurations and its usage in our help doc.

Thanks and have a good one!


Note: 
  • Manual locking/unlocking of records is not available for the mobile app as yet. 
  • Auto-locking of records will get reflected on the mobile app, and locked records cannot be updated from mobile app also.
  • The locking configuration must be set up separately for each module.


    Access your files securely from anywhere

          All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                                Zoho Developer Community




                                                      • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                      • Digest


                                                      • Functions


                                                      • Meetups


                                                      • Kbase


                                                      • Resources


                                                      • Glossary


                                                      • Desk Marketplace


                                                      • MVP Corner


                                                      • Word of the Day


                                                      • Ask the Experts





                                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                                      Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                            Zoho Books Resources


                                                                              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                                Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                    Qntrl Resources


                                                                                      Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                          Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                            CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                          • Kaizen

                                                                                            Kaizen

                                                                                          • Functions

                                                                                            Functions

                                                                                          • Meetups

                                                                                            Meetups

                                                                                          • Kbase

                                                                                            Kbase

                                                                                          • Resources

                                                                                            Resources

                                                                                          • Digest

                                                                                            Digest

                                                                                          • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                            CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          • MVP Corner

                                                                                            MVP Corner









                                                                                              Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                              Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                              Get Started Now


                                                                                                Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                  Zoho Writer

                                                                                                  Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                  Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                    Zoho CRM コンテンツ





                                                                                                      Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                          ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                  • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                  • How to set default reply email address depending on receipt email address

                                                                                                                    Hi, I have a number of different customer support email addresses (info@XYZ.com, retuns@XYZ.com etc.) and want to set Zoho Desk so that the email address from which an agent replies is automatically defaulted to a predetermined address depending to which
                                                                                                                  • Writer is horrible

                                                                                                                    Form filling is about unusable for complex forms! I am so tired of it.
                                                                                                                  • How to Migrate from MDaemon to Zoho Mail Account?

                                                                                                                    Hi there, Zoho Mail is one of the most popular as well as leading competitor for several cloud email service providers. It is It provide cloud email service as well as desktop based email client. In recent years people are migrating from third party cloud servers to Zoho Mail. The reasons are plenty, i.e. the user interface, security, high performance and many countless amazing features. On the other hand MDaemon Mail (aka WorldClient) is also popular among cloud email servers. But there are some
                                                                                                                  • Trigger workflows from SLA escalations in Zoho Desk?

                                                                                                                    Hey everyone, I’m currently working with SLA escalation rules in Zoho Desk and ran into a limitation that I’m hoping someone here has solved more elegantly. As far as I can tell, SLA escalations only support fairly limited actions (like changing the ticket
                                                                                                                  • CRM Portal Lookup Linkage and Related Fields

                                                                                                                    hi, if someone can give me the right path, would be greatly appreciated. we want to do a customer portal for our partners who we issue work orders for our customers, the linkage via lookup fields Partner -> Work Order -> Customer in our portal, the primary
                                                                                                                  • HOW TO: Searching a thread (email body/text) with a custom function, allowing filtering and specific actions

                                                                                                                    We are still trialing out Zoho at this time, but have found a major expected feature to be missing - the ability to search within the text of an email for automation/workflows. NOTE: You need to create a connection for zohodesk under settings -> Developer
                                                                                                                  • Cold emails not allowed?

                                                                                                                    I planned to use Zoho Mail to send businesses some cold emails to offer my freelance writing services, but I noticed that the anti-spam policy is very strict -- no commercial emails whatsoever without prior permission from the recipient? I would be very
                                                                                                                  • Leave Time - Past Dates by Pay Period

                                                                                                                    Under Settings | Leave Policy | [policy name] | Restrictions, one can set a number of days that an employee can go back to apply leave. This is very good and very needed. However, in most organizations, the real deadline isn't X number of days from the
                                                                                                                  • Link webform to a job opening

                                                                                                                    I have a webfrm embeded on my website and everytime a candidates fill the form, their candidate status is to new. Is it possible that it links to a specific job opening instead of me having to assing it manually ? Thanks
                                                                                                                  • New in WorkDrive: Organize your storage using Data Templates

                                                                                                                    Organizations generate huge volumes of data day in and out. From financial reports, client details, and resumes to promotional images, product videos, and more. The list is endless. When you have so much data to manage, you need to classify your documents and structure them in a way that makes them more accessible.  This is exactly what WorkDrive's Data Templates lets you do! You can create Data Templates, add meta data as custom fields, and associate those fields with files and folders based on
                                                                                                                  • Need Native Support for docx files in Zoho Writer

                                                                                                                    Absolutely love Zoho Writer, but often need to share files by email with people who are in the Office ecosystem. Downloading a file as docx, then sending it by email, getting the comments back, converting it to Zoho format, editing it, then converting
                                                                                                                  • Mirror Component in Zoho CRM: Access real-time related data without leaving your record

                                                                                                                    Hi everyone, This feature is now available for the JP, CA, SA, UAE, and AU DCs. We're excited to bring to you Zoho CRM's mirror component, which presents relevant data on a record's details page and keeps everything users need in one place without having
                                                                                                                  • Associate records via the Multi-select lookup RELATED LIST via API

                                                                                                                    In the REST API, is there a way to associate records for a multi-select lookup related list other than via the linking module? There are two methods for the lookup: 1. via insert records API 2. via the linking module ...as described in https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/kaizen-125-manipulating-multi-select-lookup-fields-mxn-using-zoho-crm-apis
                                                                                                                  • What's New - May 2026 | Zoho Backstage

                                                                                                                    Another month, another round of improvements in Zoho Backstage. We’ve been busy refining existing experiences and introducing new capabilities to help you plan, manage, and deliver successful events with less effort. Here’s a quick look at everything
                                                                                                                  • Product sorting in Zoho Commerce - how can I influence standard behaviour?

                                                                                                                    Hello Zoho, I want to sort my products by e.g. name, SKU (Ascending / Descending) or by another attribute. I could neither find any solution in the settings, nor an entry in this help. Can you advice how this would work? Seems the standard sorting is
                                                                                                                  • Dynamically prefill ticket fields

                                                                                                                    Hello, I am using Zoho Desk to collect tickets of our clients about orders they placed on our website. I would like to be able to prefill two tickets fields dynamically, in this case a readonly field for the order id, and a hidden field for the seller
                                                                                                                  • Price Managment

                                                                                                                    I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just
                                                                                                                  • Workflow Assistance in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                    Our client's sales team visits customers on-site and currently fills a physical paper form to capture customer details, and then separately re-enters the same data into Zoho CRM via the mobile app — resulting in double data entry. We want the salesperson
                                                                                                                  • Delivery Note without services

                                                                                                                    Hi all, It there a possibility to create a delivery note from an invoice without the listed services "idem type: service"? Thank you in advance, Michel
                                                                                                                  • Automation Series: Auto-assign Task Followers

                                                                                                                    As task progresses, several users are required to stay aware of the updates to plan their upcoming work items efficiently. Manually adding users as followers for an active task might create additional overhead. With this automation, followers can be added
                                                                                                                  • Send Email Directly to Channel

                                                                                                                    Hi, We are coming from Slack. In Slack each channel has a unique Email address that you can send emails too. I currently forward a specific type of email from my Gmail InBox directly do this channel for Verification Codes so my team doesn't have to ask
                                                                                                                  • Terms & Conditions

                                                                                                                    I have defined Terms & Conditions in the invoice setting and have set %TermsAndCondition% where I want it to appear but nothing shows up in that area. Is this something we have to define per invoice or can we have a global variable?
                                                                                                                  • Billing Status Update

                                                                                                                    Hello Latha, I’m working on a new automation (deluge) to fulfill one of our requirements. In this automation, there is a step to update the Work Order billing status from “Not Yet Invoiced” to “Non-Billable.” I tried to find the API information relevant
                                                                                                                  • Export to pdf. Images not showing

                                                                                                                    My report contains a column with images. When I export it as a list, the images do not show in the PDF document. I have published the report but the images are still not visible. What should I do so that the photos appear in the export?
                                                                                                                  • Zoho CRM Kiosk question – Passing Screen Fields to a Function

                                                                                                                    I am building a Kiosk in Zoho CRM to create new Supplier (Vendors) records. Current setup: Screen 1 contains user input fields: Supplier Name (Vendor_Name) First Name (First_Name) I created a Deluge function: createSupplier(vendor_name, first_name) The
                                                                                                                  • パスワード

                                                                                                                    ログインするためのパスワード取得したい。
                                                                                                                  • Associate Zoho Project with Deal that is in a specific stage?

                                                                                                                    Hi there, When a deal hits a certain stage, I'd like to associate it with an pre-exisiting zoho project? I am using blueprints. Using a custom function and deluge, how could I do this? I was thinking that the easiest option would be the modify the pre-made
                                                                                                                  • [Product Update] Locations module migration in Zoho Books integration with Zoho Analytics

                                                                                                                    Dear Customers, As Zoho Books are starting to support an advance version of the Branches/Warehouses module called the Locations module, users who choose to migrate to the Locations module in Zoho Books will also be migrated in Zoho Analytics-Zoho Books
                                                                                                                  • Canvases Auto-Skewing/Adding Scroll Bars When They Were Not There Prior

                                                                                                                    Is anyone else noticing rendering issues in their canvases today? It seems to be mainly icons which now have scroll bars added which makes them all look off, though some fields seemed to revert to squished length as well. Were the icons replaced with
                                                                                                                  • New UI for Writer - Disappointed

                                                                                                                    I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think this
                                                                                                                  • Client Script Button in Related List become invalid

                                                                                                                    Hi, I am the admin of our organization. And I setup a client script button in related list to raise payment refund request While this button become non selectable recently. I believe there is something wrong from zoho as this button had run for a year.
                                                                                                                  • SMTP outgoing problem

                                                                                                                    Hello I have a website where the SMTP email is connected through Zoho Mail SMTP. Today I am no longer receiving emails from the website. Joomla shows that the email was sent successfully, but I do not receive it.
                                                                                                                  • Fiscal year setting

                                                                                                                    Hi, I am looking into using Zoho Books. I cannot understand the organisation fiscal year setting. Our fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March. In the organisation profile, I need to set Fiscal Year to “April to March” and Start Date to “2” for the period
                                                                                                                  • Issue with payments on invoices

                                                                                                                    Hello, I’m having the following issue. When I create an invoice and try to apply a partial payment in a single transaction, the system does not allow it — it only allows full payment. Is this the expected behavior, or am I missing some configuration?
                                                                                                                  • auto add as member the contact owner

                                                                                                                    is there a way that i can make a zoho flow that will add the owner of the contact as a member of the chat after the round robin assignment?
                                                                                                                  • Welcome to Zoho CommunitySpaces

                                                                                                                    Hello everyone, This is your space to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with others building and growing their own communities. For those new here, Zoho CommunitySpaces is a platform for building and managing online communities—from discussion spaces
                                                                                                                  • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.20.4.0)

                                                                                                                    Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with some new features to elevate your work experience. Let's take a quick look at what's new. Export emails. You can now export emails in the .eml file format as compressed zipped files to create a secure
                                                                                                                  • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v1.14.5.0)

                                                                                                                    Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with new features to elevate your workplace productivity. Let's take a quick look at what's new. Add and edit contacts Previously, you could view all of your personal and organizational contacts in Trident.
                                                                                                                  • Announcing Trident desktop app for Zoho Mail & Zoho Workplace users

                                                                                                                    Hello Community, I hope you are doing well and staying safe. As you know, our Mail & workplace teams have been constantly working on adding more value to our offerings to ensure you and your organization continue enjoying your Zoho experience. As part
                                                                                                                  • Quick way to add a field in Chat Window

                                                                                                                    I want to add Company Field in chat window to lessen the irrelevant users in sending chat and set them in mind that we are dealing with companies. I request that it will be as easy as possible like just ticking it then typing the label then connecting
                                                                                                                  • Next Page