Enhancement in Zoho CRM: Introducing New Return Types for String Fields Based on Character Length

Dear Customers,

We hope you’re well!

In Zoho CRM, formula field with string return type is used in various scenarios where text is involved like concatenating customers’ first and last names, trimming characters from texts, performing find and replace in a description field, or converting upper and lower cases interchangeably.

This enhances CRM usability and provides convenience when selecting desired data from places like module views, advanced filters, or as part of criteria. However, when working with large datasets, participation of string type formula fields resulted in values with varying character lengths, thereby hampering the performance and the flow of operations.

How did we fix it?

To curb this lag and offer flexibility, we are classifying the string type into small, medium, and large.

Like the multiline fields, the string data type is now split into String-small, String - Medium, and String -Large with their own limits.

Here are the limits and limitations for your reference:

Note: If the result of the string-based formula exceeds the character length, then the values will be truncated at the end.

How are we going about it?

This splitting of return type has the potential to alter the existing formulas and could affect the accuracy of the results. Hence, we are giving control in the hands of your admins. On the module customization page, we are displaying a informative strip where you can map the existing formula fields with these split types.

For existing formula fields with return type as string, we’d collate them and map existing fields with the respective string type based on the expressions used.

Admins can validate, verify, and change or confirm the mapped values.

You can view in which layouts these fields are used and take a look at the expressions.

Implications:

The last date to complete this mapping activity is May 31st, 2026 and until then, you can save the mapped values as drafts for continued review. The deadline is subject to change based on various internal and external factors.
Field mapping will move the existing non-limited string type to the mapped string type and the action is not reversible. Like the existing behavior, you will not be allowed to edit the return type after the formula has been published.
If you map a field with lengthy characters with string small or medium, then the values will be truncated at the end to the respective limits in places they are used.
If you have used a large string type in custom view, cloning of the view will remove the existing formula from the criteria parameters.
The split applies the same for Sandboxes created in your CRM organization. You can map the fields with the split type and deploy.

Exceptions:

We will retain the historical formula executions. We will not truncate the previously rendered results. The act of truncation will be applied only for those incoming data processed after the release of this split.
As custom views apply for an entire organization, we will not alter the existing criteria built using string type formula, even if they are mapped as string type-Large.The execution will perform as intended. This exception is not applicable for large string fields used in saved filters, as saved filters are user-specific.

You can edit and save the criteria built using the unsupported field type. However, creating a new one is restricted.

That’s all about this split. We have enabled this split for organizations in Professional edition in all DCs. For organizations subscribed to Enterprise, Ultimate, Zoho One, and CRM Plus, we are doing a phased release We will keep you updated upon completing the release.

That’s all for today! We hope this will bring flexibility in your operations. We will see you soon with yet another useful enhancement. Until then, Buh-bye!

Thanks and have a good one!

Kind regards,
Saranya Balasubramanian
CRM Marketing