Salesforce Platform Developer Practice Exam

What happens to a user's ability to edit records when OWDs are set to a restrictive level?

1. They can still edit any record

2. They may lose the ability to edit certain records

3. They will receive notifications about restrictions

4. Their permissions remain unchanged

The correct answer is: They may lose the ability to edit certain records

When Organization-Wide Defaults (OWD) are set to a restrictive level, the user's ability to edit records is impacted based on the access specified by the OWD settings. OWDs define the default level of access that users have to records that they do not own. When these defaults are restrictive, it means that users will have limited access to those records, which may result in them losing the ability to edit certain records that they do not own or have been explicitly shared with them. For example, if the OWD for a specific object is set to "Private," users will only be able to edit records that they own or those that they have been granted permission to edit through role hierarchy, sharing rules, or manual sharing. This restriction directly influences the user's editing capabilities, confirming that they may lose the ability to edit various records depending on the ownership and sharing settings applicable to those records. This scenario highlights the importance of understanding how OWD settings interact with user permissions and record visibility within Salesforce, which is critical for managing data access and security within an organization.