Salesforce Quick Text: How to Set It Up, Use It, and Know Its Limits

Sales reps and service agents spend a surprising chunk of every shift typing the same messages: greetings, follow-ups, case resolutions, call scripts. If your team works in Salesforce, Quick Text is built to solve exactly that.

Salesforce Quick Text lets your team save and reuse standard messages directly inside Salesforce. Reps press Ctrl+. on Windows or Cmd+. on Mac to open the message picker, select a saved response, and insert it without leaving the record they’re working on. Admins build and maintain the library. Reps do the inserting.

Where it gets complicated: there’s a 4,000-character cap per message, every addition or edit requires admin sign-off, and the library stays inside Salesforce. This guide covers setup, creation, insertion, sharing, and where Quick Text runs out of road.

What is Salesforce Quick Text?

Salesforce Quick Text is a message library built into your Salesforce org. Reps access pre-written responses directly from the records they’re working on. No copy-pasting from a separate doc, no digging through a shared folder.

Quick Text shows up in most of the places your reps write: email composers, Live Agent chat windows, task logs, event notes, Knowledge Articles, social posts, and Case Comments. Anyone in your org with the right permissions can access it. You configure access through profiles or permission sets.

Here’s how it works in practice: a rep opens an email on a case record, presses Ctrl+. on Windows or Cmd+. on Mac, and the Quick Text picker appears. They type a few letters to filter messages, select the one they want, and click to insert. Messages can include merge fields like {!Contact.FirstName} or {!Case.CaseNumber} to pull in record data automatically.

Keyboard shortcut: Press Ctrl+. (Windows) or Cmd+. (Mac) from any supported Salesforce field to open the Quick Text picker.

High-volume customer service teams get the most out of Quick Text. Sales teams doing repetitive outreach benefit too. The common thread: anyone sending the same approved messages, repeatedly, at scale.

How to enable Quick Text in Salesforce

In Lightning Experience, Quick Text is typically enabled by default in modern Salesforce orgs. In Salesforce Classic, it must be explicitly enabled. Either way, verify the setting is active before your team starts using it.

Go to Setup in Salesforce.

In the Quick Find box, type Quick Text Settings.

Click Quick Text Settings.

Toggle Enable Quick Text to on.

Click Save.

Lightning vs. Classic: Lightning Experience uses the settings path above. If your org runs Salesforce Classic, use the Quick Find box in Setup and search for Quick Text Settings to access the same configuration page.

Already inside Salesforce? See our full list of Salesforce keyboard shortcuts to work faster across every record type.

How to grant users access to Quick Text

Enabling Quick Text org-wide does not automatically give everyone access. Access comes through permissions you configure separately.

Two ways to do it:

Permission Sets (recommended): Create a permission set with the Quick Text permissions you want, then assign it to specific users. Flexible, and you won’t need to touch profiles every time someone new joins the team.

Profiles: Edit the profile for a user group and add Quick Text permissions directly.

Quick Text permissions comein two tiers:

Quick Text: Read Users can insert existing messages. Grant this to all reps.

Quick Text: Create/Edit/Delete Users can build and modify messages. Limit this to admins or designated team leads.

Restricting creation rights keeps the library clean. Reps see only reviewed, approved messages, not half-finished drafts or outdated templates someone forgot to delete.

How to create Quick Text messages

With Quick Text enabled and permissions set, admins can start building the message library.

Go to Setup, search Quick Text in the Quick Find box, and open the Quick Text list.

Click New.

Fill in the fields using the reference table below.

Click Save.

Quick Text field reference:

Field | What it does | Example
Name | Internal label reps see when browsing | “Support: Refund acknowledgment”
Message | The text that inserts into the record | “Hi {!Contact.FirstName}, we’ve received your request.”
Category | Optional grouping for browse filtering | “Greeting,” “Follow-Up,” “Closing”
Channel | Controls which Salesforce channels show this message | Email, Chat, Live Agent
Group | Who can access this message | All Internal Users, a Public Group, or Private

Merge field syntax:

{!Contact.FirstName} for the contact’s first name

{!Case.CaseNumber} for the case number

{!Account.Name} for the account name

Character limit: The Message field holds up to 4,000 characters. Long scripts, multi-paragraph templates, and rich text-heavy messages hit this ceiling fast. For anything longer, split the content across multiple Quick Text entries.

Bulk creation: No native CSV import exists in Setup. For large migrations, admins with API access can use Salesforce Data Loader to insert records directly into the QuickText object, and it’s fully API-accessible. For everyone else, creation is manual, one entry at a time.

Need a starting point? Browse our customer service email templates. Copy, adapt, and paste them straight into your Quick Text library.

How to insert and use Quick Text

Once messages are in the library, using them takes seconds. From any supported Salesforce field:

Press Ctrl+. (Windows) or Cmd+. (Mac) to open the Quick Text picker.

Type a few letters to filter by message name or content, or scroll by category.

Click the message, or press Enter when it’s highlighted.

The message inserts at your cursor position. Merge fields fill in automatically from the current record’s data.

Supported channels:

Channel | Where Quick Text appears
Email | Email composer on any record
Chat | Live Agent chat window
Live Agent | Live Agent console
Phone | Log a Call / Task record
Events | Event record body
Knowledge Articles | Article editor
Social Posts | Social publisher
Case Comments | Case record (added Spring ’26, Lightning Experience only)

The library stays inside Salesforce. Reps who switch to Gmail, Outlook, Slack, or any other tool leave that library behind. For live chat scripts that need to travel across platforms, you need something that goes beyond Salesforce.

How to share and organize Quick Text

A Quick Text library grows fast. Without structure, reps end up with 50 messages and no clear idea which one fits the situation. Set up sharing and categories before you build.

Sharing options run from broad to narrow: open a message to the entire org, limit it to specific public groups (support, sales, onboarding), scope it to a role in your org hierarchy, or mark it private so only the creator sees it. In Lightning Experience, this works through standard org sharing rules. In Classic, manage sharing per record using the “Sharing” button on each Quick Text entry.

Categories matter more than most teams expect. Reps filter by category in the picker, so “Support: Escalation” and “Sales: Outreach” save real time compared to one long undifferentiated list.

Before you build, answer these four questions:

Who needs access?

What messages do they send most?

What channels do those messages go through?

Who owns updates when content changes?

Teams building larger message libraries will find the principles behind organizing your snippet library useful here: consistent naming, clear ownership, and a regular review cycle.

Salesforce Quick Text limitations

The 4,000-character cap is the one that bites first. Any message longer than that has to be split across multiple entries, which works until you’re maintaining three interconnected pieces of a single email template. Long call scripts and multi-paragraph onboarding messages hit this wall fast.

Beyond that, here’s what to factor in before building a team-wide workflow around Quick Text:

Every new message and every edit requires a user with Create/Edit permissions. Reps submit requests and wait for an admin to make the change. For fast-moving teams, that queue creates real lag.

The library lives in Salesforce. Reps working in Zendesk, Gmail, Outlook, or Slack are on their own.

No version history or audit trail. There’s no native way to see who last edited a Quick Text entry or restore a previous version. Once a message is overwritten, the original is gone.

Bulk import requires API access. Building a large library otherwise means manual entry, one message at a time.

Rich text behavior is inconsistent across channels. Formatting that looks clean in one context may not carry over when inserted into a different record type.

Teams that need canned responses to work across multiple tools find themselves looking beyond Quick Text.

When Quick Text isn’t enough: TextExpander for Salesforce teams

Quick Text works well for messages that stay entirely inside Salesforce. When messages need to travel outside the platform, exceed 4,000 characters, or be managed without routing through an admin, it stops covering the problem.

TextExpander works in every app your team uses: Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zendesk, Chrome, and beyond. The same Snippet library follows reps wherever they work.

A few specific differences from Quick Text:

Snippets have no character limit. Full email templates, multi-section call scripts, fill-in fields, and images all fit in a single Snippet. No splitting required.

Any team member can create, edit, and organize their own Snippets. Team sharing is self-service for admins, not a setup request for every new message.

Fill-in fields let reps customize parts of a template without leaving the keyboard. Unlike Quick Text’s record-driven merge fields, fill-in fields work in any app, on any page.

When a shared Snippet updates, every team member gets the change immediately. No per-record editing in Setup.

The right split: use Quick Text for Salesforce-native responses that stay inside the platform. Use TextExpander when messages need to travel, exceed 4,000 characters, or be managed without admin involvement. TextExpander fits naturally into the broader set of sales productivity tools modern teams rely on.

TextExpander works in every app your team uses, including Salesforce. Start your free trial and build a Snippet library your whole team canuse today.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create a new Quick Text in Salesforce?

Go to Setup and search for “Quick Text” in the Quick Find box. Open the Quick Text list and click New. Fill in the Name, Message, Category, Channel, and Group fields, then click Save. The message is available immediately to all users with Quick Text: Read access.

How do I use Quick Text in Salesforce?

From any supported Salesforce record, email, chat, or task records, press Ctrl+. on Windows or Cmd+. on Mac to open the Quick Text picker. Type a few letters to filter messages by name, or browse by category. Click a message to insert it at your cursor, and merge fields fill in automatically from the current record.

What are the channels for Quick Text in Salesforce?

Salesforce Quick Text supports Email, Chat, Live Agent, Phone (Tasks), Events, Knowledge Articles, Social Posts, and Case Comments. Case Comments support was added in the Spring ’26 release and is available in Lightning Experience only. The Channel field on each Quick Text entry controls which Salesforce interfaces and record types it appears in.

How do I delete Quick Text in Salesforce?

Go to Setup and navigate to the Quick Text list. Find the entry you want to remove, click the dropdown arrow next to it, and select Delete. Only users with the Quick Text: Delete permission can remove entries. Review your library periodically to retire outdated messages.

Can I import Quick Text records in bulk?

No native CSV import exists in Salesforce Setup. Quick Text records are stored in the standard QuickText object, which is fully accessible via the Salesforce API. Admins comfortable with Salesforce Data Loader can use it to bulk-insert records by mapping fields like Name, Message, Channel, and Category. For teams without API access, creation remains manual.

Conclusion

Salesforce Quick Text is a practical tool for reps who live in Salesforce all day. Once admin setup is done, the keyboard shortcut becomes second nature. Merge fields keep messages personal without extra typing, and a well-organized category structure keeps the library easy to navigate.

The limits are real: 4,000 characters per message, admin control over every entry, and nothing outside the Salesforce boundary. When messaging needs outgrow those edges, TextExpander extends the library to every tool your team uses: The same Snippets, everywhere they type. Start your free trial and see what a shared Snippet library looks like at full reach.