Switching to Salesforce Lightning Experience is like upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone—it’s a game changer. While Classic has been a reliable tool for years, Lightning offers a modern interface with new features that boost productivity and make daily tasks more accessible and intuitive.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to enable Lightning Mode in Salesforce step-by-step. Whether you’re an administrator leading a big team or an individual user, you’ll find all the tips and resources here to make the switch as smooth as possible.
Why Switch to Salesforce Lightning?
Salesforce Lightning Experience isn’t just a new look—it’s a complete redesign aimed at helping teams work faster. If you’ve been using Salesforce Classic, you know its reliability. But the Lightning Interface brings a whole new level of usability and efficiency. Here’s why it’s worth considering:
A Better, More Modern User Experience
Lightning is built to be intuitive. The interface is cleaner and visually organized to make navigation feel natural. Unlike Classic’s dated design, Lightning’s layout is meant to help your team focus on what matters without distractions. It’s a lot faster to pick up and use, so onboarding new team members or getting existing ones up to speed becomes a breeze.
Customization That Fits Your Business Like a Glove
One of Lightning’s best parts is its flexibility. Tools like the App Builder allow you to customize pages for specific teams or roles. Customizing the setup means that each team member can focus on the most critical data for their role without unnecessary clutter.
For instance, sales reps can have a page focused on leads, deals, and quick access to client records, while customer service can have dashboards showing open cases and priority issues.
Features Built to Boost Productivity
Lightning has plenty of features designed to save time and reduce hassle. For example, the Kanban view allows sales teams to see their pipeline as a visual board, where they can drag and drop deals to different stages. Path and Guidance offers step-by-step guidance on each lead or case, helping team members know what to focus on next without having to navigate multiple screens.
Access to Salesforce’s Latest Innovations
Salesforce is all-in on Lightning, which means they’re investing heavily in new features for this platform. Many tools, like Einstein Analytics for AI-powered insights, are exclusive to Lightning, giving you access to the latest CRM tech. Staying with Classic means you’re missing out on these advances that could help your team make smarter, faster decisions.
Future-Proof Your CRM
Salesforce has been clear that Lightning is the way forward. While Classic will continue to exist, it won’t get the same updates and support. By switching now, you’re preparing your CRM for the long term and ensuring your team has a platform to keep pace with future updates.
Switching might involve a learning curve, but the benefits are worth it. Once your team gets comfortable, they’ll find that Lightning’s faster workflows and custom features make daily tasks more efficient and enjoyable.
Enabling Lightning Experience: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s everything you need to enable Lightning and make sure your team’s ready to make the most of it:
1. Prepare Users for the Switch
A smooth transition to Lightning isn’t just about turning it on—it’s about ensuring your team feels ready and confident with the new interface. Start by sending a quick message explaining the switch and sharing a few benefits they can expect in Lightning.
To help them get comfortable, point them to Salesforce’s Trailhead platform, which offers easy-to-follow courses designed for anyone using Salesforce.¹ These resources let team members learn independently, helping them build confidence with the new tools.
2. Access the Setup Menu
Once everyone is aware and onboard with the switch, the first step is to go to Salesforce Setup, where you’ll enable Lightning:
- Log in to Salesforce.
- In the top-right corner, click the gear icon.
- From the dropdown menu, choose Setup. This will open the Setup dashboard, like the command center for all Salesforce configurations.
3. Find the Transition Assistant
Salesforce provides a built-in tool called the Lightning Experience Transition Assistant to help manage the switch to Lightning.
- In Setup, use the Quick Find box on the left and type “Lightning Experience.”
- Click on Lightning Experience Transition Assistant. This will open a set of options to help you transition smoothly.
4. Turn On Lightning
Within the Transition Assistant, you’ll see a few tabs: Discover, Roll Out, and Optimize. Each phase offers tools and tips to make the transition more accessible, but the central part to focus on is the Roll Out tab.
- Click on Roll Out.
- Look for the Switch Users to Lightning Experience option.
- Hit Enable Lightning Experience and follow any additional prompts from Salesforce to finalize the change.
And that’s it—you’re officially in Lightning! From here on out, it’s up to you and your team to learn how to utilize its full capabilities.
5. Configure User Access and Permissions
Once you’ve enabled Lightning, you must ensure everyone on your team has the proper permissions to access it. An excellent way to do this is by setting up permission sets, which let you grant access to Lightning without changing everyone’s entire profile. You can create an explicitly set permission for Lightning and assign it to users who need it, making the switch smooth and hassle-free.
If you’re rolling out Lightning to an entire department, you may find updating their profiles in bulk easier, so they all have Lightning access at once. Setting up permissions right from the start helps avoid issues when users log in to Lightning for the first time.
6. Customize Lightning for Your Team
One of the best things about Lightning is how customizable it is. You can tweak the setup to fit your team’s workflow, making the interface work precisely how they need it.
You can also create custom apps within Salesforce for each department, showing them only the most relevant data. Tailoring the setup like this saves your team time and helps them work more efficiently, with easy access to everything they need right at their fingertips.
7. Roll Out Lightning in Phases
If you’re implementing Lightning for a large organization, consider rolling it out in phases to keep things manageable. Start with a small pilot group—let them test out the new interface and share their feedback. This early feedback can help you spot any issues or adjust before the full rollout.
Once you’ve made any needed changes, you can gradually expand Lightning to other teams, comfortably bringing everyone on board. A phased approach helps you tackle challenges early and gives your team time to adapt, making the transition much smoother.
8. Troubleshoot Common Issues
It’s normal to encounter a few issues when switching to Lightning. Some common issues include browser compatibility, missing data, and navigation troubles. If pages aren’t displaying correctly or loading slowly, check that users are on a supported browser like Chrome or Firefox, as Lightning works best on updated browsers.
Sometimes, data may not show up by default in Lightning; adjusting data visibility settings or filters often solves this. Double-check profile settings and permissions for login or navigation issues to ensure everything is set up correctly. Preparing for these typical challenges can help your team get up to speed without much downtime.
9. Switch Between Classic and Lightning
Salesforce allows users to switch between Classic and Lightning, which can be handy if your team needs time to adjust. Users can toggle between the two modes by clicking their profile icon and selecting “Switch to Classic” or “Switch to Lightning Experience.” While this flexibility is functional, it’s best to encourage everyone to stick with Lightning as much as possible to avoid confusion.
You might allow a transition period during which users can switch back to Classic if needed but consider setting a date for everyone to fully move to Lightning. This way, your team has time to get comfortable with the new setup while keeping the end goal of a full Lightning rollout in sight.
Transform your business with specialized support from Raso360.
Raso360 is your partner in getting the most out of Salesforce. Whether switching from Classic to Lightning, customizing your CRM, or building tailored solutions, our team is here to make the process smooth and effective.
We will work closely with you to fully understand your needs, so every Salesforce feature works to help your business succeed. From setup to ongoing support, you’ll get experts to keep your Salesforce platform running at its best.
Our expertise goes beyond Salesforce. If you’re considering moving from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA, we’ve created a comprehensive guide to make the transition easier. It’s full of practical insights for each migration stage so you can feel confident from start to finish.
And we’re just a message away if you ever need help—whether it’s for Salesforce, SAP, or any IT service. Contact us today to discuss your business needs.
References
1. Bergman, Andy. “All About Trailhead, Salesforce’s Free Online Learning Platform.” Salesforce, 2 April 2024, www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-trailhead.
