How to Check and Update Salesforce Field-Level Permissions for the System Administrator Profile

When to Use This

You may need this if you're seeing errors like:

or other INVALID_FIELD errors in your Salesforce integration logs. These typically indicate that the System Administrator profile does not have read or edit access to a required field.

How to Check Field Permissions via SOQL

1. In Salesforce, go to Developer Console.

2. Open the Query Editor tab.

3. Paste and run this query to see all field access for the System Administrator profile:

    

   SELECT SObjectType, Field, PermissionsRead, PermissionsEdit
FROM FieldPermissions
WHERE Parent.Profile.Name = 'System Administrator'


4. To find all fields the System Administrator profile cannot edit, use:

    

   SELECT SObjectType, Field
FROM FieldPermissions
WHERE Parent.Profile.Name = 'System Administrator'
AND PermissionsEdit = false


5. To find all fields it cannot read, use:

   SELECT SObjectType, Field
FROM FieldPermissions
WHERE Parent.Profile.Name = 'System Administrator'
AND PermissionsRead = false


How to Update Field-Level Security

SOQL queries are read-only. To change field-level access, follow these steps:

1. Go to Setup > Object Manager.

2. Select the object that contains the field (e.g., Opportunity, npe01__OppPayment__c).

3. Click Fields & Relationships.

4. Select the field in question.

5. Click Set Field-Level Security.

6. Ensure that System Administrator (and any other relevant profiles) has the necessary visibility or edit access.

Best Practices

• Even the System Administrator profile may not have access to custom or managed package fields by default.

• If you plan to use a field in a WeGive mapping or sync process, ensure it is visible and editable for the integration user.

• Consider auditing field-level security for all critical objects in advance to avoid integration issues later on.