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How to Use Field History Tracking
Field History Tracking is an audit log. It records who changed which field on a record, when, and what the value was before and after.
On this page:
- What it does
- What is not tracked
- Linked records
- Reviewing changes on a record
- The Field History reports
What it does
Every change to a field is registered against the record. Administrators use it to see how users have interacted with records, to reconstruct a chronological account of changes for informational or security purposes, and to establish what normal activity looks like.
Changes are reviewed in two places: an individual record’s Related tab, and the Field History and Field History Detail reports.
History is retained for 18 months. Customers who need longer can request an extension through Insightly’s sales team.
⚠️ The grid has to be on the Page Layout. Field History is only reviewable on a record if the grid has been added to that object’s Page Layout.
ℹ️ Deleting a standard or custom object does not delete its field history. Deleting the account does.
What is not tracked
Changes to these fields cannot be captured in the audit log:
- Formula fields
- Auto-number fields
- Created by fields
- Last modified by fields
- Expected Revenue fields
- Binary fields
- Fields with values longer than 255 characters
Long values are the one to watch. A change to a field holding more than 255 characters is marked as edited in the log, but the old and new values are not shown.
Linked records
Creating or deleting a link between two objects writes an entry to both objects’ audit logs, recorded as Related Link in the Field Name column. The entry captures:
- Name of Other Entity Linked
- Role
- Details
- Default Linked Organization, on a contact-to-organization link
New links appear under Added, deleted ones under Removed.
Reviewing changes on a record
- Open the record and select the Related tab.
- Scroll to Field History. This shows who made the change, when, and how many values changed.
- Click the entry under Changed Values to see the detail: when the change happened, the new value, and the previous one.
The Field History reports
Both reports live in the Other Reports section of Advanced Reporting, and both default to a Last 7 Days filter.
⚠️ Administrators only. Non-administrators cannot open either report, even on Enterprise.
Field History counts changes made to a record. Inline edits create one row per field changed. Editing the record itself and changing several values consolidates them into a single row. Clicking the hyperlinked field under Changed Values shows what changed. Default fields:
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Changed Date | When the field was created, updated, or deleted |
| Object Name | The object the field belongs to |
| Record ID | The record in which the field changed |
| User | Who made the change |
| Operation | Created, updated, or deleted |
| Changed Values | How many values changed |
| Application | Whether the change came from the web or mobile application |
Field History Detail shows every change to a field within a specific record, with the new and old values, one row per field changed. Default fields:
| Field | What it holds | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Changed Date | When the field was created, updated, or deleted | Cannot be removed |
| Object Name | The object the field belongs to | One value only, defaults to Users, cannot be removed |
| Record ID | Links to the record in which the field changed | |
| User | Who made the change | |
| Application | Web or mobile |
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