What happens when I delete a choice option in Dynamics 365?
An important design decision when adding fields, is whether to use Choice/Choices (the drop down and multiple select drop down) or a lookup. But what happens when you need to modify the Choice list?
Applies to:
Dynamics 365 On-Prem
Dynamics 365 On-line
How to modify a Choice / Choices list
Regardless of whether you have a local (this table only) or global (the Dynamics system) choice list, the method for modifying the list is pretty similar.
Open the https://make.powerapps.com site and navigate to your environment and solution.
Locate your choices field and select it.
On the slide out you will be able to modify the choices if this is a local choice list.
Local Choices modification
If it is a Global choice list, you will need to select the pencil next to the Global list name. (this means that the values are in use on multiple choice fields across the Dynamics system. Any changes will affect ALL instances where this choices list is being used)
Make your changes to the labels, colours or ordering and click save.
But what happens if I Delete a choice?
Good question. If you delete an option in the Choices list, it will be removed from the list completely. This means that ANY records that have that choice selected, will lose that data.
For example, in the Advanced Find window below you can see that we have a colour choice selected as Green for the two contact records. One is Active, one is Inactive.
We’re going to delete the Green option from the choices and save those changes.
You can see, that immediately after saving the changes to the Choices list, the Green option is no longer available and has been removed from any record that was using it - regardless of whether the record was active or inactive.
In Conclusion
If you must remove an Choice value - ensure it is not being used. And if it is, then reassign the option before removing it from the system to maintain your data integrity.
Interested to learn more ?
Im gonna be honest - Dynamics 365 is one of those tools that is an incredibly powerful platform for your organization. With that power, comes a certain level of complexity. If you’d like to get some real answers about how Dynamics can benefit your organization, give me a call for a quick chat to see if it’s an option for you.
Give us a call at 604.846.4402 or email info@dominicsystems.com
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