Personalize your workspace
You can personalize your workspace to suit your work and preferences. Change pages so that they display only the information you need, where you need it. Personalization affects only your workspace. It doesn't change how others work. You can personalize all types of pages, including the role center page.
The adjustments outlined in this article are applied universally across all your devices and browsers. There are other modifications, not detailed here, that only affect the specific device and browser on which they are made. Learn more about the differences in Where is personalization stored?.
Video and training
The following video shows some of the ways in which you can personalize your Role Center.
For online training, go to Personalize the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central user interface.
About personalization
You can make various adjustments, such as move or hide fields, columns, actions, and entire parts, and add new fields. Most adjustments you do by first activating the Personalizing banner using the personalization mode. You can also readily make the following adjustments on any list page without using the personalization mode.
- Resize a column
- Create, rename, or edit a view
- Bookmark the page
- Expand/collapse hierarchical list
Resize a column
There are two ways to change the width of a column in any list, including in dropdowns for looking up field values:
- In the header of a list, select and drag the boundary between two columns.
- Double-click the boundary between two columns to autofit the width of the column. The width adjusts to the optimal size for readability.
Start personalizing by using the personalization mode
Open any page that you want to personalize.
In the upper-right corner, select the
icon, and then choose the Personalize action.The Personalizing banner appears at the top to indicate that you can start making changes.
Note
To navigate during personalization, use Ctrl+Click on an action if it is highlighted by the arrowhead.
If you see a
or 
on the banner, you can't personalize the page. For more information, see Why a Page is Locked from Personalization.To change a user interface (UI) element, point to the element, such as an action, a field, or a part. The element is immediately highlighted with an arrowhead or border. Choose the element, and then choose either Move, Remove, Hide, Show, Show under "Show more", Show when collapsed, Show always, Set/Clear Freeze Pane, or Include/Exclude from Quick Entry, depending on the type and state of the UI element.
To add a field, choose the + Field action. From the Add Field to Page pane, drag and drop a field into the desired position on the page.
When you finish changing the layout of one or more pages, choose the Done button on the Personalizing banner.
For more information, see What You Can Personalize.
What you can personalize
| What do you want to do | How to do it | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Move something, like a field, column in list, tile, action, or part to another place on the page | Point anywhere on what you want to move, and drag it to its new position. A thick horizontal or vertical line indicates the position. indicates that you can't move the element to the selected position. |
Parts are subdivisions or areas on a page that contain things like multiple fields, another page, a chart, or tiles. Learn more about personalizing actions Learn more about personalizing parts |
| Hide an element that's currently shown, like a field, column in list, tile, action, or part. | Select the element, select the arrowhead, and then select Hide. | In the personalization mode, hidden actions are grayed with italic text, and hidden parts are shaded by diagonal lines. Hidden fields and columns aren't indicated directly on the page, but you can locate them by using the Add Field to Page pane (learn more about working fields). When you exit personalization mode, all elements disappear from view. If the field you hide is also shown on the FastTab heading when the FastTab is collapsed, the field no longer appears there. |
| Show an action or part that is currently hidden | For a grayed (hidden) element, choose the arrowhead, and then choose Show. | The hidden element is visible again. |
| Add a field that's currently hidden | In the Personalizing banner, choose the + Field action. The Add Field to Page pane opens on the right side of the page. If you select a field in the pane, its hidden location appears on the page. To add a field, drag it from the pane, or from its hidden location, to the position that you want it. A thick horizontal or vertical line indicates the position. Another way is to select the arrowhead in the field's hidden location and select Show. |
Each page includes a predefined set of fields that you can choose to display. Learn more about working fields |
| Display a field in the heading of a FastTab when it's collapsed. | Choose the arrowhead, and then choose Show when collapsed. If you don't see this option, then it's already set. In this case, to stop displaying the field on the FastTab heading, choose Show always. |
FastTab is the term used for a group of fields that appear under a common heading. Use the Show when collapsed option to display the most important fields. If you select a field in the heading, the FastTab opens and focuses on the selected field. This option is only applicable if a page has a more than one FastTab. If there's only one FastTab, it can't be collapsed, so the Show when collapsed option isn't available. |
| Make a field display only when you select Show more. | Choose the arrowhead, and then choose Show under "Show More". | If you don't see the Show under "Show More" option, then the field's already set. In this case, to make a field display always, not just when you select Show more, choose Show always. |
| Change whether or not a field can be edited. | Select the field, select the arrowhead on the field, and then select Lock editing to prevent changing the field's value or Unlock editing to allow changing the field's value. | You can only unlock fields that you previously locked yourself. Some fields are locked by default, either by design or by a profile admin who has customized the page. These fields can't be unlocked. |
| Change the freeze pane in a list to another column. | Choose the arrowhead of the column that you want as the last column of the freeze pane, and then choose Set Freeze Pane. If you want to set the freeze pane back to its original designed position, choose the arrowhead for the current freeze pane column, and choose Clear Freeze Pane. Note: You can't remove this freeze pane. |
The freeze pane specifies the columns that always appear on the left side of the list, even as you scroll horizontally. |
| Skip over a field when pressing Enter. | Choose the arrowhead next to the field, or column heading in a list, and choose Exclude from Quick Entry. | If you don't see Exclude from Quick Entry, then the field is already skipped. In this case, to stop skipping the field, choose Include in Quick Entry. Learn more about Quick Entry |
| Reorder and remove views representing filtered lists. | Choose the arrowhead next to a view, and then choose Move, Remove, or Hide. | Learn more about saving and personalizing list views |
| Add a new action to a page or report on your Role Center. | From the target page, report request page, or Tell Me window, choose the bookmark icon. | Learn more about bookmarking pages and reports |
| Always start a list as expanded or collapsed | Choose the Expand All or Collapse All button in the top-left corner of the list. Alternatively, choose the Expand All or Collapse All action in the menu of the first column. | Applies to collapsible hierarchy lists |
Personalize action bar and menus
Personalization lets you decide which actions to show on the navigation and action bars and on Role Centers, and where to show them. You can show, hide, or move individual actions or action groups.
The following video shows how you can personalize actions on pages and Role Centers.
Personalizing the navigation and action bars is done basically the same way as with other UI elements. However, what you can do with an action or group depends on where the action or group is located. The best way to find out is to enter personalizing mode and then let the arrowheads guide you.
There are a couple terms that you should be familiar with to better understand action personalization: action group and promoted category.
An action group is an element that expands to display other actions or groups. For example, on the Sales Orders page, one action group is the Functions action that appears when you choose the Actions action.
A promoted category is an action group that appears before the vertical line | on the action bar. The categories typically include the most commonly used actions, so that you can quickly find them. For example, on the Sales Orders page, the Order, Release, and Posting actions are promoted categories.
Note
To clear personalization, select the arrowhead around the part's designer menu, and then choose Clear personalization.
Remove, hide, and show actions and action groups
When you want to show or hide an action, the options under the arrowhead define what can do depending on the action's state.
- Choose the arrowhead for an action or action group.
- Choose from one of the following options:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Remove | This option appears if the selected action is also shown somewhere else on the navigation bar or action bar. Choosing this option deletes the action from the selected location so that it no longer appears. The action or action group remains in the other locations. |
| Hide | This option appears if the action or action group isn't located anywhere else on the navigation bar or action bar. Like Remove, choosing this option makes the action or action group disappear from the navigation bar or action bar. However, in personalizing mode, the action or action group are still shown in the current position, except that it appears dimmed. |
| Show | This option appears if the action or action group is hidden (dimmed). Choosing this option makes the action or action group appear on the navigation bar or action bar. |
Move actions and action groups
Where you can drop actions or actions groups is indicated by a horizontal line between two actions or a border around an action group. The following limitations exist:
- You can move individual actions into the promoted categories, but you can't rearrange the order of the actions in the category.
- You can't move an action group into a promoted category.
- To move an action or action group, drag and drop it to the desired position, like you do with fields and columns.
- To move an action or action group into another action group that is empty, drag the action or action group to the new group and drop it in the Drop an action here box.
About the Automate menu
- You can't hide or move the Automate menu or the Power Automate submenu and its actions.
- You can move flows included under the Automate item, but you can't hide them using personalization. Moving the flow makes a copy the flow to the destination, it doesn't remove it from the Automate item.
Tip
As an administrator, you can hide the Automation item from users. Learn more at Set Up Power Automate Integration.
Personalize parts
Point to or select Alt+Up Arrow Parts are areas on a page that are typically composed of multiple fields, charts, or other content. A part shows a colored border when you focus on the part. For example, a Role Center home screen has multiple parts. Because of their well-defined boundary, you can personalize the entire part and its' contents.
- To move a part, drag and drop it to the desired position. A colored line indicates valid positions on the screen. For example, FactBoxes can only be moved next to other FactBoxes in the FactBox pane.
- You can hide a part by choosing the Hide option under the arrowhead.
- When you start personalizing or navigate to a new page, any parts that are currently hidden appear on the page with distinctive visuals to indicate they're hidden. You can unhide that part by choosing the Show option under the arrowhead.
You can clear all personalization changes that you made within a single part by choosing the Clear personalization option under the part's arrowhead. Clearing personalization of a part only affects changes to the contents of the part; not the placement or visibility of the part on the page.
Work with fields and columns
When personalizing a page, you use the Add field to page pane to include fields or columns on the page that are currently hidden from view. To open this pane, select the + Field action near the top of the page. Unlike other hidden elements, hidden fields aren't indicated on the page itself in personalization mode. However, you can identify hidden fields by using the Add field to page pane.
Here are some general guidelines to follow when using the Add field to page pane:
By default, the pane lists all hidden fields. Hidden fields are marked by the
icon.You can filter the list to show other fields, for example, those fields currently shown on the page, by selecting the Recommended fields button above the list and choosing a filter option. The name of the button changes based on the filter option you choose.
Selecting a field in the list highlights its location on the page. If the field's currently hidden, its location by design is shown in a shaded state.
To get more details about a field in the list, point to it or select Alt+Up Arrow to display a tooltip.
The fields available in the Add field to page pane are determined by the developer of the page and its source table or by a profile admin who customized the page. You can't create new ones.
Some pages have multiple page fields that map to the same source table. The pane shows both/all of those page fields independently. Showing/Hiding/moving those fields is also independent without one affecting the other.
Add a field so it's visible on the page
From Add field to page pane, there are two ways to include a field that's currently hidden on the page:
- Drag the field to the desired position. A thick horizontal or vertical line indicates the target location.
- Select the field in the list, then go to the shaded field on the page and select the Show option.
Note
Some fields that you add won't be editable on the page when you're done with personalization. These fields are either originally designed this way or an administrator customized the page to prevent you from editing them.
Clear personalization
At some point, you might want to undo some or all of the personalization changes that you made to a page over time.
- On the Personalizing banner, choose the Clear personalization action.
- Choose one of the following options.
Caution
Clearing personalization can't be undone.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Only Navigation Menu | Clears any personalization changes that you have ever made to the navigation menu that is shared across the Role Center and other pages. Such changes include any new actions that were added as bookmarks, and any changes to links and groups in the menu. |
| Only Actions | Clears any personalization changes that you ever made on the navigation or action bars on the page. |
| Only Fields and Columns | Clears any personalization changes that you ever made to the page except changes on the navigation or action bar. Such changes include changes to fields, columns, parts, and tiles. |
| All | Clears all personalization changes that you made to the page so it looks like it did originally. Such changes include changes to navigation and action bars, fields, columns, parts, and tiles. |
Tips and other points of interest
To help you better understand personalization, here are some pointers.
- When you make changes to a card page that you open from a list, the changes take effect on all records that you open from that list. For example, let's say you open a specific customer from the Customers list page, and then personalize the page by adding a field. When you open other customers from the list, the field that you added is also shown.
- Changes that you make affect all your Role Centers. For example, if you make a change to the Customer list when the Role Center is set to Business Manager, you also see the change on the Customers page when the Role Center is set to Sales Order Processor.
- Changes to a page in a pane take effect on the page wherever it appears.
- You can't personalize a page that's in analysis mode. The Analyze switch is deactivated. If you happen to switch to personalization mode while the page is in analysis mode, then analyze mode is automatically switched off.
- Some pages have multiple page fields that map to the same source table. The pane shows both/all of those page fields independently. Showing/Hiding/moving those fields is also independent without one affecting the other.
- If a part or group is hidden, ghosted fields still shows inside it, but you can't drag-drop or add/show that field until you make the group/part visible.
Note
Due to restrictions on design capabilities in the web client, it's currently not possible to customize or personalize the controls within the grid and fixed syntax. It applies to all design modes, not just personalization.
Administrators can make the same layout changes as users by customizing a profile (role), which can be assigned to multiple users. To learn more about pages for Roles, go to Customize Pages for Roles
Administrators can also override or disable users' personalization, and they can define which features are even available for users to see in all or specific companies. For more information, see Customizing Business Central.
See also
Customize Pages for Profiles
Work with Business Central
Change Basic Settings
Change Which Features are Displayed