RIP Salesforce Workflow Rules and Process Builder

If you’ve been a Salesforce admin or developer for more than a few years, you’ve likely spent countless hours inside two classic declarative tools: the Workflow Rule and the Process Builder. For many Salesforce administrators and developers, Workflow Rules and Process Builder have been foundational tools for automating business processes. Their reliability and versatility have supported countless implementations over the years.  

However, platform evolution requires change. Salesforce has officially set the retirement date for these features (December 31, 2025), marking a significant shift in its automation strategy. This moment calls for reflection on their role and a practical plan for moving forward.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Why We Loved Them

Before we talk about the future, let’s pour one out for the tools that got us here.

Workflow Rules were our first taste of real "clicks, not code" power. Their straightforward "If THIS, then THAT" taught a whole community how to automate business processes. Their logic made it easy and reliable to automate tasks like field updates and email alerts. The ability to schedule time-dependent actions was a groundbreaking feature at the time, automatically sending emails or updating fields days after a record was created. It was reliable, straightforward, and it just worked.

Process Builder arrived as the exciting, more powerful successor. With its visual flow chart interface, it broke down barriers. We could finally create related records, call invocable Apex, and orchestrate multiple immediate actions within a single process. It was a giant leap forward in declarative complexity.

Together, they empowered a generation of professionals to build complex business logic declaratively. For many of us, they were the tools that taught us the fundamentals of automation and helped shape our careers.

Why Are They Riding Off into the Sunset?

This retirement is a result of strategic progress, not failure. maintaining multiple automation tools creates unnecessary complexity, performance overhead, and a steeper learning curve for new admins. Unifying these capabilities into a single, more powerful tool simplifies the platform and improves long-term performance

The replacement is not just another tool but a mature and unified automation platform: Salesforce Flow.  

Flow is the culmination of everything learned from Workflow and Process Builder. It’s a single, integrated automation tool that can do everything its predecessors could do, but better, faster, and with more control.

The Practical Part: Your Action Plan

The retirement deadline is fast approaching, so if you haven't started, now is the time. Here’s what you should do:

1. The Audit

This is your first and most critical step. Use the official Flow Migration Tool (in Setup) to analyse your org. It displays a list of all your active Workflow Rules and Processes. Know what you’re working with before you start. According to Salesforce's official documentation, this tool is your best friend for assessing the scope of your migration.

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2. Understand the Migration Path

Most Workflow Rules can be migrated to Record-Triggered Flows automatically using the tool. The concepts are nearly identical: evaluate criteria, then execute actions.

While the visual layout of Process Builder differs, the core functionality of evaluating conditions and executing immediate actions remains a key strength of Flow.

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3. Embrace Salesforce Flow Fully

If you’ve been putting it off, make the rest of 2025 the time you get comfortable in the Flow Builder. The mindset shift is the most significant aspect.  

Flow operates based on record triggers (before save, after save), schedules, and calls from actions and buttons, which is a more powerful and performant model than the old ways.  

The best way to learn is through hands-on experience. Start recreating a simple retired workflow inside a new Flow. You’ll quickly see how much more granular control you have over your logic and error handling.

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4. Prioritize and Migrate

Don’t try to boil the ocean. Create a simple project plan.  

Start with the easy ones: Migrate simple, non-time-dependent Workflow Rules first to build your confidence.  

Tackle complex Processes: break them down. Often, a single large Process can be split into multiple, more efficient and easier-to-debug Flows.

The Future is Flow

It’s okay to feel a little sentimental about saying goodbye to the tools that served us so well, but this change is ultimately positive. Flow offers superior performance, scalability, and control. It unifies our automation strategy and simplifies admin training.

Workflow Rules and Process Builder served the community well. Now, we transition to the tool that will define the next era of Salesforce automation.

The sunset date is set. Let's ensure you're prepared for it.

If you're concerned about migrating your existing workflows and processes to Flow, you don't have to tackle this transition alone. Reach out to us at https://www.echots.com/schedule-a-call, and we'll help you create a smooth migration plan that ensures your automations continue running seamlessly.