How to keep track of records using the follow functionality in Dynamics 365

Summary

One little known and little used function in Dynamics 365 CRM is the ability to “follow” records. It’s a great way to keep track of records without affecting the ownership of the record.

“Following” a record is very much like wanting to keep a note of a specific record. This is a great functionality to make use of when you have numerous records that you need to manage.

How do I follow Records?

You can follow a record in CRM in one of two ways:

1. The first way is within the record itself – there should be an action button for “Follow”:

2. The second way is from a list/View of records, which allows you to follow more than one record. You’ll just need to select the records that are of interest from the View. Again there should be a button for “Follow” (and “Unfollow”):

How do I see my Followed Records?

Once you have selected to follow a record, you can see all the records that you follow in the standard “Records I Follow” Views for the relevant record type:

As “Following” records has fallen out of vogue a bit, it’s possible your system administrator might have disabled the standard “Records I Follow” Views.

However, it’s straightforward to create Personal Views that replicate this functionality – just “Add a related Entity” to the filters on the Personal View and select “Follows (Regarding)”: