# Platform Foundations Study Guide *Last updated October 16, 2026 ยท https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations* The CertifyForce Platform Foundations study guide covers the official Salesforce Platform Foundations exam outline in 12 units across all 4 exam sections, one unit per exam-guide topic. The exam itself has 40 scored questions plus 5 unscored, a 70-minute limit and a 62% passing score, and its largest section is Salesforce Ecosystem at 32%. Every unit is verified against official Salesforce documentation, cites its sources, and links to the practice questions that test it. Last updated October 16, 2026. ## Contents ### Salesforce Ecosystem (32% of the exam) - [Trailhead and other ways to learn Salesforce](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/trailhead-and-ways-to-learn-salesforce): Match a learning need to the right resource: Trailhead badges, trails, trailmixes, superbadges and certifications, a Trailhead Playground for safe practice, the Trailblazer Community and its groups, IdeaExchange and expert-led Trailhead Academy courses. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/trailhead-and-ways-to-learn-salesforce)) - [Customer 360 products and what they solve](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/customer-360-products-and-what-they-solve): Match a business use case to the right Customer 360 product: Agentforce Sales, Agentforce Service and Field Service, Experience Cloud, marketing and commerce, Data 360, Tableau, MuleSoft, Slack, and which Agentforce agent fits a job. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/customer-360-products-and-what-they-solve)) - [How companies use Salesforce](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/how-companies-use-salesforce): Why companies put their customer data, collaboration and department apps on one cloud platform: the shared CRM, custom apps with Flow and Prompt Builder, the trusted multitenant cloud with its APIs, Salesforce's values and 1-1-1 model, and AgentExchange for ready-made solutions. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/how-companies-use-salesforce)) - [Salesforce job roles and career paths](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/salesforce-job-roles-and-career-paths): Who does what in the Salesforce ecosystem: customers, partners and the Salesforce Economy, the Trailhead career paths from admin to architect, what an admin does day to day, and the Scrum Lead and product owner on a Salesforce Scrum team. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/salesforce-ecosystem/salesforce-job-roles-and-career-paths)) ### Navigation (28% of the exam) - [Search, favorites, App Launcher and navigation bar](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/search-favorites-app-launcher-and-navigation-bar): The four ways a user finds things in Lightning Experience: global search for any record, favorites for one-click shortcuts, the App Launcher for apps and items, and a navigation bar you can personalize, including temporary tabs. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/search-favorites-app-launcher-and-navigation-bar)) - [List views, Kanban and record pages](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/list-views-kanban-and-record-pages): How a user works with records once they find them: build, pin, share, edit and chart list views, move cards in Kanban, read a record page's details, related lists and activities, restore from the Recycle Bin, and know when a report beats a list view. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/list-views-kanban-and-record-pages)) - [Where customization happens: Setup and Object Manager](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/where-customization-happens-setup-and-object-manager): Customization happens in Setup, not on the pages users work in: Quick Find and the three Setup menu categories, Object Manager for fields, picklists and layouts, the Lightning App Builder for pages, and App Manager for an app's branding, navigation and utility bar. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/navigation/where-customization-happens-setup-and-object-manager)) ### Data Model (25% of the exam) - [Standard objects and how they relate](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/standard-objects-and-how-they-relate): How accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, cases and activities fit together: what each record stores, what lead conversion creates, how contacts relate to more than one account, and the difference between lookup and master-detail relationships. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/standard-objects-and-how-they-relate)) - [Data visibility: org-wide defaults to sharing rules](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/data-visibility-org-wide-defaults-to-sharing-rules): The four levels of Salesforce data access and the feature for each: login limits for the org, profiles and permission sets for objects, field-level security for fields, and org-wide defaults, the role hierarchy, sharing rules and manual sharing for records. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/data-visibility-org-wide-defaults-to-sharing-rules)) - [Data integrity: validation rules, required fields and duplicates](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/data-integrity-validation-rules-required-fields-and-duplicates): Which tool keeps bad data out of Salesforce: required fields for values every record needs, validation rules for formats and conditions, picklists (restricted and dependent) and record types for consistent choices, and matching and duplicate rules plus merging for duplicates. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/data-model/data-integrity-validation-rules-required-fields-and-duplicates)) ### Reports & Dashboards (15% of the exam) - [Reports: report types, formats and filters](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/reports-dashboards/reports-report-types-formats-and-filters): How a Salesforce report is built: the report type that sets its records and fields, the four formats (tabular, summary, matrix, joined), the filters that narrow it, and the charts, subscriptions and exports that share it. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/reports-dashboards/reports-report-types-formats-and-filters)) - [Dashboards: components, running user and refresh](https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-foundations/reports-dashboards/dashboards-components-running-user-and-refresh): How a Lightning dashboard turns source reports into charts, gauges, metrics and tables, whose access decides the data viewers see, and how folders, filters and Refresh keep it useful. ([markdown](https://www.certifyforce.com/md/study-guide/platform-foundations/reports-dashboards/dashboards-components-running-user-and-refresh)) ## Common questions about the Platform Foundations study guide ### Is the Platform Foundations study guide free? Yes. The full Platform Foundations study guide and practice question bank are free with a CertifyForce account: every section of every unit, reading progress and unlimited timed mock exams. Every unit's summary, "What the exam expects", "Key facts" and "Check yourself" sections can be read without an account. The AI tutor uses credits, as it does for every certification. ### How current is the Platform Foundations study guide? It is written to the current official Salesforce Platform Foundations exam outline, and each unit is checked against Salesforce documentation before it is published. The most recent update was October 16, 2026, and every unit shows its own last-updated date. ### How does the study guide map to the official Platform Foundations exam guide? There is one unit per topic in the official exam guide, grouped under its 4 weighted sections: Salesforce Ecosystem (32%), Navigation (28%), Data Model (25%), Reports & Dashboards (15%). Each unit quotes the exam objective it covers word for word. ### How do the practice questions link to the study guide? Each unit lists the reviewed practice questions that test it (151 questions are linked across the guide), so you can read a topic and practice it in one click. After a practice exam, every missed question links back to the unit that teaches it.