15 Types of Salesforce Testing Every CXO Should Know
Salesforce is a highly customizable platform, and with customization comes the risk of bugs, errors, or even system breakdowns. Fortunately, these risks can be mitigated through thorough Salesforce testing. It ensures that every customization, integration, and automation performs exactly as intended, without compromising system stability or user experience. However, with so many types of Salesforce testing and growing complexity, it’s often difficult to know which approach fits where.
In this blog, we’ll break down the key types of Salesforce testing, explain how they are broadly classified, and highlight real-world scenarios where each type proves most valuable, helping you build a strong testing strategy or make an informed decision when selecting the right Salesforce testing service.
Key takeaways
No single testing method covers every Salesforce scenario; each plays a unique role in ensuring platform stability and usability.
Custom features must be thoroughly tested to avoid breaking workflows and ensure smooth execution of business processes.
Beyond functionality, testing should also address security, accessibility, and performance to deliver a robust, enterprise-ready solution.
Test Automation reduces manual effort, speeds up releases, and improves accuracy in frequent deployments and complex projects.
💡Before diving into the individual types of testing in Salesforce, it’s important to understand how they are broadly classified.
Classification of Salesforce Testing
Testing in Salesforce can be classified into three main categories based on how the testing is conducted:
1. Black Box Testing: This type of Salesforce testing doesn’t require any code-level validation. Instead, it focuses entirely on the application’s external behavior, such as validating inputs, outputs, and user interactions, without examining the underlying code or logic.
Example: Clicking a “Submit” button on a form to check if a record is created correctly, without knowing how the button works behind the scenes.
2. White Box Testing: Here, the goal is to examine the internal workings of the application. Testers, often developers, validate specific code paths, logical branches, and data flows to ensure that everything behind the scenes works correctly and efficiently.
Example: Writing Apex unit tests to verify whether a trigger correctly calculates tax on an invoice before it's saved.
3. Gray Box Testing: A mix of both black box and white box approaches. In gray box testing, Testers have partial knowledge of the code and use it to validate both internal logic and external behavior.
Example: A QA tester evaluates how a Salesforce Flow handles payments processed through a third-party gateway like Stripe. While they don’t access the full codebase, they review the flow configuration in Flow Builder and verify that both the data inputs and payment confirmation outputs function correctly.
Furthermore, Salesforce testing can also be classified into functional and non-functional testing, depending on what aspect of the application is being tested.
1. Functional Testing ensures that the system operates as intended and meets business requirements. It verifies that features perform correctly and deliver the expected outputs.
2. Non-Functional Testing, on the other hand, evaluates non-functional aspects such as performance, usability, and security. This helps assess how well the system operates beyond its core functionality.
Note: All types of Salesforce testing fall under either white box, black box, or gray box testing approaches and can be further classified into functional or non-functional categories. Moreover, the tests can be executed manually or through automation.
Types of Testing in Salesforce
Salesforce testing involves various types to validate the application across different scenarios. Below are some of the key types of testing in Salesforce.
1. Unit Testing
Unit testing is the most precise way to validate code functionality. It involves isolating and testing individual units or components, such as Apex classes, methods, or triggers, to ensure they behave exactly as expected. These units are tested independently, without relying on other parts of the application.
In Salesforce, unit tests are a core part of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Developers write Apex unit tests during development to verify that each code snippet performs its intended logic and handles edge cases effectively. Below is the syntax of a Unit test in Salesforce.
@IsTest
private class myClass {
@IsTest
static void myTest() {
// code_block
}
}🛠️ Testing Scenario: Just after writing a trigger for applying discounts, a developer needs to validate that the correct discount is applied on the product checkout page when a promotional code is used. Unit testing ensures this logic works correctly across different product types and discount rules before the code moves forward in the deployment pipeline.
Note: Salesforce requires at least 75% code coverage through unit tests before deploying Apex code to a production environment.
2. Integration Testing
Integration testing ensures that different components and systems work together seamlessly within your Salesforce application. It verifies that modules, such as custom objects, triggers, and third-party integrations, function correctly as a group, maintaining overall system stability.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: A company integrates Salesforce with its ERP system (SAP) to sync order and inventory data. Integration testing validates that a new order created in Salesforce is correctly pushed to SAP, and real-time inventory updates flow back without delays or data mismatches.
3. System Testing
This testing phase evaluates the Salesforce application as a unified system, ensuring all elements, code functionality, UI, security settings, and overall performance work together as expected. It’s a comprehensive test conducted after integration testing in a production-like environment.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: To test a custom-built case management system in Salesforce, the QA team verifies that when a customer submits a support request, the platform correctly creates a case, assigns it to the right team, triggers a notification email, and updates the case status as it progresses. System testing ensures that the entire workflow functions smoothly.
4. End-to-End Testing
Salesforce End-to-end testing is performed to validate the entire user journey and experience, from the initial interaction to the completion of a full process. It ensures that all components, systems, and workflows seamlessly integrate and function as expected.
Unlike System Testing, which assesses the application as a whole, End-to-End Testing focuses on verifying every stage of user interaction, from login to task completion, to ensure smooth operation without interruptions.
This type of Salesforce testing confirms that all system components work together flawlessly in real-world scenarios, covering the full spectrum of user actions within the application.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: In order to test a complete sales process end-to-end, the QA team simulates a customer filling out a contact form on the website. The lead is captured in HubSpot, synced to Salesforce, assigned to a sales rep, and eventually converted into an opportunity. This ensures that the entire journey works seamlessly across all integrated systems.
5. User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Validated by business stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs) rather than Salesforce testers, this testing ensures that the system aligns with business requirements and performs as expected in real-world scenarios. With in-depth knowledge of business processes and workflows, these individuals are best suited to verify whether the solution meets user needs.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: To test a newly built leave management application, business users check if they can apply for leave, get approvals from their managers, and view their leave balance accurately.
Salesforce Testing Pyramid | Source: Shiftasia
6. Regression Testing
Regression testing ensures that new changes, such as updates, bug fixes, or feature enhancements, don’t break existing functionality. It involves re-testing previously validated components to confirm that the core application still performs as expected after any changes are made.
This testing type is critical in Salesforce projects where frequent configuration updates or code deployments are common.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: A new set of filters is added to the sales performance dashboard. The QA team reruns tests on existing reports and visualizations to ensure the update hasn’t impacted the overall layout or data accuracy.
7. Smoke Testing
This testing validates the basic functionalities of a Salesforce application to confirm it’s stable enough for further, in-depth testing.
Acting as the first line of defense, smoke testing helps catch critical issues early in the development cycle. If foundational features fail, the build is halted and sent back for fixes before any detailed testing proceeds.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: Once the custom expense approval app is built, the QA team runs a quick smoke test before moving to thorough system and end-to-end testing. They check if users can log in, submit an expense, and view the approval status. If any of these basic features fail, the build is sent back to developers for fixes.
Salesforce Smoke Testing | Source: LambdaTest
8. Sanity Testing
This testing is performed on stable builds that have recently undergone bug fixes. It is carried out to confirm that the original issue has been fully resolved and that no new bugs have been introduced in the process. Sanity testing is a quick, focused check, typically limited to the specific area that was just updated.
Note: In Salesforce, this type of testing is often considered a subset of regression testing.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: An app recently returned from development with a fix for incorrect discount calculations on product bundles. A sanity test is run to verify the fix and ensure other dependent processes, like related pricing logic, still behave as expected.
9. Exploratory Testing
Exploratory testing is an unscripted approach where testers use their creativity and experience to explore the Salesforce application. Unlike predefined tests, this method allows testers to learn about the application, uncovering unexpected bugs and usability issues that might not be identified through scripted testing.
Although it’s unscripted, exploratory testing is still structured and goal-oriented. Testers simultaneously design and execute tests, learning about the system as they go, which makes it particularly effective for identifying complex or hidden issues.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: While testing a newly built quoting tool, the testers have no formal documentation or clear understanding of the business process. Relying on experience, they explore the application freely, adding products, adjusting prices, and submitting quotes, while creating test cases on the go. This helps uncover issues that structured test cases might miss.
10. Usability Testing
Usability tests ensure how intuitive and user-friendly an application is for its intended users. It validates that users can easily interact with the application without facing difficulties or uncertainty. This Salesforce testing is essential in applications where users interact with various workflows, dashboards, and custom objects.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: To check the usability of an internal operations app, testers observe how easily team members can navigate the interface to access profiles, track escalations, and manage tasks. The goal is to ensure smooth interaction without unnecessary steps or confusion, helping improve adoption and user satisfaction.
11. UI testing
User Interface testing verifies that the graphical elements of a Salesforce application function correctly and provide a consistent user experience. It ensures that visual components, such as buttons, forms, input fields, and navigation elements, work as intended and align with the design.
Salesforce provides the UTAM (UI Test Automation Model) tool to automate tests in both Lightning Experience and the Salesforce mobile app.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: While testing a custom lead assignment app in Salesforce Lightning, the QA team checks that all buttons respond correctly, dropdowns display options as expected, and the layout adjusts properly on different screen sizes, ensuring a consistent and intuitive interface.
UI testing | Source: Applitools
12. Performance Testing
Performance Testing ensures that the Salesforce system operates efficiently under various conditions and can handle varying loads, such as increased user traffic and large data volumes, without experiencing performance degradation. It confirms that the system performs consistently under both normal and peak usage conditions.
You can identify bottlenecks and ensure optimal performance during high traffic or peak usage by conducting Salesforce performance testing, including load testing, stress testing, and scalability testing. These types of testing in Salesforce help evaluate system stability under different conditions.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: An e-commerce business runs its product catalog, customer service, and order processing on Salesforce. Before launching a festive sale, the QA team conducts performance testing to ensure the platform can smoothly handle thousands of users browsing products, placing orders, and receiving real-time updates, all without performance drops.
13. Cross-browser testing
Also known as compatibility testing, this testing is conducted during the development and pre-release stages to ensure that a website or application works across different operating systems (e.g., Windows, macOS) and web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: Students log in to an online learning portal built on Salesforce to access course materials, submit assignments, and check their grades. Since the portal is accessed from a mix of school desktops, personal laptops, and mobile devices, testing focuses on confirming that the portal functions smoothly on different OS and browsers without display or functionality issues.
14. Security Testing
Security testing ensures that your Salesforce application is protected from vulnerabilities and potential threats. It focuses on safeguarding sensitive data, enforcing proper access controls, and defending against attacks like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and unauthorized access. Unlike functional or UI-focused tests, security testing doesn’t evaluate how the application behaves; it verifies how well it resists breaches and protects critical assets.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: For industries like finance, security is paramount. Before launching an online customer portal built on Salesforce, a financial institution runs security tests to ensure that loan application data stays encrypted, access controls are tight, and the system can withstand threats like XSS or SQL injection.
To explore the top tools used to identify such vulnerabilities, check out our blog on 5 Tools for Salesforce ISVs.
15. Accessibility Testing
In Salesforce, accessibility testing verifies that your application is usable by everyone, including individuals with disabilities. This type of testing primarily focuses on the UI level, requiring testers to verify elements such as:
Proper Color Contrast
Alternative Text for Images
Descriptive Names for Links
And many other accessibility features. By aligning with accessibility standards like WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and Section 508 compliance, accessibility testing ensures that your application provides an inclusive experience to all users.
🛠️ Testing Scenario: For industry solutions like healthcare portals, where the user base may include individuals with disabilities, accessibility testing is a crucial part of quality assurance to ensure that patients can easily access, understand, and interact with critical information without barriers.
Quick Reference: Which Testing Belongs Where
To simplify the structure of Salesforce testing types, we’ve created this table to help you quickly understand which test fits into which category.
Functional Testing
| Testing Type | Purpose | Box Type |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Testing | Validates individual components or units of code, like triggers and classes. | White Box |
| Integration Testing | Ensures different modules and systems work together as expected. | Gray Box |
| System Testing | Tests the complete system for overall functionality. | Black Box |
| End-to-End Testing | Simulates real-world user journeys across integrated systems. | Gray Box |
| User Acceptance Testing (UAT) | Validates the system against business requirements by end users. | Black Box |
| Regression Testing | Rechecks that existing features work after changes or updates. | Gray Box |
| Smoke Testing | Quickly checks basic app functionality in early builds. | Black Box |
| Sanity Testing | Confirms bug fixes work and haven’t broken related functionality. | Black Box |
| Exploratory Testing | Investigate the app with a freeform approach to uncover unexpected issues. | Black Box |
Non-Functional Testing Types
| Testing Type | Purpose | Box Type |
|---|---|---|
| Usability Testing | Assesses how intuitive and easy the app is to use. | Black Box |
| UI Testing | Checks visual consistency and interface responsiveness. | Black Box |
| Performance Testing | Evaluates app speed, stability, and responsiveness under load. | Black Box |
| Cross-Browser Testing | Ensures app compatibility across browsers and devices. | Black Box |
| Security Testing | Verifies protection against threats and data vulnerabilities. | White Box |
| Accessibility Testing | Confirms usability for individuals with disabilities. | Black Box |
Conclusion
Testing is the backbone of a stable and high-performing Salesforce solution. By understanding the types of Salesforce testing, from unit to accessibility, you can ensure your application is not only functional but also reliable, secure, and user-friendly.
Whether you're building a complex enterprise solution or a customer-facing portal, applying the right testing strategy at each development phase is key to long-term success.
Need expert support? Our certified team at Concretio offers end-to-end Salesforce testing services, helping businesses across industries build with confidence and deliver seamless user experiences.
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