by Doug Gardner 
It’s been a while in coming by Salesforce is finally banging the last nail into the attachment coffin in the upcoming Spring ’18 release.
The first step was the arrival of Files, the next the confirmation that attachments would not added to Lightning, and now finally the ability to add attachments to a record is going to be removed.
This is a good thing overall as Files can be linked to multiple records (think Contact, Opportunity and Account) and are more versatile. What does this mean for people who rely on attachments as part of their business processes? Well firstly it is worth noting that your attachments will not be deleted and will still be visible. However, there are some steps you will want to take, these are:
- Add the Files related list to all page layouts that currently show Attachments.
- Tell your users! It might sound obvious but sending round a quick video or user guide will be essential to a smooth transition.
- Check your automations/code. If you have any automations which require certain attachments to be uploaded before stages can be altered for instance then they will need to be altered. It is also worth checking your code in case you have Visualforce pages which create attachments or apps which rely on or create attachments.
- Consider transferring your attachments to Files. If you are looking to move to Lightning at any point it would be best to do this anyway and there is now a recommended app for doing this which can be found here.
- Look at how you could make more of Files. There is a helpful page here to show you more about them.
This might prove to be a good time to stop using attachments completely once you have carried out the steps above. If so then go for it, the way they tie in with Assets and link so well to Account level from Opportunities is reason enough. When you add to this the fact they use less storage (lower costs) and that they will no longer be supported, you are left with strong arguments to make the change.