I need to capture old value of a custom field on account object which may not updated recently. We are not enabled history tracking for that field. So would it possible to retrieve old value of field from history object with out history tracking enabled? does PRIORVALUE() function works here?
1 Answer
If you haven't enabled field history tracking for this field, then no data will have been saved in the field history object for this field. So you won't be-able to find the data there.
The PRIORVALUE() function only works in specific formula and validation circumstances. The prior value only exists while saving a record, and is unavailable after that.
If you're lucky, then the data you are looking for still exists in other records. if you are for instance looking for an Account field, then the old value may still exist in the related converted Lead. You may try tracing where the data came from originally, and try to find it there.
It may be a good idea to start using field history tracking for your most important fields. You can also make a weekly export of all your data. That way if you ever need to find a specific value for a field you haven't tracked, then you might still be-able to restore something.
If this field value is really important to you, than you could consider contacting your Salesforce account manager. Salesforce also makes backups of your data, and they may be-able to retrieve the value. However, this will come at cost of $10.000. (Also that service will be retired July 2020, so don't depend on it in the future.)
