Get productive in Business Central

Path: Get started > Get productive in Business Central · tier official · system none · narrative reviewed (checked by Opus)

Overview

This section helps users work efficiently in Business Central. Its own pages cover finding things (Tell Me, Role Explorer, searching company data), entering data and dates, sorting and filtering lists, attachments and notes, notifications, error messages, switching company or environment, and changing basic user settings such as role, language, work date and time zone. It also has pages on performance, camera and location troubleshooting, Copilot, and on-premises intelligent insights.

Subtopics go deeper: personalizing pages, running and printing reports, changing the look of external documents with layouts, sharing data, using Microsoft 365 apps with Business Central data, and accessibility, shortcuts and touch gestures.

Start with Working with Business Central and Finding Pages with Tell Me for general orientation. Then go to the subtopic that matches the task, for example personalization for list layouts or the layouts subtopic for sales document appearance.

Key points

• Tell Me finds actions, pages, reports, data and help; with Advanced Tell Me enabled it uses AI semantic search. Role Explorer shows pages and reports per role.
• Sort, search and filter lists, reports and XMLports using modern or legacy search, filter operators and tokens such as %me and %user.
• My Settings sets role, company, work date, region, language, time zone and notifications; companies and environments can be switched via the company switcher, app launcher, My Settings or Company Hub. Language, document language and address formats are also covered.
• Mandatory fields show a red asterisk and block steps such as posting until filled in.
• Attachments, links and notes are managed in the FactBox Attachments tab, including line-level attachments.
• Notifications can be dismissed and configured with filter conditions; error messages are actionable and can be shared via Teams or email.
• Performance Profiler records snapshots and call trees to find bottlenecks; a separate page gives end-user performance tips.
• Copilot in Business Central (preview) answers questions with read-only access to company data, starting in version 29.

Subtopics

• Get the most out of Microsoft 365 apps (5 pages)
• Personalize Business Central (6 pages)
• Run and print reports (5 pages)
• Change the look of externally facing documents (14 pages)
• Share business data (4 pages)
• Accessibility, keyboard shortcuts, and touch gestures (4 pages)

More Learn pages

• Add attachments, links, and notes on records: Attach a hyperlink to a document or a website to a specific record, such as a customer or document.
• Change basic settings for the current user: Learn how to change some basic settings in Business Central, for example, your role and Role Center, company, work date, and time zones.
• Enter data in Business Central: Many general features help you enter data easier, faster, and more precisely. The basic principles and advanced features are described here.
• Entering dates and times in Business Central: Learn how to enter dates and times including various productivity tips such as shorthand, expressions, and ranges.
• Fields Required to Complete Processes: Learn about fields marked with a red asterisk, which indicates that they’re required and must be filled in to complete a process.
• Finding Pages and Information with Tell Me: This article describes how to use search to find actions, pages, reports, documentation, and data, and other apps and consulting services.
• Finding Pages and Reports with the Role Explorer: You can get an overview of all the business features that are available for your role, and for other roles, with the Role Explorer.
• Frequently Asked Questions about Tell Me: This article provides answers to questions that our partners and customers often ask about the Tell Me feature.
• Intelligent insights and cloud migration (on-premises only): In Business Central online, you have access to other online services, and you can get intelligent insights that are based on Azure AI, for example. Read on if you’re considering to migrate from on-premises to the cloud.
• Manage Notifications in Business Central: You can receive notifications that inform you about status changes or events, for example, an overdue balance or low inventory.
• Multilanguage and localization: Learn how language and region influence your experience in Business Central. Change the language of the user interface in My Settings.
• Performance Profiler overview: Describes how to use the Performance Profiler page in Business Central to troubleshoot slow processes.
• Performance Tips for Business Users: Learn tips for choosing a browser and network connection, and for working faster and more efficiently in Business Central.
• Search for Specific Data: You can use search when you want to find a specific record.
• Sort, search, and filter data in lists, reports, or XMLports: Learn to work efficiently in lists by searching across your data, sorting columns, and refining results using filter symbols and keyboard shortcuts.
• Switching to Another Company or Environment: If you do work for multiple organizations, you can quickly switch between the environments and companies.
• Troubleshooting - Accessing camera and location: This article describes how to troubleshoot access to camera and location information in Business Central.
• Use Microsoft Copilot in Business Central (preview): Learn how to use Microsoft Copilot to find data and get help in Business Central.
• Warnings and error messages: Learn how you can troubleshoot and find solutions to error messages when you work in Business Central.
• Working with Business Central: Describes how to interact with data in Business Central.

Business Central pages and reports

The pages, reports and queries this hub’s Learn pages name (ms.search.form, API reference), joined to the code by exact object id (data/index/docs-objects.json); a page shows the table it runs on.

• Page 1 “Company Information” · on Table 79 “Company Information”
• Page 3563 “Allowed Languages” · on Table 3563 “Allowed Language”
• Page 4010 “Intelligent Cloud”
• Page 8896 “Email Choose Scenario Attach” · captioned “Additional Attachments from Scenarios” · on Table 8911 “Email Scenario Attachments”
• Page 9000 “Whse. WMS Role Center” · captioned “Shipping and Receiving - Warehouse Management System”
• Page 9004 “Bookkeeper Role Center” · captioned “Bookkeeper”
• Page 9005 “Sales Manager Role Center” · captioned “Sales Manager”
• Page 9006 “Order Processor Role Center” · captioned “Sales Order Processor”
• Page 9007 “Purchasing Agent Role Center” · captioned “Purchasing Agent”
• Page 9009 “Whse. Worker WMS Role Center” · captioned “Warehouse Worker - Warehouse Management System”
• Page 9010 “Production Planner Role Center” · captioned “Manufacturing Manager”
• Page 9016 “Service Dispatcher Role Center” · captioned “Service Manager”
• Page 9017 “Service Technician Role Center” · captioned “Outbound Technician - Customer Service”
• Page 9019 “CEO and President Role Center” · captioned “President”
• Page 9020 “Small Business Owner RC” · captioned “President - Small Business”
• Page 9022 “Business Manager Role Center” · captioned “Business Manager”
• Page 9024 “Security Admin Role Center” · captioned “Administration of users, security groups and permissions”
• Page 9026 “Sales & Relationship Mgr. RC” · captioned “Sales and Relationship Manager”
• Page 9027 “Accountant Role Center” · captioned “Accountant”
• Page 9030 “Account Manager Activities” · captioned “Activities” · on Table 9054 “Finance Cue”
• Page 21 “Customer Card” · on Table 18 “Customer” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 31 “Item List” · captioned “Items” · on Table 27 “Item” · via Personalize Business Central
• Page 672 “Job Queue Entries” · on Table 472 “Job Queue Entry” · via Run and print reports
• Page 676 “Schedule a Job” · on Table 472 “Job Queue Entry” · via Run and print reports
• Page 682 “Schedule a Report” · on Table 472 “Job Queue Entry” · via Run and print reports
• Page 1480 “Excel Centralized Depl. Wizard” · captioned “Excel Add-in Centralized Deployment” · on Table 1480 “Edit in Excel Settings” · via Get the most out of Microsoft 365 apps
• Page 2650 “Email Printer Settings” · on Table 2650 “Email Printer Settings” · via Run and print reports
• Page 2750 “Universal Printer Settings” · on Table 2751 “Universal Printer Settings” · via Run and print reports
• Page 2752 “Add Universal Printers Wizard” · captioned “Add Universal Print Printers” · via Run and print reports
• Page 2753 “Universal Print Shares List” · captioned “Print Shares” · on Table 2752 “Universal Print Share Buffer” · via Run and print reports
• Page 2754 “Universal Printer Tray List” · captioned “Universal Printer Trays” · on Table 823 “Name/Value Buffer” · via Run and print reports
• Page 8900 “Administrator Main Role Center” · captioned “Administrator Role Center” · via Run and print reports
• Page 9650 “Custom Report Layouts” · on Table 9650 “Custom Report Layout” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 9652 “Report Layout Selection” · on Table 9651 “Report Layout Selection” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 9660 “Report Layouts” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 9663 “Tenant Report Layout Cfg” · captioned “Report defaults for theme and header-footer” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 9666 “Report Theme and Header/Footer” · captioned “Manage themes and header-footer layouts” · via Change the look of externally facing documents
• Page 9670 “Layout Theme and Header/Footer” · captioned “Theme and header-footer per layout” · via Change the look of externally facing documents

Source: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0). Descriptions are Learn’s own.