SALESFORCE CERTIFICATION
Certified Platform Sharing and Visibility Architect Practice Exam
Exam Number: 3709 | Last updated 14-Apr-26 | 1863+ questions across 4 vendor-aligned objectives
The Sharing and Visibility Architect certification validates your expertise in designing and implementing secure data access models on the Salesforce platform. It covers role hierarchy, sharing rules, organization-wide defaults, and team-based sharing patterns for complex organizations with thousands of users and strict data isolation requirements.
The largest portion of the exam — 30% — focuses on Declarative Sharing, covering org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, teams, and territory management. Roughly 20% of the questions address programmatic sharing, covering Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic. Visibility Features carries the heaviest weight at 20%, covering field-level security, record types, page layouts, and Lightning page access. Combined, these sections account for the lion’s share of the exam and reflect the skills employers value most.
Beyond the core areas, the exam also evaluates complementary skills. Questions on performance and scalability make up 15% of the test, which spans sharing recalculation, group membership, and large data volume sharing. The largest portion of the exam — 15% — focuses on communities and external access, which spans portal user access, external sharing, and guest user security. While narrower in scope, questions in these domains test applied judgment that crosses objective boundaries.
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Question #1 - Implement and monitor org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A financial services company has set the OWD for the Account object to Private. Sales reps should only see their own Accounts, but managers should see all Accounts owned by their subordinates.
Which setting ensures managers have the appropriate access?
A) Assign a permission set with ‘View All’ on Accounts to managers
B) Verify that ‘Grant Access Using Hierarchies’ is enabled for the Account object
C) Create a sharing rule for managers to access subordinates’ records
D) Create a criteria-based sharing rule that shares records up the hierarchy
Show solution
Correct answers: B – Explanation:
‘Grant Access Using Hierarchies’ automatically grants users in higher roles access to records owned by lower roles. This is enabled by default for standard objects. Creating sharing rules for this is redundant. View All is overly broad. Criteria-based sharing rules cannot dynamically target hierarchy. Source: Trailhead: Data Security
Question #2 - Lock down and govern Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A company needs to share Opportunity records with a cross-functional review committee that changes quarterly. They need read/write access to all Opportunities over $1 million.
What sharing mechanism should the architect implement?
A) An Apex sharing class that runs quarterly
B) Manual sharing by each Opportunity owner
C) A criteria-based sharing rule granting read/write to a public group containing committee members
D) A permission set with object-level read/write access
Show solution
Correct answers: C – Explanation:
Criteria-based sharing rules automatically share records matching specific criteria with designated public groups. The group membership can be updated quarterly. Manual sharing does not scale. Apex sharing adds code maintenance. Permission sets cannot restrict to specific criteria. Source: Trailhead: Data Security
Question #3 - Lock down and govern Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A healthcare company using Enterprise Territory Management needs clinical reps to only see patient records in their territory, while regional directors see records across all territories in their region.
How should the architect configure this?
A) Set OWD to Private, enable territory-based access, and use territory hierarchy for rollup visibility
B) Implement Apex managed sharing with territory logic
C) Create separate profiles for each territory
D) Use sharing rules based on a territory field
Show solution
Correct answers: A – Explanation:
Enterprise Territory Management integrates with the sharing model. Private OWD with territory assignments and hierarchy provides automatic rollup visibility. Profiles do not control record-level access. Sharing rules based on territory fields are less maintainable. Apex sharing adds complexity. Source: Salesforce Help: Tm2 Intro
Question #4 - Lock down and govern Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A security audit reveals that 5,000 Account records are manually shared with ‘All Internal Users’, bypassing the Private OWD.
What should the sharing architect do?
A) Change the OWD to Public Read Only
B) Hide the sharing button from all page layouts
C) Remove manual sharing records in bulk using Apex, and implement proper sharing rules
D) Delete the All Internal Users public group
Show solution
Correct answers: C – Explanation:
Manual shares should be removed programmatically and replaced with properly scoped sharing rules. Changing OWD surrenders security. All Internal Users is a system group that cannot be deleted. Hiding the button prevents future shares but does not remove existing ones. Source: Salesforce Docs: Apex Developer Guide
Question #5 - Implement and monitor org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A large enterprise with 50,000 users experiences sharing recalculation taking over 24 hours after adding a new sharing rule.
What should the architect recommend to reduce recalculation impact?
A) Switch all OWD to Public Read/Write
B) Defer activation to off-hours and optimize group membership and role hierarchy depth
C) Replace sharing rules with Apex managed sharing
D) Flatten the role hierarchy
Show solution
Correct answers: B – Explanation:
Scheduling recalculations during off-hours and optimizing group memberships and role hierarchy depth reduces computation time. Flattening the hierarchy is impractical. Public Read/Write eliminates security. Apex managed sharing has its own recalculation challenges. Source: Salesforce Docs: Large Data Volumes Guide
Question #6 - Lock down and govern portal user access, external sharing, and guest user security to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A consulting company wants Contact records related to an Account to be visible to anyone who has access to the Account.
Which setting controls this behavior?
A) Set the Contact OWD to ‘Controlled by Parent’
B) Set the Contact OWD to Public Read Only
C) Create a sharing rule to share Contacts with Account viewers
D) Enable a lookup sharing setting on the Contact-Account relationship
Show solution
Correct answers: A – Explanation:
‘Controlled by Parent’ inherits the sharing model from the parent Account. Anyone with Account access gets the same access to child Contacts. Separate sharing rules add complexity. Public Read Only is too broad. There is no lookup sharing setting. Source: Trailhead: Data Security
Question #7 - Enforce and audit field-level security, record types, and page layouts to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A pharmaceutical company needs field-level restrictions: sales reps can see ‘Prescription Volume’ but cannot see ‘Compliance Notes’ on the same page layout.
How should the architect enforce this?
A) Configure field-level security to hide Compliance Notes for the sales rep profile
B) Create two different page layouts
C) Use Dynamic Forms with a visibility rule
D) Remove the field from the sales rep record type
Show solution
Correct answers: A – Explanation:
Field-level security is enforced across all access methods — UI, API, reports, and SOQL. Page layouts can remove fields visually but do not enforce security via API. Record types do not control field visibility. Dynamic Forms respect FLS, but FLS is the primary control. Source: Trailhead: Data Security
Question #8 - Lock down and govern Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A company has Apex managed sharing reason ‘Project_Team_Share’ that grants Project record access. Users report intermittent access issues when added to new project teams.
What is the most likely cause?
A) The sharing reason is not configured correctly
B) The group membership cache has not refreshed
C) The Apex sharing is being overridden by a more restrictive sharing rule
D) The Apex sharing records are being inserted in a future method that has not completed
Show solution
Correct answers: B – Explanation:
Salesforce caches group membership calculations. When users are added to groups, there can be a delay before the sharing model reflects the update. Apex sharing inserts are synchronous unless coded otherwise. Sharing rules and Apex shares are cumulative, not overriding. Source: Salesforce Docs: Large Data Volumes Guide
Question #9 - Implement and monitor org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
An architect is designing the sharing model for a custom ‘Claim’ object. Claims adjusters see only their claims, team leads see all claims in their team, executives see all claims.
What OWD and sharing model should the architect implement?
A) OWD Public Read Only with role hierarchy for write access
B) OWD Private, role hierarchy for team lead visibility, and View All Data for executives
C) OWD Private, role hierarchy for team lead visibility, and a ‘View All’ permission set for executives on Claims
D) OWD Public Read/Write with field-level security for sensitive fields
Show solution
Correct answers: C – Explanation:
Private OWD ensures adjusters only see assigned claims. Role hierarchy grants team lead visibility. ‘View All’ on Claims gives executives read access without the dangerous ‘View All Data’ system permission. Public Read Only is too permissive. View All Data is overly broad. Source: Trailhead: Data Security
Question #10 - Implement and monitor org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
A company has implemented implicit sharing through Account relationships. A user with Account access can see related Contacts but should not see related Opportunities.
How should the architect restrict Opportunity visibility?
A) Verify the Opportunity OWD is Private and ensure sharing rules are appropriately scoped
B) Set Opportunity OWD to Private and disable Grant Access Using Hierarchies
C) Change Opportunity OWD from Controlled by Parent to Private
D) Create a restriction rule on the Opportunity object
Show solution
Correct answers: A – Explanation:
Opportunity has its own independent OWD — it is not ‘Controlled by Parent.’ However, implicit sharing grants Account owners read access to related Opportunities. Verify OWD is Private and review any sharing rules or other mechanisms granting broader access. Source: Salesforce Help: Sharing Owd About
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Exam mode & learn mode · Score by objective · Updated 14-Apr-26
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What the Certified Sharing Visibility Architect exam measures
- Implement and monitor org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
- Lock down and govern Apex sharing, share objects, and custom sharing logic to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
- Enforce and audit field-level security, record types, and page layouts to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
- Profile and accelerate sharing recalculation, group membership, and large data volume sharing to maintain fast response times and high availability even under peak traffic loads
- Lock down and govern portal user access, external sharing, and guest user security to safeguard sensitive data and enforce least-privilege access across the organization
How to prepare for this exam
- Review the official exam guide as your final preparation step
- Complete the Sharing and Visibility Architect trail on Trailhead — work through every hands-on challenge, not just the reading
- In a Developer Org, create a complex sharing model with multiple roles, criteria-based sharing rules, and team-based sharing — then test access from different user perspectives
- Audit the sharing model of a real Salesforce org at your workplace or volunteer organization to gain practical diagnostic experience
- Focus first on Declarative Sharing since it carries the highest weight at 30%
- Use PowerKram’s learn mode to study sharing scenarios with step-by-step explanations
- Build exam stamina with PowerKram’s exam mode timed practice tests
Career paths and salary outlook
Sharing and visibility expertise is critical for regulated industries and large enterprises:
- Salesforce Security Architect — $150,000–$200,000 per year, designing access models and ensuring data compliance (Glassdoor salary data)
- Salesforce Technical Architect — $165,000–$220,000 per year, owning platform architecture including sharing models (Indeed salary data)
- CRM Security Consultant — $130,000–$175,000 per year, advising on data access and compliance across CRM platforms (Glassdoor salary data)
Official resources
Follow the Sharing and Visibility Architect Learning Path on Trailhead. The official exam guide lists every tested objective and resource.