Reference Field Suggesting Deactivated Records from Historical Selections

[nitin gupta1]

Hello Everyone,

I need some help understanding the behavior of reference field suggestions in ServiceNow.

For example, we have an Assignment Group reference field. Previously, I frequently selected the group ServiceDesk_India, so the browser and reference field would automatically suggest this value based on my past selections.

Recently, this group was deactivated in the system. However, when I click on the Assignment Group field, the same deactivated group still appears in the suggestions. In some cases, I am even able to select the suggested value and submit the record successfully.

From my understanding, deactivated records should not be suggested or selectable in a reference field.

Questions- 

Is this behavior expected in ServiceNow?
Where are these historical suggestions stored (browser cache, platform cache, user preferences, etc.)?
What is the recommended way to prevent inactive reference records from appearing in suggestions?
Has anyone faced a similar issue and found a solution?

What I Tried-

Cleared browser cache and cookies.
Retested in a new session.

Unfortunately, the inactive value is still being suggested.

Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nitin Gupta

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@nitin gupta1 

Did you get a chance to check my above comment?

[Vishnu Surendra]

@nitin gupta1 

You can also override the Reference Qualifier inherited from the parent table for the Assignment Group field.

If you want this behavior to apply to all child tables, you can modify the original Reference Qualifier on the parent table.

If you want the change to apply to only a specific child table, you can use a Dictionary Override for that child table and override the Reference Qualifier there.

In either case, make sure to retain the existing Reference Qualifier conditions and add additional condition like as active=true  that only active Assignment Groups are returned.

For example:

<existing qualifier conditions>^active=true

This can help prevent inactive groups from being returned as reference suggestions or selectable values.

[vsrahul127]

Hi @nitin gupta1 ,

This is related to the Recent Selections feature of reference fields in ServiceNow.

The previously selected value can remain in the Recent Selections list even after the referenced record is deactivated. This is why clearing the browser cache/cookies may not resolve the issue.

ServiceNow has a KB article that explains this behavior and how to clear the Recent Selections:

Please refer this kb article
https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0747334

I hope this helps! If this solution resolves your issue, please consider marking this answer as Correct✔️