UI Action Override Field Not Working – What Is Its Purpose?

[prasathvima]

Hi Community,

I have a question about the purpose of the Override field in UI Actions.

I created a UI Action on a parent table and another UI Action on a child table using the same Action Name, but with different scripts/actions. The child table executes its own UI Action even when the Override field is not selected.

Because of this, I'm confused about the purpose of the Override field. If the child table's UI Action already replaces the parent behavior when the Action Name is the same, what additional functionality does the Override field provide?

Can someone explain the difference between:

• Same Action Name without Override

• Same Action Name with Override

and provide a practical example where the Override field is actually required?

Thanks in advance.

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @prasathvima 

Check this article:

UI Action Overrides

KB0686189 How to override UI Actions for an extended table 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt8-6-f8oe4

Override UI Policy on Child table? 

[prasathvima]

Hi @Tanushree Maiti 

Thank you for your response.

I have attached my test case screenshot. When I create a UI Action on the child table with the same Action Name as the parent UI Action, it already overrides the parent behavior even without using the Overrides field.

I also tested by selecting the parent UI Action in the Overrides field, but I could not see any difference.

Could you please explain what additional purpose the Overrides field serves and when it is actually required?

Thank you.

[prasathvima]

Hi @Tanushree Maiti ,

Thank you for your response and for sharing the references.

I have already referred to these articles and tested them. My question is a little different. When I use the same Action Name for both the parent and child table UI Actions, the child UI Action seems to override the parent even without selecting the Override field.

So I'm trying to understand the exact purpose of the Override field in this scenario.

Thanks again for your help.

[PoonkodiS]

Hi @prasathvima 

ServiceNow handles Form Buttons completely differently than List Actions (like right-click menus).

1. On a Form 

When you open a record (like an Incident), ServiceNow looks at the UI Actions. If it sees a Parent action and a Child action with the same Action Name, it automatically hides the parent button.

Because of this built-in rule, both settings look exactly the same on a form:

Configuration What you see on the Form

Without Override	Only the Child Button appears. (Parent is hidden automatically)
With Override	Only the Child Button appears.

2. On a List 

Now, imagine you change both of those UI Actions so they appear as List Choices (the dropdown menu at the bottom of a list of records) or List Context Menus (when you right-click a row in a list).

ServiceNow automatic hiding rule does not work on lists. This is where the difference happens:

Without Override

ServiceNow treats them as two completely separate buttons that just happen to have the same name.

• The Result: When you view a list, both buttons appear at the same time. A user looking at the list will see two identical options, causing confusion and duplicate execution bugs.

With Override

Checking the box 

• The Result: The parent option is completely suppressed. The user sees only one  button on the list, which runs your child script.

Summary: If your UI Action is only a button on a form, ServiceNow automatically hides the parent for you, making the "Override" checkbox feel useless. You need the Override checkbox when your UI Action is used in Lists, Related Lists, or Right-Click Menus to prevent duplicate buttons from showing up.