The page inspection tool in Business Central lets you see every field behind any page. This includes hidden fields and system fields – and no coding or developer access is needed.
Every page in Business Central pulls its data from an underlying database table. Most fields from that table appear on the page by default. However, some fields stay hidden – BC does not show them on the page and you cannot add them through personalization. The page inspection tool in BC gives you access to all of them. Specifically, it shows the full list of fields for any record you are viewing. This covers fields that appear on the screen and fields that do not.
What Page Inspection Is in Business Central
Page inspection is a built-in panel that opens on the right side of the screen. It shows the page name, the underlying table, and a list of all fields on that table. For each field, it also shows the current value stored on the record you are viewing.
Developers use the tool regularly for troubleshooting. However, it is just as useful for power users and functional consultants. Also, it works on every page in BC – not just specific document types. So you can open the tool on a sales order, a customer card, a journal line, or any other page.
How to Open the Inspection Panel
To open page inspection, press Ctrl + Alt + F1 on your keyboard while on any page in BC. A panel opens on the right side of the screen. At the top, it shows the page name and the source table. Below that, it lists all the fields and their current values for the record in focus.
No setup is required. Additionally, the panel updates as you navigate. If you move between records on a list, the field values in the panel change to match the selected record. To close the panel, press Ctrl + Alt + F1 again.
What the Page Inspection Panel Shows
The panel lists every field on the underlying table – not just the ones visible on the page. For example, on a sales order you can see the customer number, the posting date, the document date, and many posting group fields. Some of these appear on the page already. Others do not. Also, clicking a field in the panel highlights the corresponding field on the page if it is visible.
System Fields in Page Inspection
One of the most useful parts of page inspection is access to system fields. BC adds these fields to every table automatically. They never appear on the page but they always hold data. The four key system fields are Created At, Created By, Modified At, and Modified By.
These fields tell you when a record was first created, who created it, and when it was last changed and by whom. For example, if a sales order appears to have changed unexpectedly, the Modified At and Modified By fields in the panel show exactly when the change happened and which user made it. Consequently, you can track down data issues without a separate audit log report. Also, these values update live – as soon as you save a change on the record, the system fields in the panel reflect it.
In practice, system fields are among the most frequently requested pieces of information during a support call. For instance, a manager may ask who approved a purchase order or when a journal entry was posted. In both cases, page inspection gives you the answer directly from the record without running a report or contacting a developer. Furthermore, you do not need any special permissions to view system field values – any BC user can open the panel and read them.
Searching for Fields in the Panel
The field list in the panel can be long. To find a specific field quickly, use the filter box at the top of the page inspection panel. Type part of the field name and the list narrows to matching results on its own. For example, typing posting shows all fields with the word posting in their name. This approach is much faster than scrolling through the full list.
Furthermore, this filter is especially useful when you already know the name of the field you are looking for. You can type just a few characters and find it in seconds. Moreover, if you click a field in the list, BC highlights that field on the page if it is currently visible. So you can quickly confirm which on-screen field corresponds to the underlying table field.
Inspecting Subforms and Different Page Areas
On pages with subforms – such as the lines section of a sales order – the page inspection panel changes when you click on a line. Specifically, it switches from the sales order header fields to the sales order line fields. The panel header updates to reflect the subform name.
This means you can inspect both the header and line records on the same page just by clicking in the right area. Additionally, as you move from one line to another, the values in the panel update to reflect the selected line. So you can compare field values across different lines without leaving the page. For example, you might check the posting groups on one line and then switch to another line to see if they differ.
Practical Tips for Using Page Inspection Effectively
There are a few habits that make page inspection even more useful day to day. First, get comfortable with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + F1 – it is much faster than navigating through menus. Second, use the filter box in the panel whenever you are looking for a specific field. In practice, typing just two or three characters narrows the list quickly. Third, remember that the panel always reflects the currently selected record – so if you click on a different row in a list, the values update immediately without reopening the panel.
Additionally, page inspection is especially useful before contacting support. Before you raise a ticket about a data issue, open the panel and note the field name and current value. As a result, the support team receives precise information and resolves the issue faster. Moreover, when working with a developer to build a customization, you can use page inspection to identify the exact field name on the underlying table – which is the same name a developer needs to reference in code.
Wrapping Up: Page Inspection in Business Central
The page inspection tool is one of the most useful built-in tools in BC. It needs no setup, no code, and no developer access. You press Ctrl + Alt + F1 and the full field list for any page appears on the right. From there, you can check field values, view system fields, filter the list, and switch between page areas just by clicking.
In short, whenever you need to understand what data is on a record – or why something is behaving unexpectedly – page inspection is the fastest place to start. Moreover, once you know the shortcut, you will find yourself using it regularly to confirm data and troubleshoot issues on the spot.
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