How to Create a List View Button to Delete Selected Records in Salesforce

Salesforce makes it easy to work with records in bulk using List Views, but when it comes to deleting multiple records directly from a List View — there’s no native “Delete Selected” button. That’s where this solution comes in!

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to create a custom List View button that lets users select multiple records and delete them with a single click using Visualforce, Apex, and StandardSetController.

🎯 Use Case

Let’s say you manage a custom object like Stocks__c and you want users to delete multiple records at once from a List View — just like a mass delete action. We’ll build that using a Visualforce page and an Apex extension.

🧱 Step 1: Apex Class to Handle Deletion

This Apex class is designed to process the selected records from the list view and perform the delete operation.

public class DeleteRecordExtension {
    List<sObject> sObjList;
    public boolean isDeleted { get; set; }
    Set<Id> recordIds;
    public String errorMessage { get; set; }

    public DeleteRecordExtension(ApexPages.StandardSetController std) {
        sObjList = std.getSelected();
        recordIds = new Set<Id>();
        for (sObject obj : sObjList) {
            recordIds.add(obj.Id);
        }
    }

    public PageReference deleteRecords() {
        try {
            if (sObjList.size() > 0) {
                delete sObjList;
                ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.INFO, 'Records deleted'));
                isDeleted = true;

                Schema.SObjectType sobjectType = sObjList[0].Id.getSObjectType();
                String sobjectName = sobjectType.getDescribe().getName();
                return new PageReference('/lightning/o/' + sobjectName + '/list');
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR, e.getMessage()));
        }
        return null;
    }
}

📄 Step 2: Create Visualforce Page

This Visualforce page will be invoked by the button and will trigger the deletion process on page load using the action attribute.

<apex:page 
    standardController="Stocks__c" 
    action="{!deleteRecords}" 
    extensions="DeleteRecordExtension" 
    recordSetVar="errorLogs"  
    lightningStylesheets="true">
</apex:page>

✏️ Replace Stocks__c with your object name if you’re working with another object.

🧭 Step 3: Add a Custom List View Button

1. Go to Setup → Object Manager → Stocks__c
2. Navigate to Buttons, Links, and Actions → New Button or Link
3. Set these values:
   • Label: Delete Selected
   • Display Type: List Button
   • Behavior: Display in existing window with sidebar
   • Content Source: Visualforce Page
   • Select Visualforce Page: the one you created above
4. Click Save

🧩 Step 4: Add Button to Search Layout

1. In the same object settings, go to Search Layouts for Salesforce Classic (or Search Layouts for Lightning Experience)
2. Edit the List View layout
3. Add your Delete Selected button to the List View Actions
4. Save

✅ Final Result

Now, when you go to a list view for your object, you can:

• ✅ Select multiple records
• ✅ Click the Delete Selected button
• ✅ Delete all selected records in one go

All this happens smoothly using a Visualforce page and a touch of Apex logic behind the scenes.

Demo

📝 Wrap-Up

With just a Visualforce page, an Apex class, and a custom list view button, you’ve built your own mass delete functionality in Salesforce!

💬 Got questions? Drop a comment below. Happy building!