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Custom Apps Guide

Updated

Custom Apps give each team a tailored Insightly experience, showing only the objects that team works with instead of the whole CRM.

On this page:

What Custom Apps are

Sharing one CRM with everyone in the company gets crowded. A Custom App is a separate, focused workspace containing only the objects a given team needs.

Insightly CRM Custom App Themes by Industry — Three side-by-side screenshots show Insightly CRM configured for different industries—Travel, Finance, and Partners—each with its own color scheme, navigation menu, and relevant data views. This illustrates how Insightly can be customized to suit different business types while maintaining a consistent interface structure.

Creating a Custom App

  1. Go to System Settings > Custom Apps and click New Custom App.
Custom Apps Settings Page in Insightly CRM — The screenshot shows the Custom Apps settings page in Insightly CRM, displaying an existing app called “Property Management” along with its last updated date. A red arrow highlights the “New Custom App” button in the top right corner, indicating how users can create a new custom application.
  1. Enter the name and description, use the Home Dashboard dropdown to select which shared dashboard is displayed on the app’s home page by default, choose a color, and click Change Icon to select an image to represent the app. If the chosen home dashboard is deleted later, the opportunities shared dashboard becomes the new default. Click Next.
Creating a New Custom App in Insightly — The screenshot shows Step 1 of the Custom App creation form in Insightly’s System Settings, where a user has entered “Customer Support” as the App Name (highlighted with a red arrow) along with optional fields for Description, App Color, and App Icon. This step is important because it establishes the basic identity and branding of the custom app before proceeding to further configuration.
  1. Add objects by selecting them from the Available Objects list and clicking the right arrow. You can add or remove any standard or custom object except the Home object, which is mandatory. Click Next.
Adding Objects to a Custom App in Insightly — This screenshot shows Step 2 of creating a custom app in Insightly CRM, where users select which objects (such as Emails, Contacts, or Leads) to include by moving them from the Available Objects list to the Selected Objects list using arrow buttons. A red arrow highlights the process of adding the “Emails” object, which is important for understanding how to customize the navigation and features visible to app users.
  1. Add profiles by selecting them from the Available Profiles list and clicking the right arrow to give those users access. You cannot remove administrators. Click Save Custom App. To access the app, click the square icon in the upper right of your screen.
Assigning User Profiles to a Custom App — This screen shows Step 3 of creating a custom app in Insightly, where administrators select which user profiles can access the app by moving them from the Available Profiles list to the Assigned Profiles list. The “Standard User” profile is highlighted and being moved to join “Administrator” in the Assigned Profiles column using the right arrow button.

Editing

Three things can be changed at any time by an administrator:

  • Details – Under App Details, edit the name and description. Under App Branding, edit the color and icon. Under App Defaults, select the Start Object, which determines which page opens by default when the app loads (the home screen or any object in the app; set to the home screen by default), select the default Home Dashboard, and choose a default list view for each object using the associated List View dropdowns. If an object is removed later, its list view setting is deleted and the dropdown is removed. Check Override Users Selected Dashboard to force the admin’s chosen dashboard onto every user’s home screen, and Override Users Selected List Views to force the admin’s chosen list views onto all users. Click Save.
  • Objects – add, remove, and reorder the objects the app contains. Only after an object has been added will the three-dot menu to edit, delete, or clone it appear.
Editing Selected Objects in Custom App — The screenshot shows the Selected Objects page within a Customer Support custom app in Insightly’s System Settings, listing three objects—Emails, Phone Calls, and Tickets—all marked as custom objects. An arrow highlights the “Edit Objects” button in the top right, which users would click to add or remove objects from the custom app.
Removing an Object from Selected Objects List — The screenshot shows the Selected Objects configuration panel for a Custom App called “Customer Support,” with “Organizations” highlighted and a red arrow pointing to the left arrow button used to remove it. This illustrates how to deselect an object from a custom app, which removes it from view for all users assigned to that app.
  • Profile assignments – add or remove which profiles have access.
Editing Assigned Profiles in Custom App — The screenshot shows the Assigned Profiles page for a Customer Support custom app in Insightly’s System Settings, with a red arrow pointing to the “Edit Profiles” button in the top right corner. This button is used to modify which profiles, currently showing only “Standard User,” have access to the custom app.
Removing a Profile from Custom App Access — The screenshot shows the Assigned Profiles settings page for a Customer Support custom app, where “Sales Rep” is selected in the Assigned Profiles list and a red arrow points to the left arrow button used to remove it. This would help a user understand how to revoke a user profile’s access to a specific custom app in Insightly CRM.

Deleting

From System Settings > Custom Apps, use the three-dot menu beside the app and select Delete this app.

⚠️ You cannot recover a custom app once it has been deleted. It will not appear in your recycle bin.

Custom Apps Settings List with Options Menu — The Custom Apps settings page in Insightly CRM displays a list of seven custom applications with their names, descriptions, and last updated dates. A three-dot options menu icon is highlighted in red next to the “Travel” app, indicating where users can access actions such as editing or deleting a specific custom app.
Deleting an App from Insightly CRM — A context menu is shown with two options, “Edit This App” and “Delete This App,” with the delete option highlighted in red. This illustrates how users can remove an app by right-clicking or selecting the menu on a listed item in the apps section.
Delete Custom App Confirmation Dialog — A modal dialog box appears asking “Are you sure you wish to delete this custom app?” with Cancel and OK buttons. This confirms that Insightly prompts users before permanently deleting a custom app to prevent accidental removal.

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