ServiceNow Certification Mock Exams
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In this post, we'll go over what the application navigator (also called filter navigator) is, how to use it, and a comprehensive list of shortcuts that you can use inside of it.
The application navigator will be the most-used part of ServiceNow for most developers and users. It's where your work starts and ends. It's located on the left side of the screen (or the top of your screen if you're on version Utah or later), and provides quick access to applications, modules, tables and more.
It contains three main sections:
Let's talk about each below:
The 'All' section is fairly self-explanatory. It's going to let you search for any application or module in the entire instance (disclaimer: it will only show the applications or modules that your account has access to view).
For example, if you type in 'incidents' then the navigator will show all relevant applications, modules, tables and more that include the word 'incident'. See the image below for an example:
The 'Favorites' section lets you easily access pages that you frequently view. You can add, remove and customize your list of favorites. To add a favorite, click on the star icon located next to the item in the application navigator. In the image below, we've added 'Incidents' to our list of favorites (notice the yellow star next to incidents)
You can also add to your favorites directly from a list or form. For example, let's say you wanted to add a specific Incident to your favorites tab. While on that Incident record, you can click on the context menu and then click 'Create Favorite' as shown in the image below.
The 'History' section keeps track of everything you've recently visited in ServiceNow. This can be super useful when you need to view a table, list or record that you were recently on. It allows you to avoid having to go back through the application navigator to find something that you're working on.
In the image below, you can see how the history section shows everything I've recently visited. It doesn't matter whether it's an individual record, a table, or a list - the history tab will keep track of it.
Now that we're familiar with what the application navigator is, let's go through a few common examples of how you'd use it.
This may be one of the most common things that users do in ServiceNow. Whether you're a developer, help desk technician, or even a CEO, you might need to navigate to a list of all Incidents in the platform.
To do this, you'd simply type 'incident' into the navigator and then click on 'All' as shown below:
You can also see that there are several different choices for 'Incidents'. This is because you can get a different version of the Incidents list depending on which one you choose. For example, clicking 'Incidents' under the Self-Service module will also open a list of incidents, but it will only show incidents that were created on your behalf.
It's important to note that the popular nomenclature for telling others how you navigated to a certain spot in the platform is to use the > icon. For example, if you navigated to 'Incidents' under the 'Self-Service' module, then you would say you went to 'Self-Service > Incidents'. This may seem unnecessary, but as you get into pages that are located several modules deep, it can be helpful to have a guide on how to navigate there.
You can navigate directly to a table in ServiceNow by using the application navigator. To do this, you can enter the table name followed by .list into the 'All' tab and then click enter. For example, if you wanted to navigate to the User [sys_user] table, then you would go to 'All' and then type sys_user.list and click enter (as shown below).
Once you click enter, you'll be taken directly to the user table. It's a convenient shortcut to navigate to any table in your ServiceNow instance.
There are other shortcuts available in the navigator and we'll go over each below.
As you saw above, entering a specific dialogue into the navigator can take you directly to where you want to go. Let's go over the shortcuts offered in the application navigator.
Opens a list view for the table that you enter, inside the current tab
Example: sys_user.list will open up the user table inside of your current tab
Same as above, except it will open the list view for your table in a new tab. The difference is that 'list' is now all caps.
Example: sys_user.LIST will open up the user table inside of a new tab
Opens up a list of all configurations for a specific table. It's useful if you need to see things like Client Scripts, Business Rules, Notifications, ACLs and more for a table in the current tab
Example: incident.CONFIG will open up a list of all configurations for the Incident table in the current tab
Same as above, except it will open in a new tab
Example: incident.CONFIG will open up a list of all configurations for the Incident table in a new tab
Opens up a new form for the table you enter in the current tab. You can use either .do or .form - there is no difference between them.
Example: incident.do or incident.form will open up a new form for you to create a user (in the current tab)
Same as above, except it will open in a new tab. Also, .do does not work in all caps - only .FORM will work.
Example: incident.do or incident.form will open up a new form for you to create a user (in a new tab)
Bonus shortcuts (keyboard shortcuts):
Ctrl+Alt+F will place your cursor inside of the navigator
Ctrl+Alt+C will expand/collapse your navigator. If you're on Utah or later (aka your navigator is at the top), then it will place your cursor inside of the navigator.
The application navigator is a small part of ServiceNow, but its importance cannot be overstated. Taking the time to learn shortcuts and how to properly use the navigator can save you hundreds of hours over the course of your career. It's a small piece of the toolkit to becoming a developer, but important.
We hope this post helped you increase your knowledge on the navigator and comes in handy when you use ServiceNow going forward. Now, go forth and conquer!
