A Change Set is a native Salesforce tool for deploying customizations, such as custom objects, fields, Apex classes, Flows or automation from one Salesforce organization to another, like from a sandbox to a production environment. Change Sets are most often used for testing new functionality without impacting the Production environment and Users who login daily to work.
A Change Set acts as a container for metadata—configuration and code—but does not transfer data, like customer records. There are two types: outbound change sets, created in the source org to send changes, and inbound change sets, which are received in the target org to deploy the changes.
How Change Sets Work
- Create the Change Set in the Source Org: You start by creating an Outbound Change Set in the org where you've made your customizations, typically a sandbox.
- Add Components: You add the specific customizations (components) you want to move, such as new Fields, custom Objects, Apex classes, Report Types, Profiles, Page Layouts, Flows, etc.
- Upload to the Target Org: The Outbound Change Set is then uploaded to the receiving org, where it appears as an Inbound Change Set.
- Deploy to Production: From the inbound change set, administrators can deploy the changes to the target environment, such as a production org.
See also: How to Allow Inbound Change Sets
Review these other native Salesforce Help Articles on this topic:
Deploy change sets from sandbox to production
Change Sets Best Practices
Here also are videos that could be helpful:
How to Create an Outbound Change Set | Salesforce
How to Add Components to a Change Set and Deploy | Salesforce