Form Enhancements

Forms get several enhancements from SN Utils, from features useful for all ServiceNow users to developer-focused tools.

Build List Filter from Form

CTRL-Click on field labels to build a list filter using current values.

Click on multiple labels (like Category, Assignment Group, Subcategory) to build a filter with those conditions. Clicking the generated link opens the filtered list in a new tab with the filter pinned.

CTRL-Click in the gray header bar to create a filter for the current record's Sys ID - a quick way to open the record in list view.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Disable Form Autofocus

ServiceNow automatically focuses the first editable field when a form loads. If that interferes with your hotkey workflow (e.g. you press / to trigger the slash popup and the keystroke lands in the form field instead), or if it scrolls long forms unexpectedly, you can switch the behaviour off.

Open the Manage page → Enduser Preferences → toggle Disable Form Autofocus. SN Utils then quietly blurs the auto-focused field shortly after the form renders. As soon as you click or type, your interaction wins — the toggle only suppresses the initial autofocus, not any focus you trigger yourself.

Paste Screenshots & Files

Adding screenshots normally requires saving to disk, opening a dialog, and uploading. With SN Utils, paste directly with CTRL-V on any record. Pro users can also paste files copied from Finder or Explorer the same way.

The Paste Pill

A small floating pill appears in the bottom-right corner the moment an image is pasted:

• Filename preview — a unique timestamp-based filename (e.g. screenshot-20260423-141205.png) is generated so two pastes never collide. Click the name to rename before the upload starts.
• 1.5-second countdown — the pill shows a thin progress bar and commits the upload when it completes. During the countdown, click Cancel (or press Esc) to abort.
• Tries to avoid duplicate attachments — in Agent Workspaces (HR AW, CSM AW, and other Next Experience rich-text editors) a single paste used to produce two attachments because ServiceNow and SN Utils were both handling the paste event. SN Utils now detects native paste handlers on those surfaces and steps aside, so in most cases a paste produces a single attachment. Classic UI16 forms behave as before. If you still see a stray duplicate on a particular surface, let us know which one.
• Confirm Pasted Screenshots setting — enabled by default under Settings → Screenshots. Turn it off to commit uploads immediately without the countdown.
• Accessibility — the pill announces its status via aria-live, respects prefers-reduced-motion (the countdown bar doesn't animate when reduced motion is requested), and can always be dismissed with Esc.

If your form has an Activity stream, the screenshot appears there immediately after the countdown commits.

This works both on Classic UI forms and when viewing records in Agent Workspace / Next Experience.

Pasting Files (Pro)

The same pill also handles real files copied from Finder or Explorer — not just PNG screenshots. Copy a PDF, a Word or Excel document, a JPG, a ZIP, or any other file, then paste it with CTRL-V on a record:

• Original name and type are kept — unlike a screenshot (which gets a generated screenshot_… name), a pasted file keeps its real filename, extension, and content type.
• Multiple files at once — copy several files and paste them together; they line up in a single pill as a queue and upload one after another, each with its own progress, preview, and delete control.
• File-type preview — documents show a file-type badge (e.g. PDF, DOCX) in place of the image thumbnail, and you can still rename before the upload commits.

Pasting files is a Pro feature; pasting PNG screenshots stays free for everyone.

Max Paste File Size

Under Settings → Forms → Screenshot Paste, the Max Paste File Size slider blocks pasted screenshots and files larger than the chosen limit before they upload, surfacing a clear error in the pill instead of a slow failed request. Leave it at 0 (the default) for no limit.

Attachment Preview

When a record has attachments, SN Utils opens a full-featured preview dialog so you can browse and inspect files without downloading them one by one.

Opening the Preview

• Classic UI — click the magnifying glass icon that appears next to the native attachment area on any form with attachments.
• Agent Workspace / Next Experience — type /att in the slash popup, or click the floating launcher pill that appears on records with attachments. The pill shows a live count and updates automatically when a screenshot paste or drag-and-drop upload lands on the current record. The launcher can be toggled globally from the preview's Settings popover.

The dialog is draggable, resizable (corner and sidebar resizers), and remembers its size between sessions. It follows the SN Utils theme (Dark, Light, or Match ServiceNow for Pro) and responds to full keyboard navigation — arrow keys, j/k, Home/End to step through files, Esc to close.

Viewers

• Images — transform-based zoom, pan, rotate, fit-to-window, 100%, and copy-to-clipboard.
• Text and code — syntax-highlighted Monaco read-only editor with language auto-detection (Pro).
• JSON — interactive tree view with copy-path / copy-value (Free and Pro), plus raw Monaco tab with search (Pro).
• CSV — themed, sortable grid with search, virtualized rendering, and Copy-as-TSV.
• PDF, video, audio, Office — rendered inline in a themed container.
• Email — RFC822 .eml parser shows headers and body inline; .msg files render as a themed table or fall back to a download card.
• Calendar — .ics files are parsed into a themed event grid.

Actions

Common actions live in the header and the sidebar:

• Open the attachment in a new tab
• Download the original file
• Copy link to the attachment record
• Delete (with a styled confirmation dialog)
• Inline rename — click the filename to rename in place (Pro)

Pro Features

When a Free-plan user clicks a Pro-only action, an in-dialog modal explains the feature and offers a one-click Start trial button (no credit card, 14 days).

• Drag & drop upload — drop files onto the dialog to attach them to the current record.
• Monaco editor — full syntax highlighting for text, code, logs, JSON raw mode, and XML (with pretty-print).
• Bulk actions — multi-select with a checkbox column, then zip download or delete in one go.
• Duplicate detection — groups files with the same extension and byte size so near-duplicates from repeated pastes are easy to clean up; click Select duplicates to toggle the selection.
• Advanced insights — log file Monarch highlighting, JSON tree search, XML pretty-print.
• Image gallery — thumbnail grid view for records with many screenshots.

License Badge and Settings

A compact license badge in the titlebar shows your current tier (Free / Trial / Pro / Enterprise). The Settings popover in the titlebar holds global preferences — whether to show the Workspace launcher pill, and the Pro feature overview for Free and Trial users.

A small /att hint is shown in the header as a reminder that the dialog can always be opened with the slash command in Workspace surfaces.

Who Edited This

Click the question mark icon (added by SN Utils) in the form header to see record metadata. The page scrolls to the top automatically when the panel opens so it's always in view, even on long, scrolled-down forms.

Shows:

1. Table and Sys ID
2. Created/Updated information, update count, and scope (for metadata)
3. Action pills: Show in list (filtered to this record), View data / View data (popup), Table Fields (opens the dictionary-field panel for this table's inheritance chain with on-form status), Technical Names toggle, Form Analyzer (Pro), and Record Atlas (Pro — opens the record as a live ERD)

View Data

View Data is a supercharged Show XML. Access it via:

• Slash command /vd
• Double-click on the question mark icon
• View Data tab in the popup

Features:

1. Basic record information and link
2. Search field
3. Option to hide empty rows
4. Additional info like field name and display value
5. Copy button for exporting to Excel
6. Record Atlas (Pro) — opens the record as a live ERD you can follow reference by reference

Double-Click to Edit Value

Double-click a field label to open the Field Editor popup showing the field name, table, and type.

For choice fields, you can toggle between a select dropdown and a raw text input using the toggle button. This lets you either pick from available choices or type a value directly. The editor also provides Copy and Dictionary buttons for quick access to the value and the dictionary entry.

This works for read-only fields too (admin only). Try changing a reference field to a Sys ID value.

Technical Names on Forms

Like lists, Technical Names adds valuable information to forms:

1. Field technical names shown next to labels (easy to identify dot-walked and cross-scope fields)
2. Choice values displayed after choice labels
3. View name at top (if not default view)
4. Click the cog icon that appears when hovering over a technical name pill to see the full table.field path, field type, and quick actions like Open Dictionary, Copy field name, Copy table.field, and Edit Field

List field values (like Watch List) are converted to hyperlinks to the underlying records, with a red X to remove values.

Advanced Features

Depending on field type, labels become hyperlinks:

• Reference fields link to the underlying record
• Translatable fields link to translations
• The ? behind UI actions links to the UI Action record

Header bar additions:

• Scratchpad - Shows scratchpad JSON
• Table fields - Shows fields per extended table and visibility status
• Toggle label - Try it!

For related lists, normal lists show the table name, while scripted relations show a link to the sys_relationship record.

Switch Scope

When viewing a metadata record in a different scope, click to switch scope with one click instead of making one-off edits.

Table-Specific Additions

Some enhancements only apply to specific tables:

• Tables (sys_db_object) - Link to open the collection dictionary entry
• PA Formula Indicators (pa_indicators) - Clickable links to indicators used in the formula

Script Recovery

SN Utils automatically backs up unsaved changes in script fields to the browser's session storage. If your session times out, the browser crashes, or you accidentally navigate away, your work is not lost.

How it works:

• Every script field on a form is monitored for changes. When you edit code, SN Utils saves a local backup after a short debounce (3 seconds of inactivity).
• The backup is stored per record (snu_script_<sys_id>) and tracks each script field independently, so multi-field records (e.g. a Business Rule with both Script and Condition) are handled correctly.
• When you reopen the record, SN Utils compares the server version with the local backup. If they differ, a yellow recovery icon appears next to the field label.

Recovering a script:

1. Click the recovery icon to open a side-by-side diff view showing the current server version (left) and your backed-up version (right).
2. Review the differences, then choose:
   • Apply Backup — replaces the editor content with your backup so you can save normally
   • Discard — permanently removes the backup
   • Close — dismisses the dialog without changes; the icon remains for later

The backup is automatically cleaned up when the editor content matches the saved version (i.e. after a successful save).

Settings: Script Recovery is enabled by default. It can be toggled via the scriptrecovery setting.

Full Screen Monaco Editor

When "Enable Code Editor buttons" is enabled, you can open a full-screen editor for code fields.

Versions Modal

For metadata forms without the Versions related list, SN Utils adds a link that opens a modal showing version history - no need to modify the form layout.