ServiceNow Header Explained: Navigation, Search & User Options | ServiceNow Fundamentals 2026

Main ideas / concepts

• Purpose of the video: Demonstrates how to navigate the ServiceNow interface, especially the header area (logo/Home, All Apps, Favorites, Search, workspaces, and user/admin options).
• Header navigation flow:
  • Top-left logo: Returns to the landing/home page (which can be configured differently per organization—e.g., dashboards).
  • All Apps menu: The primary place to find enabled application modules/records (e.g., users, groups, roles; changes; incidents).
  • Not everything appears in All Apps: For example, reports may not show unless manually placed, so you may need to save items to Favorites instead.

Methodology / workflow taught (Favorites + quick navigation)

Favorites usage (concept + how-to)

• Add items to Favorites:
  • Hover over an item in menus (like All Apps) to reveal a star icon.
  • Select the star to add the item to Favorites.
• Pinning menu items (left sidebar behavior):
  • Use the pin icon to keep an item “locked” in the sidebar.
  • Unpin by selecting the pin again.
• Manage/edit Favorites:
  • Choose More to open the Favorites configuration page (edit mode).
  • In the Favorites editor you can:
    • Change icon and color for favorites
    • Reorder favorites (and move items within groups)
    • Create groups of favorites
• Reordering within Favorites:
  • Drag items using the mouse (holding left button) to move them.
  • Items can be moved within groups or moved into different groups.
• Remove Favorites:
  • Click the favorite item (or corresponding delete control).
  • Confirm with “Delete” when prompted.
  • In the edit view, an X can remove items (as shown).

Using Favorites and History for fast return to filtered views

• What Favorites enables:
  • Clicking a favorite can take you back to a previously viewed page with the expected filter/query.
  • Example described: returning to a roles view filtered to roles containing “ITIL”, without re-navigating and reapplying filters.
• Favorites search within the Favorites context:
  • There is a search bar within Favorites; you can type queries to narrow results.
• History and pinning:
  • History is another navigation helper (the video notes pin options similarly apply).
  • The idea is quick access to prior work without repeated manual filtering.

Workspaces (single-pane-of-glass concept)

• What workspaces are:
  • A “single pane of glass” to do work in one place.
  • Goal: reduce switching between pages and favorites; content loads within the workspace screen.
• Recommendation:
  • If you’re new to ServiceNow, the speaker recommends using workspaces for easier navigation and faster workflow.
• Example workspace named:
  • The video mentions Service Operations workspace as an example of a ready-made workspace.
• Note on demonstration limitation:
  • The speaker says the ready-made workspaces weren’t configured in a way they could fully demonstrate in that recording environment.

Administrator/utility header options

Administrator section

• Shows administration-related pages such as:
  • Configuration Center
  • Subscription Management
• License caution lesson (admin importance):
  • Subscription/licensing changes matter; if licenses are redistributed and later audited, it can be expensive/problematic.
  • This is presented as an “important to keep in mind” warning.

Global Search

• Purpose:
  • Quickly locate and jump to records across types (incident/change/query numbers, etc.).
• Behavior described:
  • Paste an identifier (e.g., incident number, query number, change number) into Global Search.
  • It should display results that can open the corresponding record/page.
• Workspace note:
  • The results/navigation may look different depending on whether you are inside a workspace.

Scope selection (application scope switching)

• Purpose:
  • If multiple applications exist in the instance, you may need to switch scopes when making changes.
• Why it matters:
  • Changes must be saved under the correct application scope (especially when using mechanisms like update sets, mentioned as a workflow from earlier practice).
• Typical multi-environment workflow:
  • Development instance → Test instance → Production instance.
  • Use update sets to move changes between environments without recreating work.

Discussion (sidebar)

• Ability to create discussions inside ServiceNow:
  • Choose a record/context
  • Create topic and participants
• Speaker’s stance:
  • The speaker personally avoids it, preferring Slack/Teams/email as more effective communication tools.

Usage analytics

• Shows performance/usage metrics such as:
  • Page views
  • Users
  • Average duration
• Allows changing date range.
• Includes a link to User Engagement Analytics.

Help / documentation

• Provides links to:
  • Product documentation
  • Support documentation (if configured)

Notifications

• Where relevant notifications for the user appear.

Profile / impersonation

• Profile menu includes:
  • Ability to manage roles needed to impersonate other users.
• Impersonation lesson (practical use):
  • Impersonate a user to test fixes/changes instead of repeatedly asking the client to test.
  • After confirming it works for you, it’s likely to work for them as well.
• Profile page details (self-service):
  • Depending on permissions, users may edit limited self-service fields (name/email, etc.).
• Speaker notes the instance may be “frozen” in the recording, blocking some actions.

Settings section (configuration categories + examples)

• Settings are used to control:
  • Display options and user interface options.
• Common settings examples described:
  • Enable/disable adding form sections and related lists to tabs
    • Example: on an incident page, disable tabs to use a long scroll layout instead.
  • Load related lists in classic forms:
    • either with the form or after it loads
  • Add/adjust formatting:
    • whether lists have line breaks
    • compact spacing
    • related UI display options (“matching” referenced, likely accessibility/layout)
• Accessibility:
  • Play around with accessibility settings.
• Notifications inside settings:
  • Reduce email noise by configuring notification preferences.
• Debugging:
  • Mostly relevant for developers.
• Language and Regions:
  • Adjust date/time format.
• User Interface:
  • Change home page / landing page behavior:
    • dashboards vs default landing page vs other options.

Keyboard shortcuts & privilege elevation

Keyboard shortcuts

• Customize, view, or reassign keyboard shortcuts in settings.

Elevate the role (ACL/access control changes)

• Use case:
  • When modifying ACLs (access control lists) you may need to elevate privileges.
• Warning / safety guidance (major lesson):
  • Elevating roles can allow major permission changes across the instance.
  • Mistakes can expose sensitive data (e.g., PII) to unauthorized users.
  • Strong advice:
    • Be very careful when tampering with ACLs
    • Make changes in a byproduct / non-production environment first so mistakes aren’t broadly visible.

Closing takeaway

• The video covers how to navigate the ServiceNow instance, mainly through header elements and related tools.
• The speaker previews future videos on:
  • lists
  • forms / adjusting forms
  • dashboards
  • other topics in ServiceNow Fundamentals

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Speakers / sources featured

• Speaker: The unnamed creator/host of the YouTube video (“Hello everyone…”).
• Source referenced (product): ServiceNow (ServiceNow interface/header concepts; examples like Service Operations workspace).