Cross-channel favorites

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated April 15, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Cross-channel favorites

    The Cross-channel favorites feature in ServiceNow Australia release enables employees to quickly access frequently used content across multiple portals like Employee Center and MESP. Favorites are available for Requests, Articles, and Applications content types, with Application favorites exclusive to Employee Center Pro customers. Users can mark content as favorites from various pages and widgets, making it easier to retrieve important items directly from the My Favorites widget or global navigation links.

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    Key Features

    • Favorites Access Points: Employees can favorite content from topic pages, catalog detail views, knowledge articles, service catalog pages, My Applications pages or widgets, and Recommended for You widgets.
    • My Favorites Widget: Displays all favorited items on the Employee Center home page, supporting sorting (by recently accessed, date added newest or oldest) and view modes (card and list). It appears only after adding favorites but can be configured to show when empty.
    • Real-Time Sync: Favorites sync instantly across widgets on the same device; manual refresh is needed when adding favorites across devices (e.g., mobile to web).
    • Customization: The favorite icon can be customized via Service Portal quick start configuration. User permissions control visibility of favorite topics based on availability rules.
    • Configuration Options: Administrators can configure favorites sorting order and manage availability through user criteria.

    Troubleshooting and Management

    • Ensure the latest plugins are installed and the spportal table’s Enable favorite flag is set to True.
    • Review root cause analyses (RCAs) for favorites-related issues during upgrades.
    • Note that customizations may impact favorites functionality and display.
    • Favorite applications are not visible in the Now Mobile app.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This capability streamlines employee productivity by providing quick, personalized access to frequently used service portal content. It supports organizational extensibility and security by respecting user permissions and is customizable to align with company branding and user experience preferences. Administrators can effectively manage and troubleshoot favorites to ensure consistent performance across channels.

    Cross-channel favorites capability provides quick access to the content the employees use frequently and offers extensibility for BUs.

    Employees can view and access their favorite content directly from the My Favorites widget on the Employee Center home page or from the My Favorites link on the global navigation bar.​

    By default, favorites (sp_favorite) are enabled for Employee Center and MESP portals​ for Requests, Articles, and Applications content types.
    Note:
    The Favorites option for Applications is available to only EC pro customers as App launcher is an EC Pro feature.
    Employees can see the favorites icon on the following types of pages or sections:
    • Topic page
    • Catalog page detail view
    • Knowledge page detail view
    • Service catalog page
    • My applications page
    • My applications widget
    • Recommended for you widget
    You can set up the favorite card details and use the default favorite icon default favorite icon default without selection to bookmark content as your favorites. When your employees mark content as favorites, the favorite icon appearance changes to default favorite icon default with selection.
    Note:
    To change the icon, go to Service Portal > Portals > Employee Center > Quick start configuration, and update the icon.

    My Favorites

    You can access all your favorite items on the widget from My Favorites of the Employee Center home page header.​ Browse the list of your favorites, sort by date or recently, and see card view and list view.

    The My Favorites widget appears only when you mark some content as your favorite. However, you can show the empty favorites widget on the home page when you select Show empty state from the instance options.

    Note:
    The my Favorites widget syncs instantly with other widgets in real-time on the web. However, when adding favorites items across devices (example: mobile to the web), a manual refresh is required to reflect the latest changes — Reload the page on web or Pull to refresh on mobile.

    Favorites sorting

    You can configure the sort order of the favorite items using instance options. On configuration, your employees can sort the favorites from the favorites section in one of the following ways:
    • Recently Accessed
    • Date Added (newest)
    • Date Added (oldest)

    To fix issues with alphabetical sort order of favorites, see KB1348001.

    Favorites and topic security

    You can configure user permissions such as Available for and Not Available for. When the favorite topic is not marked available for the user, the topic isn't visible from My Favorites and on the favorites widget.

    For more information, see Enable user criteria for topics.

    Favorites troubleshooting

    Follow these steps to troubleshoot issues with Favorites:
    • For upgrades, you can see the RCAs related to favorites.
    • Confirm you install and update the latest plugins.
    • On the sp_portal table, set Enable favorite value to True.
    • Remember, any customizations may impact the display and functionality of the favorites.
    • Favorite applications cannot be viewed from Now Mobile.