Business Central slow? Here's how to find the cause and fix it.

Introduction

More and more organizations are working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud. The system is powerful, but in practice users often struggle with slow pages. A card that takes too long to open, a list that freezes when searching, or a record that switches sluggishly.

What at first glance seems like just a few seconds quickly adds up to lost hours. That time reduces productivity, slows down processes, and creates frustration across the organization. Ultimately, it can even lead to missed orders, delayed financial closings, and dissatisfied teams.

Problem Statement

The core question is simple: why is Business Central sometimes so slow?

The cause usually doesn’t lie with “the system as a whole,” but with specific bottlenecks in setup or usage. Without insight into these bottlenecks, optimization is difficult, and slowness is quickly accepted as a given.

Analysis of the Causes

Based on experience, we see a number of recurring causes:

• Too much customization and heavy extensions
  Every extra trigger or field requires computing time. Especially with poorly designed extensions, this can dominate performance.

• FlowFields that calculate everything
  Totals and calculated fields are reloaded every time. That sounds convenient, but it puts a heavy load on performance.

• Overloaded FactBoxes
  A lot of information in the right-hand column may seem useful, but often causes delays when opening pages.

• Searching in lists without filters
  The default search function scans broadly, which in large datasets can lead to freezes.

• Data that is never cleaned up
  Old ledger entries or documents remain available and make lists heavy and slow.

• Design and indexing
  Pages that sort on non-indexed fields or triggers that unnecessarily load everything.

• Local factors
  Sometimes the issue isn’t with Business Central itself, but with the user’s browser or network.

Practical Tools

To determine what exactly is happening, there are two tools within Business Central that provide insight:

• Page Inspection: shows which table and fields a page loads, including FlowFields and extensions. This quickly reveals whether a page is retrieving too much unnecessarily.

  Goal: gain insight into the source of the page, the fields (including FlowFields), and which extensions influence the page.

  How to proceed:

  1. Open the slow page.

  2. Press Ctrl + Alt + F1 (or via Help → Inspect pages and data).

  3. In the right-hand panel, review:

     • Table & Page: which table and page are the source?

     • Fields: which fields and FlowFields are being loaded?

     • Extensions: which extensions add extra fields or components?

  4. Note anything remarkable: many FlowFields, many FactBoxes, or multiple extensions adding data?

• Performance Profiler: records where time is spent when opening or performing actions. This shows whether delays stem mainly from the base application or from a specific extension.

  Goal: measure where time is spent when opening a page or executing an action.

  How to proceed:

  1. Go to Help → Troubleshooting → Analyze performance.

  2. Click Start.

  3. Perform the slow action (open page, switch record, apply filter).

  4. Click Stop.

  5. Analyze the results:

     • distribution of time between the Base Application and extensions,

     • details on which functions or operations cause delays,

     • note the biggest ‘culprits’ and the context in which they occur.

Using these tools requires no technical background and helps you approach an IT partner with facts.

Self-Diagnosis: a Practical Checklist

Advice: How to Approach It
Experience shows that with a few targeted steps, you can often regain a lot of speed. Our recommendations:

• Start small
  Remove unnecessary FlowFields and FactBoxes. This delivers immediate, noticeable improvements.

• Make smart use of filters
  Train users to work with the Filter Pane and provide saved views. This prevents the search function from being overloaded unnecessarily.

• Clean up historical data
  Apply retention policies and archive old documents. This reduces the size of the dataset used daily.

• Review extensions critically
  Keep customizations lean and have heavy triggers rewritten. Ask your partner to check whether certain logic could better run in the background.

• Optimize the design
  Ensure pages use indexed fields for sorting and filtering.

• Rule out local causes
  Have users test with a modern browser and stable connection before making changes to the application itself.

Future Vision: What Good Looks Like
A well-optimized Business Central means:

• Pages open within two seconds.
• Switching records feels instant and smooth.
• Lists respond quickly to filters without delays.
• Users experience less frustration and can get their work done faster.
• Financial closings proceed without unnecessary delays.

By making performance optimization a structural part of management, you ensure that Business Central grows with your organization instead of holding it back.

Conclusion: slow Business Central pages are not a given. With insight, cleanup, and smart choices in setup and usage, you can turn a frustrating experience back into a smooth-running system.