The quick answer
Go to Setup > Support > Support Preferences, open the External subtab, check Create New Lead on No Match, and click Save. From then on, a case submitted through a published online case form from an email address NetSuite can't match creates a lead and files the case under it. With the box cleared, that case is expected to land on the anonymous customer set on the case profile instead. The setting only affects submissions made after you save it.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
You need case management turned on and a role that can edit Support Preferences and view online case forms, the Leads list, and cases. You also need an online case form with Enable Online checked, saved, because that's what makes its public link work. The form's Default Case Profile, or your account's default profile when that's blank, decides which anonymous customer receives an unmatched case while the preference is cleared. Check Anonymous Customer - Online Form on that profile (Setup > Support > Case Profiles) so you know which record to expect. The screenshots show that profile's placeholder, Web Case - Anonymous.
This setting covers cases from an external case form, which means an anonymous visitor on the web. It doesn't change how other cases arrive. A logged-in Customer Center user is already a known customer. Inbound email capture does its own matching, and an unknown sender there still goes to the anonymous customer on the case profile. A case a rep enters by hand doesn't use it either.
For the test, use an email address that isn't on any customer, lead, or contact. If the address matches a record, NetSuite uses that record and creates nothing, which looks exactly like the setting not working. What counts as a match depends on the form's search-enabled fields and its duplicate settings (Handle Duplicate Records and Use Duplicate Detection Criteria on Set Up Workflow). Workflows and scripts can change the result too, so check the saved records at the end instead of assuming. The record numbers, counts, and status values below come from the example account. Yours will differ, so compare the pattern, not the numbers.
01. Review the External preferences
Go to Setup > Support > Support Preferences and click the External subtab. It has three settings.
External Case Form Redirect URL is required. It's the page the submitter's browser goes to after sending a case, here https://northcove.example/thanks. Default Customer Center Case Form is blank, so Contact Support in the Customer Center uses NetSuite's default external case form. Create New Lead on No Match is cleared. At this point a web case from an unknown address is expected to be filed under the anonymous customer, which is the Anonymous Customer - Online Form field on the case profile. In this account that's Web Case - Anonymous.
02. Turn on lead creation
Check Create New Lead on No Match and click Save. Cases already filed under the anonymous customer stay where they are. Only new submissions follow the new setting.
03. Check the Leads list first
Go to Lists > Relationships > Leads. Here the list shows 5 leads. One of them is Web Case - Anonymous, the shared placeholder that's saved at a lead status, which is why it appears on this list. There's no Owen Hartley, and no lead has the email address the test will use. That before state is what lets you tell afterward whether the setting created a record.
04. Find the public form address
Go to Setup > Support > Online Case Forms. The list shows Contact Support with Enable Online set to Yes. Without Enable Online, the public link doesn't work.
Click View on the form and open its Set Up Workflow subtab. Redirect to URL is blank on this form, so it sends visitors to the External Case Form Redirect URL from Support Preferences. That's how this account is set up. Depending on your release and form, the field may expect a value, and if your form sets its own URL, test which page a visitor reaches before you rely on either one.
Then open the form's External subtab and copy the Publishable Form URL. It's a NetSuite-hosted page meant for visitors who aren't signed in. The link is specific to the account, so this guide doesn't show it.
05. Submit a case as the visitor
Open the Publishable Form URL in a private window or a browser that isn't signed in to NetSuite. A signed-in session can change how NetSuite matches the submitter. Enter the subject, First name, Last name, Email, Phone, and a message. Here that's "Booster pump loses pressure after restart", Owen Hartley, owen.hartley@fernhill.example, and 555-0147. Click Submit form.
The browser lands on the redirect page, https://northcove.example/thanks. That's the page the visitor sees. It isn't a confirmation email, and nothing in it proves NetSuite created a lead.
06. Find the new lead
Back in NetSuite, open Lists > Relationships > Leads again. The list now shows 6 leads, and Owen Hartley is new, ID 1187, with owen.hartley@fernhill.example, phone 555-0147, and the status LEAD-Unqualified. The address matched nothing, so NetSuite created a lead and didn't use Web Case - Anonymous. The form has no Company Name field, so the lead is an individual named from First name and Last name. The status, sales rep, and subsidiary usually come from your account defaults, lead assignment rules, or other automation, so look at them on the saved record. A plain case form has no lead status or lead source setting, so Lead Source is normally blank unless automation fills it.
If no lead appears, open the case. A Company of Web Case - Anonymous means the preference didn't apply. An existing company means the email matched a record already on file.
07. Open the case
Go to Lists > Support > Cases and open the new case, here CASE2417. Company is 1187 Owen Hartley, the lead from step 6, and Email(s) shows the submitted address. Contact is blank, because the lead is the person.
Scroll down. Origin is Web and Status is Not Started. On Communication > Messages, the text the visitor typed is the first message, with -Online Form User- as the author. Origin and status are the usual results for an online case form, not guarantees. A form's Set Case Origin setting can change the origin, and case assignment rules can fill Assigned To right away, so your case may differ.
Check the result
- The Leads list total went from 5 to 6, and the new lead has the submitted name, email, and phone.
- The case's Company is that lead, not Web Case - Anonymous.
- Origin is Web, and the visitor's text is the first message from -Online Form User-.
The redirect page isn't a confirmation email. If you want the submitter to get one, pick a template in Send Auto-Reply Email on the form's Set Up Workflow subtab. The notification settings in Support Preferences, such as Notify Filer On External Cases, are separate.
Common questions
What does Create New Lead on No Match do?
When it's checked, a case submitted through an external case form, such as a published online case form, that matches no existing record creates a lead, and the case is filed under it. In this example, Owen Hartley became an individual lead with the status LEAD-Unqualified, and the case showed him as Company with Contact blank. When it's cleared, an unmatched web case is expected to go to the anonymous customer on the case profile, here Web Case - Anonymous. The exact result still depends on the form, the case profile, the duplicate settings, and any automation in your account.
Why didn't my online case form create a lead?
Start with the case. If Company is the anonymous customer, the preference didn't apply or the match was ambiguous. If Company is an existing record, the submitted email matched something already on file. The usual causes are an email that's already on a customer, contact, or lead, search-enabled fields or duplicate settings on the form that matched a record, an address that sits on several records so NetSuite fell back to the anonymous customer, a case that didn't come through an external form, and a workflow or script that changed the result. Test with an address that's new to the account, from a signed-out browser.
Why is the new lead an individual and not a company?
The form in this example collects First name and Last name but has no Company Name field. With no company name to use, NetSuite builds an individual lead from the name, with the submitted email and phone, even with Create Customers as Companies checked on the form. The lead is the person, so the case shows it in Company and leaves Contact blank. Scripts and workflows can change that.
Does an unknown email sender or a logged-in Customer Center user create a lead?
No. This setting is for anonymous web submissions. A logged-in Customer Center user is already a known customer. Inbound email capture does its own matching, and an unknown sender there goes to the anonymous customer set for inbound email on the case profile. Cases a rep enters by hand don't use it either.
Does turning it on move cases that are already filed under the anonymous customer?
No. It only affects submissions made after you save the setting. Cases already filed under Web Case - Anonymous stay there until someone reassigns them.
What does Default Customer Center Case Form control?
It picks the online case form that opens when a customer clicks Contact Support in the Customer Center. Its choices are online case forms. Leave it blank to use NetSuite's default external case form. It doesn't create leads by itself, and the form it points to still decides the fields, the duplicate matching, and the workflow.
Does the redirect page email the submitter?
No. External Case Form Redirect URL only sets where the submitter's browser goes after sending the case. An auto-reply needs a template in Send Auto-Reply Email on the form's Set Up Workflow subtab. Notify Filer On External Cases in Support Preferences is a separate notification setting.
Where do I find the public link to an online case form?
Open the form and go to its External subtab. The Publishable Form URL is the public link. It only works when Enable Online is checked on the form.