How to Export Data from Salesforce
Sam Hoult
February 14, 2022
There are lots of different tools that you can use to export your data from Salesforce. Some of these are built into Salesforce itself, and others are third-party tools which extend the native Salesforce functionality.
When evaluation which tool is best for you, you will need to consider how often you need to data to be exported, whether the exported data should be accessed from only within Salesforce or whether it needs to be sent via email, and how much data you want to export.
Salesforce offers the Export Data Service. From Setup, enter Data Export in the quick find menu then select Data Export.
Here you will have the option to either Export Now or Schedule Export.
Based on your Salesforce version, you will either be able to Export every 7 days (weekly) or 29 days (monthly). With the Data Export Service, the Record Data is extracted into CSV files, and included in a ZIP file which is available for download for 48 hours. The export files must be downloaded in that time, after which they are deleted.
Using the Data Export Service, you will not have access to the data outside of Salesforce, you will receive an email with a link which directs your to Salesforce.
The Salesforce Data Loader is a client application which can be downloaded from within Salesforce.
Data Loader offer the user the ability to Export selected objects and fields, offering more flexibility than the Data Export Service.
On the Interface the user can select the Object they want to Export, and then write an SOQL Query to choose the fields that need to be exported.
The process can be automated by writing Batch Scripts, however some technical knowledge will be needed to do this. The CSV Exports will also only be saved on the computer which has Data Loader running, so the exported records will not be available in Salesforce or anywhere else in the cloud.
Salesforce Reports allow you to export, and extract information out of Salesforce. Using the report builder, first build the report for the data that you want to export e.g. Accounts, Contacts. Once you are happy with the report, click on the top right and click Export
You can choose the format of the exported file, either CSV or xls format. Once the report is saved, you can also Subscribe to the report, and Salesforce will send you an updated export at the schedule you choose.
One thing to remember, is that the Id fields you see in reports is the 15 digit Id and not the 18 digit id, if you want to read about the difference between the two, I wrote about that here: The difference between 15 digit and 18 digit Ids.
Depending on the report type, and the data you need, you may need to create custom a custom report type, to access the lookup information that you need available in the export.
With dataimporter.io, you can set up Export jobs to be run as one-off or on a schedule.
Once you are happy with the Export job, you can either run the job straight away, or choose to schedule the job to be run automatically for you.
Here, you will have the flexibility to have to job be run ever hour, day, or month so you can choose the right interval for your needs.
The exported data is available for you as a CSV download for 7 days, or you can change your settings, so that the job results are emailed to you as a CSV attachment.
As you can see, there are quite a few options for exporting data out of Salesforce. Some of these are available from within Salesforce itself, and others are third-party apps which have extended functionality.
At dataimporter.io, we have focused on making data loading as easy as possible, so things like scheduling, filtering, and previews are always available.
The options provided by Salesforce are a good starting point for exporting data, with some key limitations such as frequency of exports, and accessibility of record data.
There are also other third-party apps which focus on backups such as OwnBackup. Those are focused more on the storage and restoration of Salesforce data, so if you are just looking to Export data then they may be too complex.
All of the options mentioned can be accessed without any payment, so I would suggest giving each a try and seeing which one works best for you.
