The Great Salesforce Job Market Reset
December 09, 2024
By Ben McCarthy
The Salesforce Data Loader is a great tool that is used universally no matter your role, Admin, Developer or Consultant. Unlike most Salesforce features, the data loader has to be downloaded locally to your desktop to be used (Available for both Windows & Mac). The premise of the tool is very simple, it allows you to interact with your data inside of Salesforce across all objects. This includes inserting, updating, exporting and deleting. Use cases for the tool can vary massively but the most commons ones include…
The Salesforce Data Loader can be installed by navigating to the setup menu in Salesforce, and heading to the Data Loader tab, here you will find download links both for Windows & Mac. Once installed, you will be greeted by a screen that looks like the below, simple right? As mentioned, the Data Loader is very simple and easy to use, but you must ensure that you know what you’re doing or the results can be disastrous (There’s no going back from changing or deleting a bunch of records without a backup!).
There are 7 main functions you can carry out with the Data Loader, let’s look into the function of each one…
Insert – Gives you the ability to insert new records into Salesforce
Update – Enables you to make changes to existing records inside of Salesforce
Upsert – Combines the above options, updates a record if it already exists, or if not, inserts it
Delete – Deletes records from the system
Hard Delete – While the delete option stores information in the Recycle Bin for a limited period, Hard Delete will remove straight away
Export – Export information from the system into a CSV format
Export All – While Export only extracts “live” records, Export All will also remove anything that is in the recycle bin as well as anything that has been archived (Some records are archived after a period of time such as tasks)
Preparation
For each function of the data loader, there are different requirements of which you will have to ensure you will be prepared for. Most of these surround having your CSV file in the correct format for the object you are carrying out the function for, and remember that you can only carry out a function for one object at a time. Let’s look at the requirements for each function…
Insert – You must ensure for the insert function, that you have a preprepared CSV with columns in your CSV file that match the fields in the object you are inserting into. You must also ensure that the column data is in the proper format for the field (E.g. No text if inserting into a currency field), and also that you are abiding by any required fields or validation rules you have in place.
Update – If updating records, you must follow all the rules of the “Insert” function, but with the exception, you need to include either the Salesforce ID of the records you are updating or a valid External ID field.
Upsert – Exactly the same for the Insert & Update functions.
Delete & Hard Delete – If deleting records, the only field you need within your CSV is the ID of the record you are deleting
Export & Export All – No preparation needed, export to your heart’s content!
The Salesforce Data Loader is extremely easy to use and most basic functions take only two steps, these do differ ever so slightly depending on whether you are importing data or exporting. So the first step is, of course, to choose the type of function you require, after this, you will be directed to a wizard-style guide…
The Salesforce Data Loader is a very powerful tool that is used in almost every Salesforce implementation around the world. Understanding the tool as an Admin, Developer or a Consultant is a must if you wish to get certified and have the best tools at your disposal for a job. The Salesforce Data Loader isn’t the only tool out there to load data into Salesforce, but its very reliable and free of use.
Any questions or comments? Feel free to give us a shout below.
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