Data Export in Salesforce

In Salesforce, data export refers to extracting and transferring information from your platform to external sources. It is useful when it comes to backup and disaster recovery. It allows you to share information with other applications or platforms for further analysis or integrations.

You can export data to meet specific regulatory reporting requirements. Exporting data enables you to analyze it in specialized tools like Excel or business intelligence platforms. So, let’s look at what it entails in Salesforce.

What is Salesforce Data Export?

Data can be easily exported manually or automatically from Salesforce on a schedule. The data is exported as comma-separated values (.CSV) files. Salesforce Data Export provides a convenient way to export data from Salesforce.org for backup or import it into a different system.

Tools For Exporting Data in Salesforce

Salesforce offers three main methods for exporting data.

1. Data Export

It is an in-built or in-browser tool accessible through the Setup menu. It allows us to export data manually once every six days (for weekly Exports) or 28 days (for monthly Exports). We can also export data automatically, at weekly or monthly intervals, using “Schedule Export.”

You can export all records from all objects using data export or choose which objects to export records from. Data export will include all of the field values and the data currently on that object. The fields or records you wish to ship cannot be filtered.

Salesforce creates a zip archive of CSV files and emails you when it is ready. To download the zip file, follow the link in the email or click on Data Export in the Quick Find box. 

Exports will be completed as soon as possible. However, Salesforce does not guarantee the date and time the Export will end; it depends on the size of the records that the user wishes to Export from the org. Significant exports are broken up into multiple files.  

Zip files are deleted 48 hours after the email is sent(not including weekends). For example, if the email is sent on a Sunday, the “.zip” file is deleted on Thursday.

2. Data Loader

It is a client application that needs to be installed separately. It can be operated either through the user interface or the command line. The latter option is helpful if you want to automate the export process or use APIs to integrate with another system.

Using a data loader, you may filter the records and select the fields in the exported file. The data loader provides an option to “Export All” to export archived activities and soft-deleted records.

3. Dataloader.io

In dataloader.io, you can create an export task to export the data. When creating the task, you can save and run it. It helps that the next time you want to export the same kind of data, the task will already be created, and it will just take one click to get it.

It also provides a way to schedule tasks so these tasks run automatically. It also provides a way to use old tasks as a template for creating new tasks similar to old ones, which helps several steps.

How do you export data using the Data Export Service?

Follow these steps to export data using the Data Export Service.

Step 1: From Setup, enter Data Export in the Quick Find box, then select Data Export and Export Now or Schedule Export.

Step 2: The Export Now option prepares your files for Export immediately. This option is only available if enough time has passed since your last Export.

Step 3: The Schedule Export option allows you to schedule the export process at monthly intervals.

Step 4: Select the desired encoding for your export file.

Step 5: Select the appropriate options if you want images, documents, attachments, and so on included in your data.

Step 6: Select Replace carriage returns with spaces to have spaces instead of carriage returns or line breaks in your export files. This is useful if you use your export files for importing or other integrations.

Step 7: If you’re scheduling your Export, select the frequency (only available for organizations with monthly exports), start and end dates, and time of day for your scheduled Export.

Step 8: Under Exported Data, select the types of data to include in your Export. We recommend that you choose to Include all data if you’re unfamiliar with the terminology used for some data types.

Step 9: Click Start Export or Save. Salesforce creates a zip archive of CSV files and emails you when it’s ready. Exports will be completed as soon as possible.

However, we can’t guarantee the date and time the Export will complete. Large exports are broken up into multiple files. Follow the link in the email or click Data Export to download the zip file. Zip files are deleted 48 hours after the email is sent.

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