THE #1 SALESFORCE BACKUP SOLUTION

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Salesforce backup data?

Salesforce keeps a backup copy of customer data to support their disaster recovery plan. This data is made available to customers as part of the Salesforce Data Recovery service, though Salesforce explicitly warns against relying on the service in the event of data loss.

What is the Salesforce Data Recovery service?

The Salesforce Data Recovery service is a last resort option for point-in-time recovery of lost or damaged Salesforce data. The service is performed manually by Salesforce Support, takes a stated minimum of 6 – 8 weeks for completion and carries a price tag of $10,000 USD per organization recovered. In addition, there are several notable limitations to the service such as the exclusion of metadata from recovery and a maximum recoverable window of three months (90 days) from the date requested. Due to these issues, Salesforce urges customers to develop an independent backup and recovery strategy for their data protection.

Where is the recycle bin in Salesforce?

The Recycle Bin can be located on the Home page tab within the left sidebar in Salesforce Classic. It typically resides at the bottom of the sidebar and is denoted by a green recycle bin icon that is placed against a light green band to distinguish it from other menus in the sidebar. Often times if you are having trouble locating the recycle bin it is because the sidebar has been pinned to the side of the window. In this case, locate the arrows in the upper or lower left of the visible window to expand the sidebar.

How long is data stored in the Salesforce recycle bin?

Once data has been deleted, it will reside in the Salesforce recycle bin for a maximum of 15 days. During this period, known as the “soft-delete” stage, data can be restored back into the org. If data is emptied from the recycle bin, or the 15-day retention period expires, the data becomes “hard-deleted” and is not able to be recovered. You can, however, access said data by using the Salesforce workbench. If data is further deleted from the database, the deletion becomes permanent and the data is only accessible or recoverable if a backup solution is in place or via the Salesforce Data Recovery service.

How do we restore a deleted record in Salesforce?

Deleted records in the “soft-delete” stage may be restored by using the undelete operation within the recycle bin. However, the undelete operation cannot be used on records or data that has been manually purged from the recycle bin or has exceeded the 15-day retention period. If this is the case, the data is no longer recoverable without a backup solution.

What is the difference between data and metadata in Salesforce?

The difference between data and metadata is best understood by knowing the literal definition of metadata, which is “data that describes other data.” More simply, metadata is “data about data,” or data that describes the configuration and structure of a Salesforce org as opposed to the data itself. When discussing Salesforce:

• Data refers to the information comprising records, such as Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities and Leads.
• Metadata refers to the settings and customizations that have been applied to an org, such as Dashboards, Reports, Objects, Layouts and Permission Sets, just to name a few.

Why do we need to backup Salesforce data?

For many organizations, the countless records of CRM data stored within Salesforce is indispensable to company success and business continuity. Salesforce provides complete protection from fault on their end, offers varied options for manual backup within the platform and can assist directly in recovering lost data if absolutely necessary. However, they cannot protect your data from threats beyond their control and the native backup and last-resort options come with numerous restrictions, limited capabilities, lengthy completion times and a hefty price tag. For these reasons, Salesforce themselves recommend investing in a full-featured, third-party backup and recovery solution like Spanning Backup for Salesforce.

What native Salesforce data backup options are available?

Salesforce provides several functions that organizations can utilize for the purpose of taking backups. Most notably, the Data Export Service allows orgs to export all of their data manually or via scheduled export on a weekly (Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited Editions only) or monthly basis. In addition, the Data Loader can be used to export data from Salesforce objects, or data may be exported from Salesforce reports. These exports are delivered as an excel (XLS) or set of CSV files and can be stored as backup data in the manner of their choosing. These export options, however, cannot be used to back up metadata.

Why do we need to backup Salesforce metadata?

Metadata is used to describe and organize data so that it is easy to search, locate, retrieve and utilize said data for business purposes. This structure provides valuable context and insight into a data set and serves to maximize efficiency and streamline BI (Business Intelligence) initiatives. Unfortunately, just as with the data itself, it is very easy to delete a Report, modify a Dashboard, or misconfigure any number of settings within an org that could have a detrimental effect. Without a proper backup and recovery solution in place, many of these mishaps will prove irreversible and productivity will suffer as a result.

What native Salesforce metadata backup options are available?

Salesforce offers several options in the way of backing up metadata. First, customers are able to use sandbox orgs for backup purposes as metadata is automatically copied into a sandbox when one is created or refreshed. In addition, Change Sets can be utilized to copy metadata from a production org to a sandbox or developer org. If customers opt for local storage, copies of metadata can be exported from the production org using the Force.com ANT Migration Tool. Lastly, metadata can be exported to (and later deployed from) the Force.com IDE.

Learn more about native backup options within Salesforce.