Overview
Backups are critical to any business data. Data protection helps to protect data from user-inflicted loss or corruption.
The Salesforce App’s backup solution performs a daily backup of your Salesforce data to capture updates to metadata and any created, updated, and deleted records, enabling you to capture every change from Salesforce.
You can leverage automated backups or also trigger on-demand backups from the Salesforce App. You can view backup summaries and snapshot details directly from the backup set detail page.
The Salesforce App stores all backup files in an Amazon S3 bucket.
The following diagram illustrates the backup workflow.
Backup Components
A backup of data within your Salesforce Org includes the following components:
Standard package objects
Custom package objects
Managed package objects
Attachments
Content
Knowledge articles
Chatter
❗ Important
The Salesforce App excludes system objects from the backup by default. For more information about including excluded objects in your backup, see Backup Set Settings. For a detailed list of objects excluded from backup, see Understanding Backup Exclusions.
Backup Capabilities
The Data Backup page from the Salesforce App enables you to perform the following tasks:
Create and edit backup set
Trigger manual backups
Configure Subject Access Requests for GDPR Compliance
View backup summaries, snapshots, and records
Compare records and metadata across snapshots
Manage subscribers for a backup set
Restore data directly from a snapshot
💡 Tip
The best time to run data backup is when user activity is low, such as non-operational hours, to prevent slow performance.
Backup Set
A backup set specifies the configuration requirements for your backup, which includes the following:
Scheduling information
Data exception rules
Backup content configuration (objects, metadata, fields)
Metadata backup configuration
Required Salesforce permissions
You can create multiple backup sets, which support full or partial backups for your Salesforce organization.
Create a New Backup Set
Perform the following steps to create a backup set.
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Select a project from the Project dropdown list.
Click New Backup Set. The New Backup Definition window appears.
Enter information in the following tabs:
Step | Description |
Backup Set Details | Configure the backup set name, project, source organization, and API settings. |
Schedule and Retention | Define when and how often backups run, and how long backup data is retained. |
Backup Content | Select the objects, metadata types, and fields to include or exclude from the backup. |
Data Exception Rules (Optional) | Configure rules to detect significant data changes in specified objects. |
For more information about the settings in each step, see Backup Set Settings.
❗ Important
Salesforce App disables the metadata backups by default. Ensure that you enable metadata backups from the Metadata tab.
5. Click Save after completing all steps.
Your data backup is now ready to run at the scheduled time.
The backup task appears in the Tasks tab on the right. Click Stop Task to stop an ongoing task. If you click on the backup task listing, the application redirects you to the Tasks page. The Tasks page provides additional information to help troubleshoot any issues.
For more information, see Managing Tasks.
You can check the created backup backup set in the list on the Backup Sets page.
📝 Note
To configure notification subscriptions for a backup set, use the Manage Subscribers option from the ▾ overflow menu on the backup set. For more information, see Managing Subscribers.
Backup Set Settings
Backup Set Details
Configure the following fields in the Backup Set Details step.
Field | Description |
Project | Select the project that this backup set belongs to. |
Source Organization | Select the Salesforce organization to back up from the dropdown list. If your organization is not listed, configure it from the Environment Hub page. For more information, see Configure Environment Hub. |
Backup Set Name | Enter a descriptive name for the backup set. Tip: Specify the org name and region to identify your backup set uniquely. |
API Limit | Enter the maximum number of API calls the backup set may consume per day. You cannot set a 0 (zero) value or any value greater than the daily API limit for the configured Salesforce org. |
Use Bulk APIs for Backups | Enable this toggle to use Salesforce Bulk API 2.0 for faster backups. The Bulk API will be used only for objects that are supported by Salesforce. Incremental scans use REST/SOAP API by design, regardless of this setting. |
Bulk API Limit | If Use Bulk APIs for Backups is enabled, enter the maximum Bulk API calls per day. |
If the Modify Backup Set User permission from the Settings > Profiles page is enabled, you can run a backup set on another user's behalf, ensuring interoperability between users in a project. For more information, see Permissions.
📝 Note
If the defined API limit is consumed for a particular backup set: any running backups will be paused and no new backups will start for the day; new backups resume per the defined schedule the following day. The same behavior applies if you have reached the Salesforce API limit.
Scheduling and Retention
The Salesforce App performs a daily backup of your Salesforce data. The full backup activity runs the first time and each quarter periodically.
The incremental backup activity runs every day after the initial full backup. The incremental backups capture the created, updated, and deleted records.
📝 Note
A deleted record means deletion from both the Salesforce organization's Recycle Bin and the Salesforce user’s Recycle Bin.
Perform the following steps to schedule a backup job.
On the Scheduling and Retention step, select the type of backup frequency. You can select one option from the following:
Daily Backups - Specify backups to run once per day.
High Frequency - Specify backups to run more than once a day.
📝 Note
High Frequency backups are available with the Salesforce Elite Backup License.
2. Configure the following fields.
Field | Description |
Date | Select the date for the initial full backup to run. |
Time | Select the time for the backups to run daily. |
Backup Files Retention Period | Specify the retention period to retain your backup files.
You can choose a backup retention period ranging from 90 days to unlimited. 📝 Note A retention period of more than one year or unlimited retention is available with the Salesforce Elite Backup License. |
Increment Backup Interval | If you select High Frequency, specify the backup interval to run a backup more than once a day. The options include:
|
Data Exception Rules
Data exception rules trigger alerts when significant changes occur to specified objects, enabling you to detect data loss incidents and restore data quickly.
In the Data Exception Rules step, enter an object name in the Object search box.
Select the Type of change. You can configure a rule for the selected object when it is:
Created
Updated
Created and Updated
Deleted
Created, Updated, and Deleted
Select the Quantifier (trigger condition based on number or percentage of affected records):
Greater than X Percent
Less than X Percent
Greater than X Number of Records
Less than X Number of Records
📝 Note
In this case, X denotes the percentage or number of records configurable in the next step.
Enter Quantity (percentage or number of records).
Click Save.
Repeat the steps for all required objects.
You can also manage data exception rules for an existing backup set from the ▾ overflow menu. For more information, see Trigger Manual Backup.
Backup Content
The Backup Content step has three sub-tabs: Objects, Metadata, and Fields.
Objects
The Salesforce App enables you to perform partial backups by excluding certain objects. You can exclude objects which you do not wish to backup. A good example can be when conforming to the privacy of individuals for Personally Identifiable Information (PII). You would like to exclude objects from the backup identified as personal data.
📝 Note
The Salesforce App excludes specific system objects by default. Some of these system objects are read-only. If you are including any of these objects in the backup set, ensure that the required Salesforce permissions are set. For a detailed list of objects excluded from backup, see Understanding Backup Exclusions.
Procedure
On the Objects sub-tab, enter the object name or the search criteria to filter from the listed object names.
Click Exclude.
💡 Tip
Click on the Excluded column header to filter the excluded objects at the top of the list.
Fields
You can also exclude fields associated with objects from the backup.
📝 Note
The Salesforce App excludes specific fields by default. If you are including any of these fields in the backup set, ensure that you set the required Salesforce permissions. For a detailed list of fields excluded from backup, see Understanding Backup Exclusions.
Procedure
On the Fields sub-tab, enter an object name in the search box. The following search options are available.
Option | Description |
Search by object | Search a field by a specific object name. |
Search across objects | Search a field across objects. |
Show all excluded fields | Displays a list of all excluded fields. |
Select the desired field and click Exclude.
💡 Tip
Click on the Excluded column header to filter the excluded objects at the top of the list.
Metadata
Salesforce App disables the metadata backups by default. You can enable metadata backups to back up all files for the selected metadata during each backup cycle.
Procedure
On the Metadata sub-tab, switch the Enable Metadata Backups toggle. A list of metadata types appears.
Select the metadata types you wish to back up from the list.
You can assign recommended Salesforce permissions to a user account associated with an organization with configured backups; this ensures data backup covering the required fields and associated records.
From the Permissions tab, configure the following permissions.
Permission | Description |
Query All Files | Configure the backup definition to query all files during a backup to retrieve all files within your org, including files from unlisted groups and non-member libraries. For more information about the Query Files Permission, see Query All Files. |
View All Data | Configure the backup definition to view all data files. The View All Data permission allows users to view all apps and data, including ones not shared with them. For more information about the View All Data Permission, see View All Data. |
Make all files readable | Specify if all associated files can be readable for a backup. |
Validate the permission set deployment
You can validate the deployment of the permission set to ensure that all data is backed up (all fields and records). To update the permission for the user account, see enable and modify permissions in Salesforce.
API Limit
General API
You can configure the API consumption for backup definition to ensure a backup job consumes only the specified APIs.
On the the API Limit tab go to General API. Enter the maximum API limit per day.
📝 Note
You cannot set a 0 (zero) value or any value greater than the daily API limit. The default value is the API limit for the configured Salesforce Org in the backup definition.
If the defined API limit is consumed for a particular backup definition:
Any backups that are currently running will be paused and no new backups will start.
You cannot start backups on the same day using both a scheduled backup and a manual backup.
New backups are initiated as per the defined schedule starting next day. You can also initiate a manual backup next day.
The same behavior applies if you have reached the API limit set by Salesforce.
Bulk API
You can configure the backup definition to use Salesforce Bulk API 2.0 for faster backups, thereby saving time. To enable this, select the toggle button next to Use Bulk APIs for Backup.
In the Limit tab, enter the maximum API limit per day.
📝 Note
You cannot set a 0 (zero) value or any value greater than the daily Bulk API limit. The default value is the API limit for the configured Salesforce Org in the backup definition.
Incremental scans utilize the REST / SOAP API by design because its lower overhead provides faster performance for processing smaller sets of modified data compared to the Bulk API.
The Bulk API will be used only for objects that are supported by Salesforce.
If the defined Bulk API limit is consumed for a particular backup definition:
Any backups that are currently running will be paused and no new backups will start.
You cannot start backups on the same day using both a scheduled backup and a manual backup.
New backups are initiated as per the defined schedule starting next day. You can also initiate a manual backup next day.
The same behaviour applies if you have reached the API limit set by Salesforce.
Trigger Manual Backup
The Salesforce App enables you to perform manual backups. As a best practice, you can take a backup before a deployment or significant data migration to protect existing data from any operational issues.
❗ Important
Ensure that you authenticate the organization you are backing up to a license from the Organization Hub page. For more information, see Authenticate Production Organization.
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Click the backup set you want to back up. The backup set detail page opens.
Click Backup Now ▾ and select one of the following options:
Option | Description |
Incremental Backup | Backs up only the records created, updated, or deleted since the last backup. |
Full Backup | Backs up all records in the Salesforce organization from scratch. |
The Backup task appears in the Tasks tab on the right. Click Stop Task to stop an ongoing task. If you click on the backup task listing, the application redirects you to the Tasks page, which provides additional information to help troubleshoot any issues.
For more information, see Managing Tasks.
📝 Note
The ▾ overflow menu also provides the Data Exception Rules option to manage exception rules for the backup set, and the Subject Access Request ▸ sub-menu for GDPR-related requests. For more information, see Configure Subject Access Request for GDPR Compliance.
View Backup Summary
The Summary tab on the backup set detail page provides an at-a-glance view of the backup set configuration and recent activity.
To view the summary, on the Salesforce App console, click Backup, then click a backup set name. The Summary tab is displayed by default.
[TODO: screenshot — Backup Set detail page, Summary tab]
The Summary tab displays the following information.
Field | Description |
Organization ID | The Salesforce organization ID being backed up. |
Storage Region | The storage region where backup data is stored. |
Last Modified Date | The date and time when the backup set was last modified. |
Next Incremental Backup | The scheduled date and time for the next incremental backup. |
Project | The project this backup set belongs to. |
Organization Name | The name of the Salesforce organization. |
Next Full Backup | The scheduled date and time for the next full backup. |
Backup Frequency | The configured backup frequency (Daily or High Frequency). |
Last Completed Backup | The date and time of the most recently completed backup. |
Last Full Backup | The date and time of the most recently completed full backup. |
Last Modified By | The user who last modified the backup set. |
Backup Size | The total size of backup data stored. |
Last Backup Status | A row of colored status icons representing recent backup jobs. Hover over an icon to see the status, date/time (GMT), and backup type (Incremental or Full). |
View Backups and Snapshots
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Click the backup set you want to view. The backup set detail page opens.
Click the Backups tab.
Enter the From Date and To Date to filter the snapshot list, then click View.
The following information is displayed for each snapshot.
Column | Description |
Snapshot | The date and time when the backup was taken. |
Duration | The time taken to complete the backup. |
Objects | The number of Salesforce objects included in the snapshot. |
Backup Type | Whether the backup was an Incremental or Full backup. |
Total Records Affected | The total number of records created, updated, or deleted. |
Created | The number of records created in this snapshot. |
Updated | The number of records updated in this snapshot. |
Deleted | The number of records deleted in this snapshot. |
📝 Note
A deleted record count represents deletion from both the Salesforce Organization's Recycle Bin and the Salesforce User's Recycle Bin. When snapshot or archival set responses exceed 6 MB, the Salesforce App automatically paginates the results. Use the pagination controls to navigate between pages.
View Snapshot Details
Click a snapshot row to open the snapshot detail page. The detail page contains two sub-tabs: Objects and Metadata.
Objects sub-tab
The Objects sub-tab lists all Salesforce objects included in the snapshot with their record change counts.
Column | Description |
Object Name | The name of the Salesforce object. |
Total Records Affected | The total number of records created, updated, or deleted in this object. |
Created | Records created in this snapshot. |
Updated | Records updated in this snapshot. |
Deleted | Records deleted in this snapshot. |
Click an object name to view its individual records. You can:
Filter records by Record Change Type (Created/Updated or other types).
Search records using a Where Clause (SOQL-style search).
Select records and click Download ▾ to download the data.
Select records and click Restore to restore the selected records. The restore wizard opens directly at Step 3 — Preview; record selection is already determined from your selection. For more information, see Restore Data.
Click the ▾ on a record row to view the backup history for that record. For more information, see View Backup History of a Record.
Metadata sub-tab
The Metadata sub-tab enables you to compare metadata between two snapshots and restore or download individual metadata files.
Procedure
In the Select Snapshot to Compare field, select a second snapshot using the calendar date picker.
Click Compare. The left panel displays a list of metadata types with their change counts. The right panel shows the individual files for the selected metadata type.
Select a metadata type in the left panel to populate the file list in the right panel.
Select files in the right panel and click Show Comparison to open the Metadata Comparison view.
Click Download or Restore to download or restore the selected files.
Click Clear to reset the snapshot comparison.
Metadata Comparison
The Metadata Comparison modal displays a side-by-side XML diff of the selected file between the two snapshots.
Show only items with difference — filters the view to show only changed fields.
Updated Metadata and Deleted Metadata checkboxes — filter by change type.
Download — download the metadata file.
Restore — restore the metadata file to the Salesforce organization.
For more information about restoring data, see Compare and Restore Records and Compare and Restore Metadata.
View Backup History of a Record
You can select a record and specify snapshots to see field-level updates to the record. This feature enables you to:
View modified fields of a record with its old and new values
Review changes or lookup field values
Analyze the changes to data and decide whether you want to restore a specific snapshot
Procedure
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Click the backup set you want to view. The backup set detail page opens.
Click the Backups tab.
Click a snapshot row to open the snapshot detail page.
On the Objects sub-tab, click an object name to view its records.
In the records table, click the ▾ on the record row you want to inspect.
Select View Backup History. The Backup History modal opens.
Enter the From Date and To Date to specify the date range, then click Apply.
A table displays the old and new values for fields associated with a record as per the listed snapshot.
📝Note
A blank entry in the New Value column signifies that a record has been deleted.
Compare Records and Metadata
The Compare tab on the backup set detail page enables you to compare records or metadata between any two snapshots for a selected Salesforce object.
Procedure
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Click the backup set you want to compare. The backup set detail page opens.
Click the Compare tab.
Select Records or Metadata using the radio buttons.
Select a Salesforce object from the Object dropdown list.
In the Compare section, click the left snapshot selector and choose a snapshot date and time from the calendar.
Click the right snapshot selector and choose a second snapshot date and time.
Click Compare.
The records table shows all records that changed between the two snapshots. You can:
Filter by Record Change Type: Created/Updated or Deleted.
Search using Search by Record ID or SOQL query.
Select records using checkboxes and click Download ▾ to download.
Click the ▾ on a record row to view that record's backup history.
Click Clear to reset the snapshot selection.
Snapshot Selection
When selecting a snapshot, a calendar date picker shows the available dates. Dates with available snapshots are indicated. Click a date to see the available snapshot times for that day, then click a time to select it.
For more information, see Compare and Restore Records and Compare and Restore Metadata.
Edit Backup Set
You can edit a backup Set for any modifications.
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Click the backup set you want to edit. The backup set detail page opens.
Click Edit.
Edit the information as per your requirements.
📝 Note
If a backup job has yet to run for the respective backup set, you can edit the start date and start time.
6. Click Save.
📝 Note
Administrators with Manage Backups permission only can delete a backup set. A deleted backup set will be in the soft-deleted state in the backend for some time.
Delete a Backup Set
You can delete a backup set you no longer require. When you delete a backup set, in addition to the backup Set settings, the associated Data Templates and snapshots are also deleted. You will not be able to restore or able to create any new restore template using the deleted backup set.
💡 Tip
You can download and evaluate the Data Templates and Snapshots that will be deleted before deleting a Backup set.
Before you begin
Only Administrators with Manage Backups permission can delete a backup set.
Ensure no tasks associated with the user that you plan to delete are running. You can view the tasks in various stages by visiting Tasks. For more information, see Managing Tasks.
Procedure
To delete a backup set:
On the Salesforce App console, click Backup.
Locate the backup set you want to delete.
Click the Edit▾ overflow menu next to the backup set name (on the Backup Sets list) or from the backup set detail page.
Click Delete Backup Set. A confirmation window appears.
On the confirmation window, Download and evaluate the Data Templates and Snapshots that will be deleted before deleting a Backup Set.
Provide a valid Reason for deleting the Backup Set.
Click Delete.
An email with the deleted backup set details and the reason for deletion is triggered for the Salesforce App administrator.
❗ Important
A deleted backup set will be in the soft-deleted state in the backend for some time.