Accidentally deleting critical data within Salesforce can have significant repercussions for enterprise users. From losing mission-critical customer services to breaking the chain of accountability for financial activity, losing Salesforce records can hurt an organization’s ability to restore customer trust or comply with industry regulations. Fortunately, Salesforce allows users to restore lost records in a number of ways, with the ability to recover records from recycle bin backups, recover from weekly backups, and even restore an entire organization.

Recovering from the Recycle Bin

For Salesforce admins, accessing the recycle bin within Salesforce can be the easiest way to recover lost records. While deleted records are usually in the recycle bin for 15 days, the actual time may vary depending on the object type. After 15 days, your organization’s Salesforce administrator must request a retrieval. That said, it is possible to undelete records from the recycle bin even after the 15-day period has passed, via a ‘Imprecise Nullification’ (IN) process. In cases where the recycle bin has been emptied before the 15-day limit, recovery is not possible, and users must turn to alternative restoration methods.

Recovering from Weekly Backups

The Salesforce platform takes weekly backups of all objects, which include account, contact, lead, and contract data, providing an additional option for recovering recently deleted records. Using the Salesforce Data Recovery Tool, users (and their organizations) can restore their back up data in periods ranging from seven days to up to six months. Once the Data Recovery Tool provides the correct back up files from the desired timeframe, users can access and restore the back up most commonly via the Data Loader tool.

Organization Restore

For those scenarios in which weekly backups are no longer available, Salesforce Enterprise clients can request an ‘Organization Restore’. In such cases, Salesforce will enlist a team of engineers to pull up the most recent backup of the desired organization. While Organization Restore functions are expensive – reputedly costing more than data recovery itself – they are often the only viable option for enterprise users who cannot access Salesforce backups for any number of reasons.

Salesforce Restore Manager

Organizations can use Salesforce Release Management, Data Backup and Recovery, and Security Solutions to help them recover deleted records in Salesforce. These solutions are often equipped with Salesforce Restore Manager, which enables users to restore and archive Salesforce records and metadata. With Salesforce Restore Manager, users can quickly and easily restore lost records, and they can also view a comprehensive history of their restore and archive operations. As it often includes features such as data recovery, backup scheduling, and the ability to access backups stored on SharePoint, Salesforce Restore Manager provides an invaluable resource for users looking to keep their data secure.

Recovering lost records in Salesforce is a time-sensitive activity, so users should act quickly. Once recycle bin backups become unusable, users must turn to either their weekly backups or organization restore services to regain access to deleted records. Fortunately, release managers, data backup and recovery services, and security solutions are all available to help ensure enterprise users can restore lost records in Salesforce quickly and easily.

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Faizan Ali

Faizan Ali
Salesforce Consultant at Turnitin