Backing up your Salesforce data is non-negotiable. When key records vanish because of a simple mistake or even a bad actor, your entire operation can stall.
And while Salesforce is a secure platform, it doesn’t cover everything. The responsibility for protecting your data? That’s on you.
Under the Shared Responsibility Model, which 73% of Salesforce admins are unaware of, according to a 2025 survey by Salesforce Ben, Salesforce secures the infrastructure, but you're in charge of backing up your data and customizations. Relying only on the Recycle Bin or Weekly Export leaves big holes in your safety net. The Recycle Bin has tight limits, and Weekly Exports can cost you up to seven days of lost data if something goes wrong.
That’s why you need to follow Salesforce backup best practices. With a proper plan, you can avoid data disasters, stay compliant, and recover quickly when issues pop up.
What Are Salesforce's Native Backup Options?
Salesforce includes several built-in tools for data backup. Here's what they offer:
Data Export Service
The Data Export Service lets you create backup files of your Salesforce data on a weekly or monthly basis. Weekly exports are available for Production, Developer, and Sandbox environments, while monthly exports work only for Production and Sandbox.
These exports cover most of your organization's data, though some large file attachments may be excluded. Export files can take up to 48 hours to generate, and once they're ready, you have just 48 hours to download them before they disappear.
This service has significant drawbacks for enterprises with fast-changing data or strict recovery point objectives.
Data Loader
Salesforce Data Loader is a client application designed for managing large volumes of Salesforce data. It allows you to schedule automatic exports, making it easier to keep your backups up to date without manual effort.
Data Loader also supports more frequent backups compared to some native tools, which is especially helpful if your data changes rapidly. Plus, it's built to handle substantial amounts of data, so it’s a practical choice for organizations with extensive records or complex data structures.
The downside of Data Loader is that it requires manual setup and maintenance.
Backup and Restore
Salesforce’s native Backup and Restore feature offers automatic daily backups, point-in-time restoration, and coverage for both data and metadata.
There are limitations here, however. This feature might not fulfill the requirements of organizations with complex compliance needs or those requiring more frequent backups.
Limitations of Native Options
Salesforce's built-in backup tools present several limitations:
- Frequency: Weekly or monthly exports prove inadequate if your data changes rapidly.
- Automation: Data Loader provides limited automation but demands substantial setup and maintenance.
- Metadata coverage: Not all native tools back up metadata completely, which you need for full restoration.
- Granular recovery: These tools typically cannot restore individual records without affecting other data.
- Compliance: Enterprise-level requirements often necessitate stronger backup solutions than standard offerings.
- Recovery speed: When rapid recovery becomes essential, native options often fall short due to manual processes.
While Salesforce's native backup options provide basic protection, many enterprises require more comprehensive solutions to secure their environments and meet strict compliance requirements. In fact, Salesforce Ben reports that only 10.2% use Salesforce’s native Backup and Restore tool, while 47.2% opt for a more comprehensive third-party tool.
7 Salesforce Backup Best Practices
Following Salesforce backup best practices keeps your data safe and your business running smoothly. Here are seven must-follow strategies for robust Salesforce data protection.
1. Schedule Frequent and Automated Backups
To minimize data loss, implement automated Salesforce backups. Your backup schedule must align with your data change frequency and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements. Many businesses require daily or hourly backups.
With automated backups, your data remains protected without relying on manual processes.
Flosum's Composite Backup technology captures only new, changed, or deleted data. This approach makes frequent backups efficient and reduces storage requirements.
2. Always Back Up Both Data and Metadata
Your data matters, but your metadata is equally important. This includes page layouts, workflows, and Apex code, which define how your Salesforce org functions.
Backing up metadata ensures complete restores, particularly during deployments or when recovering from complex issues. A comprehensive backup enables you to recreate your Salesforce environment exactly as it existed previously.
Flosum manages both data and metadata backups within the Salesforce ecosystem, providing complete protection.
3. Use Granular Recovery to Avoid Full Rollbacks
The ability to recover specific data elements is invaluable. Instead of restoring your entire org, which disrupts operations and consumes time, granular recovery allows you to restore individual records, fields, or objects.
This targeted approach maintains business continuity and reduces compliance exposure by limiting what requires rollback. It delivers particular value for isolated data issues.
4. Protect Backups with Encryption and Role-Based Access
Creating backups is only the beginning. After that, it's important to secure them. To reduce security risks, apply Salesforce security best practices by encrypting backup data both in transit and at rest. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure only authorized users can access backups.
Maintain detailed audit logs to track all backup activities. These logs document who accessed backups, when, and what actions they performed, which is important for compliance and security.
Flosum integrates these security features, including bring-your-own-key (BYOK) encryption, RBAC, and comprehensive audit logs, supporting compliance with FedRAMP, GDPR, and HIPAA.
5. Validate Backups and Test Restore Processes
Regular testing confirms your backups function when needed. Test your restore processes in sandbox and production environments to prepare for various recovery scenarios.
Document your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) thoroughly. These documents prove valuable during audits and guide your team during crisis response. Regular testing ensures that when actual data loss occurs, your team can respond quickly.
6. Archive Unused Data to Improve Org Performance
Archiving inactive or unused data improves your Salesforce org performance. By moving rarely accessed data out of production, you accelerate reports, dashboards, and development cycles.
You can maintain archived data for compliance and legal requirements. This strategy preserves historical records without compromising your active Salesforce instance performance.
7. Back Up Before Every Major Deployment
Creating snapshots of both data and metadata before major deployments establishes a safety net. These snapshots enable instant rollback if complications arise.
This practice is important in CI/CD pipelines and during sandbox refreshes, where changes can affect your entire Salesforce environment.
How to Choose the Right Salesforce Backup Solution for Your Org
Selecting among the various backup solutions for your org demands careful evaluation. Here's how to assess your options:
Key Questions to Ask Vendors
When evaluating backup solution providers, ask these questions:
- Can you restore data at the field level?
- Does your solution support BYOK encryption?
- How often can I schedule automated backups?
- How do you handle metadata backups?
- What compliance certifications do you have?
Evaluation Criteria
When evaluating backup solutions, consider several factors to ensure you choose the right fit for your organization.
Automation capabilities should be at the top of your list. Look for solutions that provide automation to guarantee your backups happen consistently and without manual errors.
Compliance features are equally important. Make sure the tool you select can help you meet your industry’s regulatory requirements, whether it’s GDPR, HIPAA, or another standard.
Another important aspect is the performance impact of backups on your Salesforce org. Ideally, your backup process should run smoothly in the background with minimal disruption, and incremental backups usually help keep this impact low.
Don’t forget about scalability. You’ll want a solution that can grow with your organization and handle increasing data volumes without missing a beat.
Finally, integration with Salesforce: choose a tool that fits into your existing Salesforce environment, making management and recovery straightforward and hassle-free.
Stakeholder Priorities
Different team members prioritize backup solutions in unique ways. Salesforce Admins typically value usability, granular restore options, and minimal disruption to daily operations. IT Teams, on the other hand, are more concerned with security, seamless integration with existing systems, and the ability to scale as the organization grows.
Meanwhile, Compliance Officers focus on strong data governance, maintaining comprehensive audit trails, and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements.
By considering these perspectives, you'll identify a backup solution that protects your data while supporting your business continuity strategy.
How Flosum Implements These Salesforce Backup Best Practices by Design
Flosum’s Salesforce backup solution incorporates best practices into its core, giving you data protection without all the hassle or technical headaches.
Flosum uses a Composite backup model that saves only new, changed, or deleted data instead of copying everything each time. It makes backups faster, uses less storage, and supports frequent backups without slowing down your org.
With hourly snapshots, Flosum delivers granular restore capabilities. You can recover specific fields, individual records, or entire objects with accuracy. This minimizes data loss and business disruption when incidents occur.
Security is built in from the start. Flosum uses RBAC so only approved users can access backup data. It also supports BYOK encryption for complete control over data security, both in transit and at rest.
For compliance requirements, Flosum maintains detailed audit logs of all backup and restore activities, which is important for organizations subject to regulations like FedRAMP, GDPR, or HIPAA.
The archiving capabilities extend beyond simple storage. By managing inactive data, Flosum enhances your Salesforce org performance. Reports execute faster, dashboards load quicker, and development cycles improve, all while keeping archived data accessible when needed.
Based on your infrastructure and compliance needs, you can select cloud, on-premises, or hybrid hosting.
Flosum's pricing structure avoids consumption-based surprises. The transparency enables easy budgeting and scaling of your backup strategy without unexpected costs.
Final Checklist: Is Your Salesforce Backup Strategy Following Best Practices?
Rate your current Salesforce backup strategy with this 10-point self-assessment:
- Do you have automated, daily (or more frequent) backups in place?
- Are both data and metadata included in your backups?
- Can you perform granular restores at the field or record level?
- Is your backup data encrypted and protected by role-based access controls?
- Have you tested your restore process in the last 3 months?
- Do you create snapshots before major deployments or releases?
- Is your archive strategy optimizing Salesforce performance?
- Does your backup solution meet all relevant compliance requirements?
- Can you easily scale your backup strategy as your org grows?
- Do you have clear SOPs for backup management and disaster recovery?
If you answered "no" to any question, your backup strategy needs improvement. Implementing Salesforce backup best practices is important for protecting your valuable Salesforce data and ensuring business continuity.
Ready to strengthen your Salesforce backup strategy? Contact Flosum today to see how our comprehensive backup solution can secure your Salesforce environment with confidence.
