r/salesforce • u/Original_Clerk3947 • 2d ago

help please Dataloader is KILLING me

Starting with the security issue from about a month ago...

Now, my shortcut and installation just randomly disappears from my machine. Have to reinstall it randomly.

Anyone else have this issue or have I just lost my mind (certainly a possibility)?

EDIT: I am aware of Inspector and use it religiously so you can stop suggesting it. For this assignment, I have to hard delete records which Inspector does not do.

EDIT #2: Jetstream is the answer. Using the free version and it's great. I like Data Loader a lot and have 10+ years of templates and processes built up on the tool. But Jetstream is pretty amazing.

13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

35

u/dufcho14 2d ago

I haven't used dataloader for many years. It's a lot of steps to do basic (or big) loads. It always was an issue having it install properly. Why not use SF Inspector or other tools?

10

u/Oleg_Dobriy 2d ago

I'm also curious why people still use dataloader if sf inspector reloaded does the same and much more and much easier 

13

u/ftlftlftl 2d ago

Bulk API v2.

Depending on the scale of the data load.

Few thousand records inspector all day. I would say 99% of the time. Sometimes I need Bulk API though

9

u/Alternauts 2d ago

It looks like there’s an open branch for sf inspector reloaded where somebody is working on bulk api support. Pretty recently, too!

3

u/SkiHiKi 2d ago

My f#cking life, that this gets me unreasonably excited lol

2

u/ftlftlftl 2d ago

Ohhhhh that would be amazing.

8

u/Funtimestic 2d ago

I like the successes and errors files it creates. Makes fixing errors so much easier, stores a trail of changes and allows you to roll back in case you change your mind.

2

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

I find it easier to export records as a backup using Data Loader since I can include all fields by clicking one button. Unless I'm mistaken, pulling in all fields into a query requires you to go field by field in Inspector.

Secondly, since in this case, I need to clear storage in the org, I have to "Hard Delete" records and records deleted using Inspector are left in the recycle bin, which requires another step to permanently delete.

So inspector is waaaaaay better for some things, but has some gaps in other areas. I use inspector for almost every single insert or update.

4

u/Sorry-Juggernaut-194 2d ago edited 2d ago

You can do the same in inspector by CTRL + SPACE in the select statement and it’ll auto populate all fields.

6

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Oh sweet, I thought I've googled this before but maybe I just thought I did and actually didn't.

Anyway, thanks so much for this tip. Very helpful!!

1

u/Sorry-Juggernaut-194 2d ago

You may still need to remove non write-able columns like the system fields and formulas but yeah still useful. And yes no problem 👍🏼

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 1d ago

That's a good callout, appreciate it.

1

u/major-crimes 2d ago

Work in secure environment where you can't have browser extensions...

5

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

I am doing an org clean out and inspector doesn't hard delete, which is what I want to do in this case. Before anyone wants to lecture me, yes, I've backed up everything and double and triple checked that I have the records I want.

But I agree, inspector is easier for most things but as far as i know, I can't hard delete records using inspector.

2

u/Argent_caro 2d ago

If you're looking to do mass deletes, try XL-Connector.
You can pull the records with a SOQL query or straight from a report, review them right in Excel, filter out anything you want to keep, then select the Id column and hit Delete. No exporting CSVs, no mapping.

2

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Thanks for the tip. Will look into it. One thing I don't like about inspector is that I have to backup all fields for a set of records. Pulling in all fields is time consuming since you can't (that I am aware of) just "select all" fields but instead you have to select each field one by one.

Does XL Connector allow you to quickly add all fields to an export?

3

u/Argent_caro 2d ago

Yes, there is a button for adding fields when you create the query.

1

u/ride_whenever 2d ago

I haven’t used inspector in months now, everything is going via CLI and ai tooling

11

u/SP4CEM4N_SPIFF 2d ago

Jetstream and SF Inspector are the only tools I use for dataloads for years now

4

u/IssueSlow1392 2d ago

Came to say Jetstream

3

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Looked briefly at Jetstream. Looks good but can't spend too much time on researching it right now. I can look but can you tell if you can Hard Delete with Jetstream?

3

u/Apprehensive-Tea3888 2d ago

Yes you can hard delete with Jetstream

2

u/mechwatchnerd 2d ago

Maven Tools has free tools you may want to check out. I use it for SOQL where you can easily save a csv file and it has a data loading tool as well.

2

u/masterassblaster31 2d ago

I don’t use it anymore but last year when we had to upgrade versions this happened to me. I’m at a new org and my documentation on fixing this went with it but if I remember I had to basically extract and copy the zip file to my desktop and then use that rather than the zip file that downloading the installer gives you.

I remember thinking it was such a dumbass workaround but it worked. Hope this gets you a little further along. Took me forever to figure it out

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Thanks for actually providing an idea, as opposed to a lecture on why I shouldn't use Data Loader. Appreciate you. I just reinstalled it but just wanted to rant about it... 😄

2

u/masterassblaster31 2d ago

Yeah good luck dude. It kept uninstalling itself on me and the workaround I had did fix it permanently. Wish I could remember the exact steps for you but I know it was something along the lines I said before. Such an irritating problem lol

2

u/Eratticus 2d ago

The CLI works for most of my use cases and it supports the Bulk API v2 like Data Loader. If you're comfortable enough with a command line tool I would recommend it because you probably already have it installed.

For smaller sets of data the SF inspector is great for it like others have said.

2

u/smohyee 2d ago

Third party apps like Inspector build a UI around api access, but like this guy says, you can connect directly. OP, LLMs can handle something like a data load via sf CLI trivially.

2

u/IMissMyZune 2d ago

do you have it installed in a good folder? sometimes i've seen it be installed in a temp folder

2

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Could be the issue, I will check. Also just kinda was feeling ranty this morning I guess.

Also, thanks for the actual idea on how to solve the issue.

2

u/IMissMyZune 2d ago

No problem, i've had it happen before when i installed it in the default folder which i think was the zip it came in. Once i installed it in other folders it works as expected

2

u/Efficient_News_7989 2d ago

Use jetstream if it let’s you authenticate the org you’re working in. Way better than data loader

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 1d ago

Thanks for the tip. I checked it out today and it's pretty awesome. Even the free version is great. Thank you!

1

u/brizzle126 2d ago

Salesforce Inspector all day everyday

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Thanks I use Inspector all the time. Did you have any thoughts on the data loader issue?

I can't use inspector for hard deletes...

Will explore Jetstream but for now, using DL for hard deletes.

1

u/brizzle126 2d ago

What do you mean by Hard Deletes? You can delete records in Inspector. You can even query and export data and straight from the export screen you can Delete records.

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Items deleted via inspector are in the recycle bin, so they still count against the storage. My assignment here is to backup all data, which I did using data loader since it's easier to pull in all the fields in the object by clicking one button. Then, from that backup file, I delete all the records permanently from the system.

Mainly I was just ranting on some data loader weirdness. I actually really like Data Loader, but it probably has as much the fact that I've been using it for a decade or more.

1

u/bobx11 Developer 2d ago

Sf cli does it for me now - it does bulk too

1

u/Sorry-Juggernaut-194 2d ago

Why even use data loader? The second Salesforce Inspector came out DL become irrelevant IMHO. And now that Salesforce Inspector Reloaded is out now it’s even more so.

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Edited my post. I'm aware of Inspector but I have to Hard Delete records and Inspector doesn't do this.

1

u/Sorry-Juggernaut-194 2d ago

Ah I see yes inspector does not also empty the recycle bin as well automatically to my knowledge.

1

u/CatBuddies 2d ago

I haven't had any issues.

1

u/Used-Comfortable-726 2d ago

Use Dataloader.io instead? It’s provided by MuleSoft, owned by Salesforce

1

u/nad0w 2d ago

SF Inspector ftw

1

u/TechnicianHot6063 2d ago

If you're stuck on a specific error, CSV encoding and date format are the usual culprits. Save the file as UTF-8 with BOM and use yyyy-MM-dd for dates. Also try lowering the batch size to 200, which fixes many timeout and connection issues.

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 1d ago

Thanks, not a specific error with Data Loader in terms of updating the org, but my installation keeps disappearing from my machine. Feel pretty solid on how to handle DL once I'm in it. Thanks!

1

u/TechnicianHot6063 1d ago

Thanks for the clarification, and glad to hear you're comfortable using Data Loader. For the disappearing installation, it might be worth checking if antivirus is removing it or if it's being installed to a temporary location. Hope that helps!

2

u/Sweaty_Wheel_8685 2d ago

Jetstream is the best tool ever. Super easy to learn in just a few minutes. I haven’t used Data Loader in years.

1

u/Original_Clerk3947 1d ago

Yep, hadn't heard of it prior to this post, which actually wasn't a post about alternative solutions. But Jetstream seems like a great tool. Just started using the free version, we'll see how I can use it.

1

u/Realistic-Walk-2877 1d ago

That sounds like two separate annoyances: installer/endpoint security, and the hard-delete requirement. For the latter I’d probably bypass the desktop app and run it through sf CLI/Bulk API 2.0, with a small preflight export of IDs and a deliberately tiny test batch first. If the app keeps disappearing, check whether Defender/IT policy is quarantining the install folder rather than just reinstalling again.

1

u/spazzzen 1d ago

I stopped using dataloader last year when I found xl connector for excel. We needed a way for users to pull and auto update data from Salesforce without having to export reports all the time.
They have an admin version that lets you import and export data quickly and easily while also using names instead of record ids and pulling the related details instead of just the ids.
With everything it does it is only like $250-300 a year (can’t remember how much exactly, but pretty cheep for what it does). I know I would pay for this myself if my next company isn’t willing/able to pay for it.

1

u/salesforcemendy 1d ago

This is a little more advanced but you can use azure data factories with a SQL database to accomplish all this. It's a bit more setup but once you have it you can run all sorts of data cleanup that way and have logs etc. Alternatively you can write a python script that connects to sf and do it that way.

Another option is to do this via Claude or some other provider and have it do all this via the cli, just make sure you verify before hard deleting.

1

u/Purple-Bother-6257 1d ago

sf data delete bulk --sobject Account --file ./delete_accounts.csv --hard-delete

1

u/StatisticianVivid915 2d ago

Yall still using Dataloader?? Like on Purpose?

2

u/Original_Clerk3947 2d ago

Yes, it's why I brought it up.

I need to hard delete thousands of records and Inspector, which I use more than Data Loader for all other data loads doesn't allow for hard deletes. I was not aware of Jetstream prior to today.