How to Export Contacts from Salesforce

Let’s understand why contacts are exported from salesforce and then how we can do that. I have explained each step in detail with examples and by the end of this blog, you will have complete knowledge of how to export contacts from salesforce. Also, we have covered these topics:

• Why Companies Export Contacts From Salesforce
• How to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Excel
• Export Contacts from a Campaign in Salesforce
• How to Export Contacts Out of Salesforce
• Migrate Contacts in Salesforce

Why Companies Export Contacts From Salesforce

Understanding the reason behind an operation is crucial before you actually start performing it. So in this section, we will understand the possible reasons why companies export contacts from salesforce.

Contacts are crucial data in every organization, some build them over a period of time rest purchase them but every organization requires them in order to sell products and & services.

There can be n-number of explanations on why companies export contacts from salesforce and here are the few which we have observed so far:

1. Taking backup of salesforce contacts.
2. Contacts are exported to Excel and then sold to companies that need customer information.
3. Before selling the company the contacts are exported so that these customers can be contacted after starting a new company.
4. When a Company is sold to another company then the other company takes out necessary resources before implementing their changes in the organization. And one of the crucial pieces of information they export is the contacts.
5. Moving to other CRM from Salesforce.

So these were a few use cases of why companies export contacts to salesforce. Next, we will learn how to export contacts from salesforce to excel.

Read How to Merge Contacts in Salesforce?

How to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Excel

Excel is the most powerful tool being used by almost every company and individual. It can allow easy storing and manipulation of data in a row and column format.

In salesforce, only reports can be exported to excel or any other format. Directly exporting contacts from salesforce to excel is not possible as of now.

I felt the same way when I came to know this but there is a silver lining to it. We can generate a contact report then we can export it to excel in salesforce. Still, wondering how to export contacts from salesforce to excel? Follow these steps: –

Step 1: From the salesforce dashboard, click on the Reports object and then click on the New Report button in salesforce.

Step 2: From the Create Report prompt select Accounts & Contacts, from Select a Report Type select Contacts & Account, and then click on the Start Report button.

Step 3: If you are not seeing a contact record then set the filter Range to All Time. Click on the Filter tab, Click on the Created Date, and from there Set the Range to All Time, and then click on the Apply button in salesforce.

Step 4: Clean the data by removing columns that are not required in salesforce, you can also add required columns. Contacts that will appear here will be exported to an Excel file.

Step 5: to Run the report click on the Run button in salesforce.

Click on the dropdown arrow and select save from there. You can also export the file without saving it. We have saved the file to show you how it can be done from the saved file in salesforce.

Step 6: Provide the Report Name, Report Unique Name will be generated automatically. Using the Select Folder button select the folder where you want to save this report.

Read more – How to Share a Report in Salesforce

Step 7: Click on the drop-down menu present next to the name of the report that we have created in the previous step. Select the Export option from there.

Step 8: From the Export window, You can either select Formatted Report View or Details Only view.

Formatted Report – While generating a report if you have applied filters, groupings, headers, etc to the report then in this view those changes will remain applied on excel as well. The formatted Report generates only Excel format.

Details Only – This type of report purely focuses on the content, no format will be exported. Using the Details Only view we can export files to different formats as well.

Click on the Export button to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Excel.

Step 9: This is how the Excel file will look like, the excel has a header and filter information at the top. Then each row has a heading or column name in salesforce.

In this way, we have learned How to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Excel.

Read How to Merge Accounts in Salesforce

How to Export Contacts from a Campaign in Salesforce

Campaign object holds the information of advertisements done by a company to aware the target audience about their products and services. People participating in the campaign are referred to as leads.

To export contacts from a campaign in salesforce, first, we have to create a report of a campaign with Contacts and then export the report to either CSV or Excel format in salesforce.

Wondering how to export contacts from a campaign in salesforce? Follow these steps:-

Step 1: From the salesforce dashboard, click on the Reports object, and from there select New Reports in salesforce.

Step 2: Select Campaigns, from the select a report type choose Campaigns with Contacts and then click on the Start Report.

Step 3: Adjust the rows and columns as per the requirement. You can remove columns that are not required and add more contact information. Once done click on the Run button to run the report in salesforce.

Step 4: Click on the dropdown present on the right side of the screen, and select Export from there.

Step 5: Excel the format in which you want to export contacts from a campaign in salesforce and then click on the Export button.

Step 6: After the file is downloaded you can view the data by opening the file. You may receive a warning about this file not being safe. Since we are sure about our data so we have to click on the Yes button to start the file.

The below image shows exported contacts from a campaign in salesforce.

The steps were quite similar to what we did for exporting contacts in salesforce to excel. The only difference was how we created a report.

Read How to Share a Report in Salesforce

How to Export Contacts Out of Salesforce

Contacts in salesforce can be export out of salesforce either in the excel or csv (comma separated view) format. In the first section of this tutorial, we have explained how to export contacts from salesforce to excel.

Even if you want to export it to CSV the steps will remain the same except for Step 8. Select Details Only and then from the dropdown select CSV.

Here is a brief overview of how to export contacts out of salesforce: –

Step 1: Create a report of contacts

Step 2: Export the report.

Step 3: Select Detail Only from the export prompt.

Step 4: From the Format dropdown, select either Excel or CSV and then click on the Export button.

The file will be downloaded in the system and it is ready to be accessed. In this way, we have learned how to export contacts out of salesforce.

Read How to Create a Junction Object in Salesforce

How to Migrate Contacts in Salesforce

Let’s understand the term Migrate with an example of a hypothetical company – Flagsmania which is situated in New York City, USA. The company has recently decided to move to a new CRM.

So they need help in migrating contacts and other information in salesforce. They have hired Bob, who is the salesforce administrator in the USA. After listening to the company’s requirements this is the conclusion made by bob:

• Migrating contacts in salesforce also mean exporting contacts from salesforce.
• The salesforce contacts can be exported to Excel or CSV formats. So he enquired the same.

Bob has followed all the steps that is shared in the first section of this tutorial. Since the company requested contacts to be exported in CSV format so in Step 8 he selected Details only and the CSV from the dropdown.

In this way, Bob helped Flagsmania in migrating contacts in the salesforce. I hope now you know how to migrate contacts in salesforce.

Conclusion

Migrate and Export have the same meaning in this blog. After understanding how to export data in salesforce now can carry out the export task easily for organizations. Also, we have covered these topics:

• How to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Excel
• How to Export Contacts from Salesforce to Outlook
• Export Contacts from a Campaign in Salesforce
• How to Export Contacts Out of Salesforce
• How to Migrate Contacts in Salesforce

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