Salesforce Data Archiving Best Practices

Vast amounts of data are being collected by organizations today, especially through Salesforce implementations, which can lead to exponential data increase. Managing and archiving Salesforce data effectively is no small feat, as enterprises struggle with the growing complexities of Salesforce data archiving best practices.

Why is Salesforce data archiving important? Large volumes of data can result in slower query and search performance, which in turn impacts user experience. Archiving Salesforce data — rather than deleting it — ensures you can still access the data if you need it later, reduces storage costs, and keeps your org running at peak efficiency.

Yet Salesforce data archiving needs to be planned and analyzed carefully. The following are the top three things organizations need to plan for when archiving.

Storage and Limits

It’s important to understand how much storage your organization has and how much is being used. Salesforce provides storage but it is limited by edition. Hitting Salesforce governor limits or data storage caps can significantly impact system performance, report load times, and developer and user productivity. You can learn more about Salesforce storage allocation in their official documentation.

Usage Trends

Understanding Salesforce data usage metrics is also important when it comes to archiving. First, be sure to have the necessary tools to evaluate your volume of data and track trends. You can use API like Odaseva Cockpit, built on Salesforce Einstein Analytics, to provide multiple dashboards and monitor your data usage and trends. The app also helps you to identify misuse or unusual events. Read more about Odaseva Advanced Analytics here.

Compliance and Legal Implications

Whenever considering deleting data from Salesforce, first consult with your organization's legal team. There could be data integrity implications, such as Parent-Child Relationships and Field Removal. Data regulations like GDPR and CPRA enforce the principle of data minimization — but they also require that certain data be retained for defined periods. A well-designed Salesforce data archiving strategy helps you satisfy both requirements simultaneously.

Use the Best Tool

A misunderstanding among Salesforce users is that Salesforce provides all the backup and archiving an organization needs. The fact is, each organization is primarily responsible for its own data under Salesforce's shared responsibility model.

When selecting a data backup and archiving tool for Salesforce, it’s important to find a tool that is certified by Salesforce and has a proven track record of successful backup and archiving. It should be intuitive, easy to use, and most of all: effective. Enterprise-grade Salesforce archiving solutions should provide four key capabilities:

1. The ability to target the type of data to be archived
2. The ability to extract data and guarantee retention for as long as you need it
3. Replication and deletion of data from your Salesforce
4. A virtualization layer through Odaseva that provides the same Salesforce user experience with your archived data, even though the data has been deleted from Salesforce

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Salesforce data archiving?

Salesforce data archiving is the process of moving older, inactive records out of your production Salesforce org into secure, long-term storage. Unlike deletion, archived data remains accessible and searchable for compliance, legal holds, and future reference.

Why should I archive Salesforce data instead of deleting it?

Archiving preserves data you may need later for compliance audits, legal discovery, or business analytics — without cluttering your active org. Deleting data risks losing records required by GDPR, CPRA, or industry regulations and cannot be undone.

How does Salesforce archiving help with storage limits?

Archiving removes records from your Salesforce data and file storage allocations, reducing the risk of hitting governor limits. This can improve query performance, report load times, and reduce monthly storage costs.

What are the best practices for Salesforce data archiving?

Best practices include: understanding your storage usage trends, consulting legal on retention requirements, targeting the right data (closed/inactive records), using a certified third-party archiving tool, and regularly testing data restorability.

Does Salesforce archive data automatically?

No. Salesforce does not automatically archive your data. Under the shared responsibility model, customers are responsible for their own data archiving strategy. Native tools have significant limitations, which is why many enterprises use purpose-built solutions like Odaseva.