Introducing Files and Attachments Backup in Salesforce Backup | Spring ’24

What is Salesforce Backup?

Salesforce Backup is our native backup and restore solution designed to safeguard customers’ valuable data. Geared for user-friendly operation, Salesforce Backup automatically creates backup copies of business data, empowering organizations to effortlessly restore data and recover from even the most challenging scenarios.

With the Spring ’24 Release, we’re thrilled to announce the addition of files and attachments functionality. This enhancement will significantly improve your org’s security posture and data management strategy. Whether you’re currently using Salesforce Backup or considering it, we will delve into the details of adding files and attachments to your backup policy, and guide you on how to best plan for this exciting update.

To help you prepare for the files and attachments functionality in Salesforce Backup, we’ve compiled top questions along with a guide to familiarize you with this new feature. For a quick overview of files and attachments and other Spring ’24 Backup features, check out the following release highlights video.

How does files and attachments backup work?

Files and attachments backup is disabled by default so that you can decide if or when you want to add them to your org’s backup policy. From the Backup tab in the Salesforce Backup app, click the new Configure Policy Defaults button to review the files and attachments settings.

You can enable backup for all files and attachments OR select a date to include only the files and attachments added or modified after the selected date.

When files and attachments have been added to your backup policy, the Backup page will reflect that they’re included. If you selected a date, it will appear here as well.

After enabling files and attachments, you will see that Attachment and other objects relevant to files and attachments backup are included in your backup policy. In Spring ’24, it’s not possible to add or remove these objects from the backup policy individually, which is reflected in the user interface (UI). We make sure these objects are included so that object relationships can be maintained in the backup.

Is it possible to limit which files or attachments are backed up?

Yes. We recommend reviewing the amount of file storage in use for your org before deciding whether to include all files and attachments to your backup. By selecting a date, only files created or modified on or after the selected date will be included for backup. This helps you not only control your backup storage usage but also back up only the most relevant files and attachments for your org.

It’s important to note that if a customer adjusts to a newer date, or selects a date after backing up with All Files selected, existing files that do not meet the new criteria will not be deleted from the backup.

Are there any required permissions?

Yes. The Integration User (meaning the user who installed the Backup app; this can be a technical or a named user) needs to have the QueryAllFiles permission for files and attachments to back up. If files and attachments are added to the backup, and this permission is missing, an error directing you to assign this permission will be visible in the backup logs.

How does files and attachments restore work?

The initial release of Files and Attachments support includes the ability to export when filtering by object or date criteria in the Restore tab. Full Restore support for files and attachments is the highest priority following the release of backup and export functionality.

When customers navigate to the Restore tab, they will see new options as they relate to data categories. It’s possible to select records, files, and attachments OR only files and attachments. In Spring ’24, customers will be able to export files and attachments from Backup. Full Restore support for files and attachments will be available in a subsequent, fast-follow release.

Exporting files is similar to exporting other records from backup. The files will appear in the Files area of your Salesforce org and can be downloaded from there. We recommend deleting these files to free up org data storage space once they have been downloaded.

What other Salesforce Backup features are available with Spring ’24?

• Get more flexibility with backups. Initiate delta backups on demand, anytime. Delta backups still run automatically every 24 hours, but by running backups on demand, you can capture any changes, deletions, or additions that have occurred since the backup last ran.
• Identify records for restoration more easily. Get visibility into which user last modified the record as captured in the backup. You also have options when it comes to date filtering; select the backup date or system mod timestamp. This distinction is helpful if you’re looking for records in the backup that may have an old system mod timestamp but were included in the initial, full backup. And lastly, filter by record ID to ensure your results reflect only the records you’re looking for.

Resources

Each release brings tons of amazing new functionality and it can be a lot to digest. Over the next 2 months, we’ll publish blogs and videos to help you prepare to get the most out of this release! Bookmark Be Release Ready and check back regularly as we continue to add new Spring ’24 resources for Salesforce Admins.

• Video: Vidyard: Introducing Salesforce Backup
• Salesforce Admins Blog: Introducing Salesforce Backup: Your Data’s Safety Net
• Salesforce Site: Salesforce Backup
• The 360 Blog: Don’t Panic About Lost Data — Smart Backups Can Safeguard Your Business
• Trailhead: Salesforce Backup Basics
• Video: Vidyard: Platform Secure: Salesforce Backup Enhancements
• Video: Vidyard: Platform Secure: Salesforce Backup
• Salesforce Help: Protect Your Data with Salesforce Backup