Use Salesforce Data Loader to Mass Assign Permission Sets to Multiple Users

This article describes how to use Salesforce Data Loader to mass assign a permission set to multiple users.

Important: Always back up your data before performing any bulk data operation. Use Salesforce Data Export to create a backup before proceeding. It is recommended to test with a small subset of records first to verify the operation works correctly before running it on all users.

Get the Permission Set ID

If you are assigning one permission set, find its ID in Setup:

1. Log in to the org and go to Setup.
2. Enter "Permission Sets" in the Quick Find box and click Permission Sets.
3. Click the permission set to be assigned.
4. Look at the URL — the permission set ID is the 15-digit value starting with 0PS.

If you are assigning multiple permission sets, export a list of IDs using Data Loader:

1. Open Data Loader, click Export, and log in to your org.
2. Check Show all Salesforce objects.
3. Select the Permission Set object.
4. Select the fields ID and any other fields that help identify the correct permission sets.
5. Click OK, then Next, then Finish.

Get the User IDs

1. Repeat the export steps above using the User object.
2. Select the ID field and any other fields that identify the correct users.

Create the Assignment CSV File

Create a new CSV file with two columns:

• AssigneeId — The Salesforce IDs of the users to assign the permission set to
• PermissionSetId — The Salesforce ID of the permission set to assign

Note: If one user needs multiple permission sets, add each assignment as a separate row.

Run the Insert in Data Loader

1. Open Data Loader, click Insert, and log in to your org.
2. Check Show all Salesforce objects.
3. Select the PermissionSetAssignment object.
4. Browse for your CSV file and click Next.
5. Click Create or Edit a Map and map the CSV columns to the Salesforce fields.
6. Click OK, then Next, then Finish.

Note: If you receive the error "Can't complete this operation because it would exceed the number of apps allowed by the user license," reduce the Batch Size to 1 in Data Loader settings.