Delete Unwanted Data in a Salesforce Organization

This article explains how to delete unwanted records in Salesforce and completely purge them from the org. The process has two steps: deleting the data (a soft delete) and purging the data completely from the org.

Step 1: Delete the Data (Soft Delete)

You can delete unwanted data through the Salesforce user interface (UI) or through the SOAP API, depending on the number of records involved.

Delete a Few Records in the UI

If there are only a few records, delete them through the UI. Click the Delete button on each record individually, or use the Mass Delete tool. Ensure that you have the appropriate delete permission for those records. For more on the Mass Delete tool, review Delete Multiple Records and Reports.

Delete a Large Number of Records With Data Loader

If you have a larger number of records to delete, use Data Loader (API). Create a CSV file containing all the record IDs and use the Delete or Hard Delete operation of Data Loader. For more, review Insert, Update, or Delete Data Using Data Loader.

What Happens to Soft-Deleted Records

Deleted records remain in the Recycle Bin for 15 days and can be restored during that time. Until the soft-deleted data is completely removed from the system, users with the Modify All Data and API Enabled permissions can check for records in this state by using Export All in Data Loader and filtering on isDeleted = True.

Step 2: Purge the Data Completely From the Org 

Option A: Empty the Recycle Bin

To permanently remove deleted items before the 15-day period ends, administrators and users with the Modify All Data permission can click Empty your Recycle Bin or Empty your organization's Recycle Bin. If no one intervenes, deleted items are purged from the Recycle Bin after 15 days, and once purged, they cannot be recovered. Records cleared from the Recycle Bin are marked for permanent deletion by the Salesforce automated process.

Option B: Hard Delete Through the API

System Administrators can perform a Hard Delete of records through Data Loader. A Hard Delete marks the records as deleted and sends them directly to the purge queue to be removed permanently from the system. Records that are hard deleted do not appear in the Recycle Bin. Review Activation of Bulk API Hard Delete on System Administrator Profile.

Step 3: Request a Physical Delete

To remove a record completely, empty the Recycle Bin and request that Salesforce Support perform a Physical Delete. Physical Delete (PD) is a sweeper process in the Salesforce database that removes a record from the corresponding database table. Physical Delete is sometimes called a permanent delete. Once this process removes a record, the record can no longer be accessed through the UI or the API.

To request a Physical Delete for your org, create a Support case with the following details:

• Target or affected Organization ID.
• Name of the target object and its API reference name. If there is no specific object, say so, and the physical deletion runs for all objects.
• Username of the system administrator of the organization requesting the physical deletion, in email address format including the @ symbol.
• Details about why you are requesting a physical delete.

Delete Custom Fields

For information specifically about the deletion of custom fields, follow the steps to purge deleted custom fields. See Additional Resources.