Data Loader Guide

Data Loader
When to Use Data Loader
Installing Data Loader
Install Data Loader on macOS
Install Data Loader on Windows
Considerations for Installing Data Loader
Uninstall Data Loader
Configure Data Loader
Using Data Loader
Running in Batch Mode (Windows Only)
Command-Line Quick Start (Windows Only)
Data Loader Third-Party Licenses
PDF

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Install Data Loader on macOS

You can use Data Loader to insert, update, delete, and export Salesforce records. To use it, you install it on your macOS computer.
Available in: both Salesforce Classic (not available in all orgs) and Lightning Experience
Available in: Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions

User Permissions Needed
To access the page to download Data Loader: Modify All Data
To use Data Loader: API Enabled

AND

The appropriate user permission for the operation you’re doing, for example, Create on accounts to insert new accounts

AND

Bulk API Hard Delete (only if you configure Data Loader to use Bulk API to hard-delete records)

For each major release, a new version of Data Loader is available in Salesforce Setup. The Data Loader major release corresponds to the API version available.

  1. Install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 11 or later, for example, Zulu OpenJDK version 11 or later for macOS using the .DMG file.
  2. From your org’s Setup page, download the Data Loader installation file.
  3. Right-click the .zip file and select Extract All.
  4. In the Data Loader folder, double-click the installer.command file. If you can’t open the file because of an unidentified developer message, press the Control key while clicking the installer.command file, and select open from the menu.
  5. Specify where to install Data Loader.
  6. Specify whether to add a Data Loader launch icon on your desktop or Applications folder. Data Loader completes the installation.

To run Data Loader, use the Data Loader desktop icon, Applications folder, or dataloader.command in your installation folder. If Zulu OpenJDK isn’t found, a message prompts you to download and install it.

To continue using your settings from an earlier Data Loader version in version 45 and later, migrate your config and log files after installation. Search for config.properties and log-config.xml, and copy or move the files to your current Data Loader’s /config folder.

Note

Running Data Loader on Mac M1 Hardware

“M1” is the new Apple-designed System on a Chip (SoC) that's been developed for use in Macs. While Salesforce updates Data Loader periodically to support the latest operating system releases, the time frame for doing so depends on support from underlying third-party libraries. If you’re running macOS on Mac M1 hardware, errors on your console indicate that the Eclipse SWT library, required by Data Loader, isn’t supported on Mac M1. Explicit support for the Eclipse SWT library (or lack thereof) on Mac M1 is still unknown. Try running Data Loader in Intel emulation mode using Rosetta 2 to see if emulation mode enables Eclipse SWT to work correctly. Here’s Apple's support article on enabling Rosetta 2: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211861.

To run Data Loader on Mac M1 hardware:

  1. Open Terminal and run the command:
    1/usr/sbin/softwareupdate --install-rosetta
  2. Make sure you have Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 11 or later, such as Zulu OpenJDK version 11 or later for macOS x86 64-bit architecture installed on your Mac M1. Native JRE for ARM architecture doesn’t work in this scenario.
  3. Run the installer.command file from the Data Loader folder that you downloaded. For details about this step, see the procedure at the top of this page.