How to update Salesforce from Excel

The CData Excel Add-In for Salesforce enables you to edit and save Salesforce data directly from Excel. This article explains how to transfer data from Excel to Salesforce. This technique is useful if you want to work on Salesforce data in Excel and update changes, or if you have a whole spreadsheet you want to import into Salesforce. In this example, you will use the Account table; however, the same process will work for any table that can be retrieved by the CData Excel Add-In.

Getting Started

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Establish a Connection

If you have not already done so, create a new Salesforce connection by clicking From Salesforce on the ribbon.

There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: OAuth, Login (or basic), and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

OAuth Authentication (default)

The default authentication mechanism (and the one preferred by Salesforce) is OAuth. To use OAuth with CData's embedded OAuth application, leave the connection properties blank. If you have configured your own custom OAuth application with Salesforce (see the Help documentation for more information), set OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL to the properties for you application. Set InitiateOAuth to the desired OAuth flow ("GETANDREFRESH" will have the connector manage the entire OAuth flow).

Login (or Basic) Authentication

If you do not wish do not wish to use OAuth authentication, you can use Login (or basic) authentication. Set AuthScheme to Basic, and set the User, Password, and SecurityToken properties. You can configure your security token in Salesforce.

SSO (single sign-on) Authentication

SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and SSOExchangeURL connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for more information.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If your Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies to both OAuth and Login authentication flows.

Retrieve Data from Salesforce

To insert data into Salesforce, you will first need to retrieve data from the Salesforce table you want to add to. This links the Excel spreadsheet to the Salesforce table selected: After you retrieve data, any changes you make to the data are highlighted in red.

1. Click the From Salesforce button on the CData ribbon. The Data Selection wizard is displayed.
2. In the Table or View menu, select the Account table.
3. In the Maximum Rows menu, select the number of rows you want to retrieve. If you want to insert rows, you need to retrieve only one row. The Query box will then display the SQL query that corresponds to your request.
4. In the Sheet Name box, enter the name for the sheet that will be populated. By default the add-in will create a new sheet with the name of the table.

Insert Rows to Salesforce

After retrieving data, you can add data from an existing spreadsheet in Excel.

1. In a cell after the last row, enter a formula referencing the corresponding cell from the other spreadsheet; for example, . 👁 A local copy of a table. One row will be inserted. (QuickBooks is shown.)
   
2. After using a formula to reference the cells you want to add to Salesforce, select the cells that you are inserting data into and drag the formula down as far as needed. The referenced values you want to add will be displayed on the Account sheet. 👁 The range of changes to update. (QuickBooks is shown.)
   
3. Highlight the rows you want to insert and click the Update Rows button.

As each row is inserted, the Id value will appear in the Id column and the row's text will change to black, indicating that the record has been inserted.