Prerequisites
Please, read through below article after you've created your first backup job.
Once the backup job is set up, it will show "Pending first run" status.
By default, when the job hits the scheduled run time, it will begin the first backup snapshot.
Can I skip the scheduled time for backup?
Yes, you can. If you don't want to wait for your first back up job to run at the time you originally selected, you can click on Back up now. Gearset will then initiate the backup process.
Setting up the backup baseline
Gearset will need to establish a baseline for all the data in your org. This is a one time only operation that involves downloading and storing every record for each object included by your backup job's filter.
Once this baseline has been established, Gearset can then make intelligent decisions, which means that subsequent runs of your job should be much quicker.
Backup job statuses
When the job is running, you'll see the status change to blue. The time that the run takes will vary depending on your org record size. When the run is completed, it will change to green.
You can view the history and statistics of the job by clicking Job history > View details. Jobs can also be run on demand by clicking Back up now.
If there are any issues running the job, you'll see more information about what went wrong.
Include data tab
Include data introduces two toggle options:
New recommended objects - enabling this function will allow Gearset to include in your backup job any new objects added to your Salesforce org (e.g. objects that haven't been backed up yet), as long as Gearset classifies them as recommended objects.
What are recommended objects?
Recommended objects cover the majority of Salesforce standard and Custom objects. This option has been curated by Gearset's engineers to include the vast majority of objects required for business-critical functions.
Include managed packages - enabling this function means that managed packages will be included in the metadata backup of the org.
The dropdown menu under "Show" section allows you to further preview:
Recommended Objects - shows the list of objects that have been defaulted to be included in your backup job.
Not Recommended Objects - shows the list of objects that are not recommended to be backed up (read more about it in our documentation).
Selected objects - shows the list of objects included in your backup job.
Unselected objects - shows the list of objects that are not selected for backup of this org.
Additional filtering options
Select the three ellipsis icon: 
to access additional filtering options in Include data tab.
Filtering allows you to sort objects in both ascending or descending order; pin one of the columns (e.g. Object or Records) either to the left or right or reset it with "No Pin" option.
You can also autosize selected column, or both column if you like. "Choose Columns" allows you to select which of the two columns you want to preview details of (note that if you unselect both columns, their details will disappear and you'll need to refresh the page for them to re-appear).
And lastly, you can "Reset Columns" to restore the default filtering preview.
Metadata filtering tab
Important to note:
"Metadata filtering" tab by default is disabled for your Backup job. It is a feature that can be optionally enabled on Data management page - although Gearset does not recommend enabling it, unless you have a valid reason to do so.
To find out more about this feature, please read our documentation:
"Manual metadata filtering" - optional setting on your Backup job
Metadata filtering allows you to choose which objects in your org you want to backup or exclude from the job.
To manage it, make sure to click on Edit first, as otherwise you won't be able to amend any settings in this tab.
Recommended objects - if you're looking for a starting point, you can use this Gearset filter. We will suggest the objects to include, avoiding loads of unnecessary objects and therefore improving your backup job's performance.
Unselected objects - this option shows all objects that have not been selected to be backed up in your job.
All objects - allows you to preview all objects that can be selected for backup.
Once you've added new objects to an existing backup job, make sure to click on Save. Otherwise, the objects won't be added to your job's metadata filter.
Important to note:
To help your backup job run quickly and use fewer API calls, Gearset recommends backing up only the objects containing business-critical data.
By default, each backup run will contain your organisation's metadata, plus the data for:
- Salesforce standard objects
- Your custom objects
Managed packages (including configuration for CPQ, Vlocity, Conga etc.)
Job permissions
On your Data backup jobs page, click on Edit job... > Edit settings, and navigate to Permissions > Job permissions tab.
By default, for all new Backup jobs there won't be any permissions configured for your team members.
For more information on configuring access to members across your Gearset team, refer to our documentation on how to set backup job permissions.
Setting up smart alerts
Once you've added a Backup job, you can click on Edit job... > Edit settings...
The Smart alerts tab allows you to trigger notifications based on more advanced rules.
For example, if you want to get alerted when:
more than 5% of your contacts in
Accountobject change, and/orwhen 100 records in
Accountare deleted
You can set up respective alerts and add them in this section.
Click on Edit, select the configuration for your alert, and then confirm with selecting Add alert.
Can I edit existing smart alerts?
Currently, it isn't possible to edit already created/added alerts. You'd need to create a new alert and delete the one you want to amend.
Is there a limit of smart alerts per backup job?
Yes, the limit is 20 alerts per job.
Advanced settings - daily API call usage and retention policy
Advanced settings - this tab allows you to configure two important settings:
Daily API call usage limit (%) - it's an API limit after which Gearset will stop trying to back up your data records to allow non-backup jobs to use your API call.
When you hover over the sign , you'll see this helpful notification:
"Salesforce allocates a daily API limit for each org across all platforms. When the limit is reached, it will prevent any communication with your org through Salesforce API until the limit is reset. If you set the limit to 80%, it will guarantee there will always be at least 20% of your daily API consumption free to use for non-backup jobs."Retention rule - this policy defines the length of time you want Gearset to keep the backup records. By default, this is set to 7 years.
Note: There is no specific API usage limit assigned by Gearset to a backup job. However, your daily API limit depends on the Salesforce Edition you are on. Salesforce allocates a daily API limit for each org across all platforms.
Salesforce documentation will provide you with more information on API Request Limits and Allocations.
Types of data backup jobs
Once you have successfully created your first backup job - which by default is a Standard job (full backup) - you'll now see an option to choose between:
Standard job (daily backup)
This job runs every day. It takes a backup of the records in your org once a day.High frequency job (hourly backup)
This job runs every hour. It is limited to 10 objects.Big Object job (daily backup)
This job runs every day, and is used to backup Salesforce Big Objects.
To create a high frequency job, you can follow the same steps as for the standard job. You won't have to set a time for the backup to run, and the limit of 10 objects for the filter.
License requirements:
You must have Backup Teams license in order to be able to create a High frequency job, as per our Pricing page (restricted to 2 high frequency jobs).
You must have Backup Enterprise license in order to be able to create a Big Object job, as per our Pricing page.
Backup Starter license allows only access for our Standard jobs (daily backup).
Number of backup jobs (license requirements)
By default, each Gearset team can have up to 2 standard backup jobs. If you need more, please chat to us about your use case.
If you have a Backup Teams license, in addition to 2 standard jobs you can also create up to 2 high frequency jobs.
Data backup dashboard
On Data backup jobs dashboard you have an overview of the data backup jobs that you have set up.
Only your Gearset account has the visibility of the jobs you set up. Each job represents a single org that is being backed up.
Job history
The Job history tab page will tell you the details of each run, along with a visual representation of the changes to your records over time.
Selecting Use snapshot will give you the below options both for data and metadata.
Options for data
Restore (data) - allows you to restore deleted records to your org. For more information about this feature, see this article.
Download (data) - allows you to download snapshot of backed up data in a zip file. For more information check this article.
Replicate (data) - allows you to replicate (deploy) this run's data to a different org.
Options for metadata
Restore (metadata) - allows you to restore this run's metadata back to your org.
Download (metadata) - allows you to download metadata snapshot in a zip file (this doesn't not include data).
Replicate (metadata) - allows you to replicate (deploy) this run's metadata to a different org or Git repository.
Data differences column
View changes lets you drill down into the changes across each object for this backup run.
There, you will have two options:
View records - allows you to see a list of all the records changed for an individual objects, with the option to perform a quick record restore or configure a restore if you wish.
Restore - allows you to restore deleted records. For more information about this feature check this article.
Metadata differences column
Depending on metadata differences, you may see your backup run being either:
Identical - meaning there are no metadata differences, but there may be some data differences in the backup run.
Different - meaning there are metadata differences detenced. Data differences may be present as well, which you can confirm by looking at "Data differences" column.
Unavailable - it's possible Gearset may not be able to report on whether metadata differences were detected in a backup run. In which case please speak to our support to find to obtain more information.
Metadata history
In this tab you, will find all the runs for the metadata backup.
The options available here are very similar to the ones in a Monitoring job:
Download org snapshot - allows you to download the contents of this metadata snapshot in a zip file.
Download comparison report - allows you to download metadata comparison in a CSV file.
Explore Permissions - preview on how profiles and permissions are applied across objects and fields. Additional options to export the report for the whole org, or for a given permission.
View code analysis issues - allows to preview static code analysis results for a given backup run. Additional option to export the analysis results into a CSV.
Note: You can manage rule settings on the Code analysis settings page in Gearset.View changes - this option allows you to:
View records - here you can view record history within Gearset (filtering by metadata objects is possible), or download records (new, changed, deleted or changed records can be downloaded). You can also restore selected records from previous backup.
Restore records - allows you to restore deleted records with dependent objects (or without dependencies), restore records with specific fields, or restore records across multiple objects.
For useful documentation resources on how to restore from Backup check our Restoration collection.
Object analysis
Switching to the Object analysis tab will show the record changes by object for the chosen timeframe.
Timeframe can be selected on the top right corner - you have options for the last 7, 10 or 30 days, or you can select your custom range.
Selecting an object at the top (dropdown under Choose object:) will display how the records in that object have changed during each backup job run.
To view more details on a specific run, select the object you want to preview changes for and click the run time link at the bottom right of the page (as shown on below video).
Audit history
If you delete a record from a data backup job, Audit history tab is where you will find the details of these deletions.
Optionally you can also export all audit history records in a CSV file.
FAQs
Can I send email notifications to custom email addresses?
Can I send email notifications to custom email addresses?
No, adding custom email addresses for your Backup job notification is not possible. Our updated Backup UI allows you to set up notifications only for existing Gearset team members.
If you have set up Backup job notifications for custom email addresses before 15 April 2025 (so prior to the new UI release), Gearset will continue sending these notifications. However, past that date once you remove a custom email from your Backup job notifications it won't be possible to re-add it.
What's the alternative?
The alternative is to use Slack or Teams notifications if you intend to notify other people than your Gearset team members about the Backup job runs.
What if I don't want to use Slack or Teams notifications?
You can set up a service user Gearset account under the email address for which you'd like to receive Backup notifications (e.g. this could be a common inbox available for all of your team members), and configure email notifications to be sent to that Gearset user.