How to get started with Salesforce on Zapier

Salesforce and Zapier connect to automate your CRM work. You can trigger actions when new leads or contacts are added and create or update records.

Available on plans:

Free

Pro

Team

Enterprise

Prerequisites

To use the Salesforce app on Zapier, you must have:

• A paid Zapier plan. Salesforce is a premium app on Zapier. 
• A Salesforce account with Sales/Service edition (including Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, or Performance editions). 
• My Domain configured in your Salesforce org (Custom Domains are not supported).
• Zapier installed as a Connected App in your Salesforce org.
• Zapier approved as an OAuth Connected App in your Salesforce org.
• Appropriate user, object, and field permissions in Salesforce for the connecting user.

Connect Salesforce to Zapier

To create an app connection to Salesforce on Zapier:

• • Go to the Apps page.
  • Click + Add connection.
  • A new dialog box will appear. Search for and select Salesforce.
  • Click Add connection.
  • A new browser tab or window will open.
  • Log into Salesforce to authenticate.
  • Grant Zapier permission to access your account if prompted to.

Your Salesforce account is now successfully connected to Zapier.

Troubleshoot Salesforce app connection

• If you select sandbox and your account does not support a sandbox environment, you'll receive the following message "Please check your username and password. If you still can't log in, contact your Salesforce administrator."
• If you receive the error "This connection to Salesforce appears to no longer be working", you've exceeded the connection app access limit in Salesforce. 

About Salesforce's app

Triggers, searches, and actions

Triggers

• New Case Attachment - Triggers when a new Attachment is added to a case. (Polling)
• New Field History Tracking Event - Triggers when a field is updated on the object specified. It will output the old and new field values. (Polling)
• New Lead - Triggers when a new Lead is created. (Polling)
• New Record - Triggers when a record of the specified Salesforce object (ie. Contact, Lead, Opportunity, etc.) is created. (Polling)
• Updated Record - Triggers when any record of the specified Salesforce object (ie. Contact, Lead, Opportunity, etc.) is updated. (Polling)
• New Contact - Triggers when a new Contact is created. (Polling)
• New or Updated File on Record - Triggers when an attachment, note, or content document is added or updated on any record of the specified Salesforce object. (Polling)
• New Outbound Message - Triggers when a new outbound message is received in Salesforce. (Instant)
• Updated Field on Record - Triggers when a field of your choosing (ie. email address, status) is updated on any record of a specified Salesforce object (ie. Contact, Lead, Opportunity, etc.). (Polling)

Searches

• Find Record - Finds a record of a specified Salesforce object by up to two fields and values you choose.
• Find Records - Finds records of a specified Salesforce object by a field and value you choose (with line-item support).
• Get Record Attachments - Gets all notes and attachments for a record.
• Custom SOQL Query - Execute custom SOQL SELECT queries with support for full query control and guided aggregate functions (COUNT, SUM, AVG, MAX, MIN).
• Find or Create Record by Query - Finds a record of a Salesforce object using a Salesforce Object Query (SOQL) WHERE clause. Optionally create a record if not found.
• Find Child Records - Finds Child Records for a given Parent ID.
• Find Records by Query - Finds records of a Salesforce object using a Salesforce Object Query (SOQL) WHERE clause.
• Find Record by Query - Finds a record of a Salesforce object using a Salesforce Object Query (SOQL) WHERE clause.
• Find or Create Record - Find a record. Optionally create a record if not found.

Actions

• Add File to Record - Adds an existing file to an existing Record.
• Call Apex REST - Direct pass-through to custom Apex REST endpoints at /service/apexrest/...with miniumal processing. Send exactly what your Apex class expects.
• Convert Lead to Contact - Adds an existing contact to an existing campaign.
• Create Child Records (with line item support) - Creates records from line items and sets the parent-child relationship.
• Create Enhanced Note - Creates a new enhanced note (also known as ContentNote) with optional record attachment.
• Create Lead - Creates a new lead in Salesforce.
• Create Record - Creates a new record of a specified Salesforce object.
• Delete Record - Deletes an existing record of a specified Salesforce object.
• Update Contact - Updates an existing contact in Salesforce.
• Update Record - Updates an existing record for a specified Salesforce object (ie. Contact, Lead, Opportunity, etc.).
• API Request (Beta) - This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.
• Add Contact to Campaign - Adds an existing contact to an existing campaign.
• Add Lead to Campaign - Adds an existing lead to an existing campaign.
• Create Attachment - Creates a new attachment (max 25MB).
• Create Contact - Creates a new contact.
• Create File - Creates a new File (max 25MB).
• Create Note - Creates a new note and links it to a parent record.
• Create Record (UTC) - Creates a new record of a specified Salesforce object. Dates use the UTC format.
• Launch Flow - Launch a Salesforce flow with optional input paramters. The flow will execute and return any output values.
• Run Report - Execute a Salesforce Analytics report and retrieve the results with optional custom filters and groupings.
• Send Email - Sends an email using Salesforce Simple Email Actions.
• Update Lead - Updates an existing lead in Salesforce.
• Update Record (UTC) - Updates an existing record of a specified Salesforce object. Dates use the UTC format.

Limitations

• Connected app access is limited to 5 access tokens per Salesforce account across all third-party applications. After 5 tokens are generated, older tokens are automatically revoked without notification.
• API request limits apply with two types of restrictions: concurrent requests within a 20-second period and total API requests within a 24-hour period, which vary by Salesforce edition and license count.
• The Salesforce integration does not support Marketing Cloud accounts.
• If no live data is present in your Salesforce account, test record data will be supplied.
• The Updated field on Record trigger will return the most recently updated record.  Test records will not filter based on your selected Salesforce Object in your trigger settings.
• User, object, and field permissions in Salesforce can prevent triggers and actions from working if the connected user doesn't have the appropriate access level.
• Custom fields and objects may have delays appearing in the Zap editor dropdown menus after being added in Salesforce. 
  • To fix this for triggers:
    • In the Salesforce Object dropdown menu and click Load More.
  • To fix this for actions:
    • Hard refreshing the page (Shift+F5 on a PC or CMD+Shift+R on a Mac) a couple of times.
    • In the Salesforce dropdown menu, click Load More.

Templates

View all of Salesforce's templates.

Use cases

• 6 Salesforce automation ideas
• Salesforce Tutorial
• How to integrate Salesforce with ChatGPT

Additional Salesforce resources

• Tips and tricks with Salesforce triggers and actions
• Zapier's Salesforce integration page
• Salesforce's Help Center
• Salesforce's API documentation