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Create a Custom Object from a Spreadsheet in Lightning Experience

Create a Custom Object from a Spreadsheet in Lightning Experience

Use custom objects to track and store data that’s unique to your organization. If you prefer not to create a custom object and its fields manually, you can use a spreadsheet to add the object and its fields and populate all its record data.

Required Editions

Available in: Lightning Experience
Available in: Contact Manager, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions
User Permissions Needed
To create and edit custom objects: Customize Application
Note
Note Although it’s available in Professional Edition, this feature uses API. To use this feature, Professional Edition orgs must have the API add on enabled. To enable the API add on, contact your Account Executive.

You can create a custom object from a spreadsheet in two places: in Setup, or from the Navigation Items tab inside a Lightning app’s settings.

  1. In Setup, go to Object Manager, then click Create | Custom Object from Spreadsheet.
  2. Alternatively, navigate to the Navigation Items tab inside a Lightning app.
    1. In Setup, enter App in the Quick Find box, then select App Manager.
    2. Next to the app you want to add the custom object to, click List item dropdown menu icon, and select Edit.
    3. Click Navigation Items.
    4. From the Available Items list, click Create | Custom Object from Spreadsheet.
  3. Follow the wizard steps to import your custom object data from an .xlsx file, a .csv file, or a Google sheet.
    Salesforce detects object field labels from the spreadsheet row that you specify. All fields must be mapped to create the custom object. Skipping the import step creates an empty custom object that uses the fields in the spreadsheet as a template. When you finish creating the object, a custom tab is created for it. The object appears in the list of available items for your app. If you imported field data, your object is ready to go with fully populated records.
  4. If you don’t want your users to see the new custom object right away, in the Object Manager in Setup, set its deployment status to In Development. This setting hides the object from users while you’re designing and testing it.
  5. When you’re ready for your users to see the new custom object, add it to your app’s Selected Items list.

See Also