Get Ready to Sync Contacts with Lightning Sync for Google

Learn how to sync contacts between Google Contacts and Salesforce when you’re set up to use Lightning Sync for Google.

Required Editions

Available to sync records from: Salesforce Classic, Lightning Experience, and the Salesforce mobile app

Available to set up from: Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

Available in: Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions with Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Lightning Platform

User Permissions Needed
To sync contacts both ways:	Read and Edit on contacts AND Read on accounts AND Contact sync direction set to Sync both ways in an active Lightning Sync configuration
To sync contacts from Salesforce to Google:	Read on contacts AND Contact sync direction set to Salesforce to Google in an active Lightning Sync configuration
To sync contacts from Google to Salesforce:	Create on contacts AND Contact sync direction set to Google to Salesforce in an active Lightning Sync configuration

User Permissions Needed

To sync contacts both ways:

Read and Edit on contacts

AND

Read on accounts

AND

Contact sync direction set to Sync both ways in an active Lightning Sync configuration

To sync contacts from Salesforce to Google:

Read on contacts

AND

Contact sync direction set to Salesforce to Google in an active Lightning Sync configuration

To sync contacts from Google to Salesforce:

Create on contacts

AND

Contact sync direction set to Google to Salesforce in an active Lightning Sync configuration

Important

Starting in Winter ‘21, Lightning Sync isn’t available to new Salesforce customers. Use Einstein Activity Capture to sync events, contacts, and emails between your connected account and Salesforce.

If you have Lightning Sync, use the migration tool to move to Einstein Activity Capture before Lightning Sync retires in 2027. Before you migrate, review Compare Einstein Activity Capture and Lightning Sync to understand what to expect when you migrate.

If your org is exempt from migration because of a licensing issue or if your org doesn’t support Einstein Activity Capture, you won’t see the migration tool in Lightning Sync.

Note If you’re set up to sync both ways, we recommend that you or your admin create relevant Salesforce accounts before rolling out contact sync. Otherwise, if reps don’t resolve unmatched Salesforce contacts before the next sync cycle, Lightning Sync removes the company from the Google contact.

After your Salesforce admin initiates contacts sync for you, Lightning Sync creates a group in Google Contacts called Salesforce Sync. If you’re set up to sync from Salesforce to Google (or both ways), any contacts that have synced are found in the Salesforce Sync group. Gmail™ accesses those contacts automatically when you attempt to email or chat with those contacts.

If you’re set up to sync from Google Contacts to Salesforce (or both ways), you can start syncing a Google Contact by following these steps.

On the contact’s Email field, add the Work label. Adding no label, other standard labels, or custom labels prevents the Google contact from syncing to Salesforce. Likewise, if you want the Google contact Phone field to sync, add one of the following labels to the phone field: Home, Work, Other, Mobile, or Work Fax.
Add the contact to the Salesforce Sync group.

Lightning Sync starts syncing those contacts with Salesforce during the next sync cycle.

Don’t rename, move, or delete the Salesforce Sync group, or syncing between Salesforce and Google Contacts could stop.