What is the difference between Export and Export All?

Both Data Loader buttons run a SOQL query against your org and stream the rows to a CSV. The single difference is what the query sees.

Why “soft-deleted” matters

When a user clicks Delete in Salesforce, the record isn’t gone — it goes to the recycle bin for up to 15 days (or until the bin hits capacity, whichever comes first). The IsDeleted flag flips to true and standard SOQL queries skip the row.

Under the hood:

• Export calls the API’s query() operation, which filters IsDeleted = false automatically.
• Export All calls queryAll(), which includes deleted and archived rows. The result set has the IsDeleted column populated so you can tell them apart.

When you specifically want Export All

• Disaster-recovery snapshot before a destructive change set, sandbox refresh, or mass-delete script. If something goes wrong, deleted rows are still on disk.
• Compliance / audit trail where you need to prove that a record once existed and was removed on a specific date.
• Investigating “what did the deleted Opportunity look like?” — recover the row from the export, undelete in Salesforce if it’s still in the bin.
• Archived Task/Event data. Activities older than 365 days are archived; plain Export skips them, Export All includes them.

When plain Export is the right pick

• Migrating active data to a new org — you don’t want deleted rows polluting the target.
• Feeding a reporting warehouse — analysts want current state, not tombstones.
• Quick lookups, ad-hoc exports, anything where deleted rows would be noise.

Trap

If you re-import the result of an Export All file via Insert, the IsDeleted column is read-only and the deleted rows will come back as live records in the target org. Always filter by IsDeleted = false (or strip the column) before re-importing, unless you specifically want to revive them.

Verified against: Data Loader Guide — Exporting Data, SOAP API Developer Guide — queryAll(). Last reviewed 2026-05-17 for Spring ‘26 release.