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Salesforce data cleanup checklist

25 practical checks for cleaner Salesforce data, grouped by the problems that slow teams down most. Work through one group at a time, before a campaign, a report, a handoff, or a leadership review.

7-minute read

1. Before you start

A cleanup goes faster when it's tied to the work coming up next. Decide what the cleaner data is for, then check only what that work depends on.

  • Name the work this cleanup supports: a mailing, an email campaign, a report, a handoff, or a review.
  • List the details that work depends on, such as email, mailing address, owner, status, or a key date.
  • Pick one group of records to start with, such as active customers or people you've contacted this year, rather than everything at once.
  • Agree on who approves changes, and keep a record of what changed.

2. Missing details

  • Email addresses missing on people you plan to contact.
  • Mailing addresses missing or incomplete (no city, state, or postal code).
  • Records with no owner, or owned by someone who has left.
  • Status or stage left blank, so records don't show up in reports.
  • Key dates left blank, such as start dates, renewal dates, or close dates.

Ask Hank

  • “Which contacts we emailed this year are missing an email address?”
  • “Which accounts have no mailing city or postal code?”
  • “Which open opportunities have no close date?”

3. Duplicates

  • The same person entered twice, including nicknames (Bob and Robert) and misspellings.
  • The same organization under slightly different names ("Acme Inc." and "Acme, Inc").
  • Two records sharing the same email address.
  • Duplicates created by imports or web forms, often on the same day.

Ask Hank

  • “Are there people listed more than once?”
  • “Which accounts look like the same organization?”

4. Inconsistent values

  • Names in ALL CAPS or all lowercase.
  • States and countries spelled different ways (FL, Fla., Florida).
  • Phone numbers in different formats.
  • The same choice entered different ways in a field people type into, such as "Board" and "board member".
  • Extra spaces or stray characters at the start or end of names and addresses.

Ask Hank

  • “Which company names are in all caps?”
  • “How is the state written on our contacts' mailing addresses?”

5. Out-of-date records

  • Records with no activity in the last year or more.
  • Open opportunities or cases well past their expected date.
  • Email addresses that bounced and were never updated.
  • People who have moved on from the organization they're linked to.

Ask Hank

  • “Which accounts haven't been updated in over a year?”
  • “Which open opportunities are past their close date?”

6. Ownership and follow-up

  • Records still assigned to people who have left your team.
  • Open tasks that are long overdue.
  • Important records with nobody responsible for the next step.

Ask Hank

  • “Which open tasks are more than 30 days overdue?”
  • “Which accounts are owned by inactive users?”

7. Before a campaign or report

A quick final pass the week before the work goes out:

  • Everyone on the list has the contact detail you're about to use.
  • Nobody on the list appears twice.
  • People who asked not to be contacted are left out.
  • The numbers in the report match a quick count of the records behind them.

8. Keep it clean

Cleanup works best as a habit, not a yearly project. Pick a few checks from this list and run them every month. Each one takes a few minutes when someone does the digging for you.

Hank finds these issues when you ask, suggests the fixes, and saves nothing until you approve. See how it works: Salesforce data cleanup with Hank

Common questions

How often should we clean Salesforce data?

Before big campaigns, reports, and handoffs, plus a quick check every month.

What should we clean first?

Whatever blocks your next piece of work: missing contact details before outreach, inconsistent values before reporting.

Do we need a big cleanup project?

No. Small, regular checks on the records you're about to use keep data in good shape without a project.

Can Hank help?

Yes. Ask Hank to find each kind of issue. On Starter and up he suggests fixes, and nothing is saved until you approve.

More guides

Still stuck? Email hank@visios.us and a person at Visios will help.