Using the Recycle Bin is straightforward: open it from the App Launcher, select records, click Restore or Delete. The feature works the same way across Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic.
- Open the Recycle Bin
App Launcher, search Recycle Bin, click the tab. The default view is My Recycle Bin (records the current user deleted).
- Switch to Org Recycle Bin if needed
For admins investigating a mass-delete or recovering records from another user, switch to the Org Recycle Bin view. Requires Modify All Data permission.
- Filter and find the record
Use the filter bar to narrow by object type, deleted date, or text search. The bin can hold tens of thousands of records, so filtering matters.
- Select records and choose action
Select the records to restore or permanently delete. Click Restore to reinstate, or Delete to permanently remove. For dependency chains, start with the root parent.
- Verify the restored record
Open the restored record. Confirm field values, relationships, and the record Id match the original. Sharing rules and field history apply as expected; the record is now indistinguishable from a never-deleted record.
- Empty the Recycle Bin if storage is tight
For admins managing storage limits, Empty Org Recycle Bin permanently removes everything in the bin. The action is one-way and should be coordinated with the team.
View of records the current user deleted. Default for non-admin users.
View of every deleted record in the org. Requires Modify All Data permission.
Reinstates the record with field values, relationships, and Id intact.
One-way removal that purges the record from storage and SOQL ALL ROWS results.
Admin action that permanently removes every record in the org bin. Frees storage.
Programmatic delete option that bypasses the Recycle Bin entirely. Used for compliance scenarios.
- The 15-day retention is a minimum guarantee, not a maximum. The platform purges older records when the size cap (25x data storage) is hit. Treat the bin as a 24-48 hour rescue window in practice.
- Restoring records with deleted parents requires the parents to be restored first. The dependency chain matters; start with the root parent and work outward.
- Bulk API Hard Delete bypasses the Recycle Bin entirely. The permission should be granted carefully; mistakes have no recovery path inside Salesforce.
- Users are deactivated, not deleted. The Recycle Bin does not contain deleted User records because the platform does not allow user deletes.
- Managed package uninstalls can remove data without it appearing in the Recycle Bin. Confirm the data retention strategy before uninstalling a package with customer data.