UPDATE: This extension does not always work with Lightning Experience. Best if you navigate back to Classic in order for this tool to work. However, it’s still a huge time saver!

A whopping 70% of Admin Hero readers access the website from Google Chrome. It’s a modern browser and part of the reason for its popularity, aside from its speed, are the powerful extensions.

So, what is this mysterious extension that can save you hours? ColumnCopy. ColumnCopy allows you to click right on a list on any website and essentially copy the values. Not only does it copy columns, but it can also copy table values. Once copied, the values of the column or table can be dropped into Excel, Google Docs or right into Salesforce.

Here are some examples of ways that I’ve used it over the past few weeks to save me hours.

Copy Picklist Values

Every Salesforce Administrator has experienced this; you have created a new picklist field and wanted to use the values in another picklist field elsewhere in Salesforce. So you intend to copy the values out of the field before saving, but you forgot to do so. Face palm. I don’t know how many times this has happened to me as an Administrator.

https://gyazo.com/e5df925aba834a90d0b879205bdf1ef2

I ran into this very same issue last week while configuring a client’s org. But, with ColumnCopy, I was able to copy all of the picklist values of the field with a simple right-click of my mouse and copy the values for use elsewhere in Salesforce! Without the extension, I would have had to rekey all of the picklist values.

Note that a new Salesforce feature called Global Picklists is available in the Spring ’16 release which could eliminate the need for this headache!

Copy Field Labels on a Page Layout

Again, working in a client org last week, I was doing a “stare and compare” on a series of fields created on the Account. I was reviewing the list of fields on the layout to determine if they match the new updated values provided to me in an Excel spreadsheet.

https://gyazo.com/61dcbae62b41d1c10c2a14a5821c6862

I realized that if I could capture the field labels from the layout and put them into Excel next to the new values, I could more readily indicate which fields needed to be updated, added or removed. ColumnCopy to the rescue! With a simple right-click, I had the values of the Account fields copied and pasted into Excel for review.

Object Metadata Export

Exporting Salesforce object-level metadata such as fields, field values, and data types is relatively easy, but what if you want to audit the fields and field values for a single object? Use ColumnCopy to copy the entire fields table and paste it into Salesforce!

https://gyazo.com/2a2782519f2838be953da2985a0a255e

Exporting validation rules and workflow rules are nearly impossible. Using ColumnCopy, the Validation rules page values or Workflow rules can easy be copied out of Salesforce and into a Google Sheet for evaluation and note taking as part of the audit.

Falling Short

The extension is really great, but it does fall short in a few areas. The values are copied only as text so if there is a need to have an HTML version copied, try Copytables – a similar Chrome extension.

Also, it doesn’t do a good job of capturing checkboxes in Setup. Notice in the last example above the Track History column values didn’t copy over. A small price to pay in my opinion!

Extension Security

It’s important to note that Chrome Extensions are generally created by a third party – and not all of those third parties are reputable companies. Google does not have an official security review process for extensions which means that any developer can create an extension and publish the app.

For this reason, it’s important to review the app privacy policy and understand not only what information needs to be granted to the app to work, but also what the app developer plans to do with the information the app has access to. Always be aware of the extensions you’re installing – not just those that are Salesforce specific.

I hope you find this tool valuable! I know I have. It’s become one of the very few Chrome extensions that I use on a daily basis!

Published by Brent Downey

Passionate about Jesus, being a dad, and Salesforce!

48 thoughts on “ The Google Chrome Extension That Will Save You Hours ”

      1. I’ve used Enhance Salesforce Dashboard extension and it’s AWESOME! Not sure how it works with LEX, though. Hey, I’ll go check that out right now!

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    2. Thanks Ishrat!
      Brent – Do check out “Enhance Salesforce Dashboard” extension and let me know if you have any feedback.
      PS : I’ve developed Enhance Salesforce Dashboard 🙂

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  3. Brent great tool!!!

    Just a note on picklist values. You can click on the printable view for picklists and copy the values from that view. However, this extension makes it even easier !!

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  8. Fanfreakingtastic Brent!!!! What a good find. Thanks for sharing this will be SUPER helpful while documenting my current org.

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  9. If you’re need to use Firefox, it has a column copy feature built-in. On a Mac at least, press the Command key, then drag through the copy values you want to copy and press Command+C.

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  10. If you need to use Firefox, it has a column copy feature built-in. On a Mac at least, press the Command key, then drag through the copy values you want to copy and press Command+C.

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  11. Brent, I figured I’d click on the post and see an extension I already use, but I was wrong! More time saved ahead for me! Thank you. Are you open to seeing the other extensions your readers are using, saving additional hours?

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      1. Hey Brent, these are my top three (most used by me) extensions for use in salesforce, although the second can be used outside of salesforce.com pages.

        1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforcecom-id-clipper/hfiffenhnefppjhloglpebefjlbhoeai

        On any salesforce page with a record id, you can right-click to automatically put in your clipboard the 15 digit id, 18 digit id, or full url to that record.

        2. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/uselect-idownload/ileabdhfjmgaognikmjgmhhkjffggejc

        Allows you to open or download several links at once with simple selection.

        I use it to delete smaller batches of records from list views, or download the data exports. I select all the download links, and chrome handles the rest!

        3. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforce-inspector/aodjmnfhjibkcdimpodiifdjnnncaafh

        Little extension to inspect and expose metadata to the UI. Very handy to jump right the setup for a custom field.

        Thanks!

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  13. This is really great! I was hoping to be able to copy a column or a table right out of the records view for contacts or any other object but it didn’t work. Any idea if it’s possible at all?

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    1. I did hear that for some folks, a restart of the browser was needed to get this to work correctly. I haven’t experienced any issues with it however. You may want to try the alternative extension mentioned at the end of the post if this one isn’t doing what you want.

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  18. Have used it for an hour now and is absolutely thrilled! Will be extremely helpful in my admin work.
    Especially like copying a summery report and be able to paste it in to Excel exactly the way it looks, instead of exporting the report.

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  19. Thanks for sharing, I’ll definitely be using this.

    Regarding the hyperlinks issue: if you look at the options for the extension (Settings > Extensions > ColumnCopy > Options) you can choose to either have it copy “raw text” or “Create Excel style CSV hyperlinks, ie: =HYPERLINK(“http://example.com”, “Example”)” so that mostly eliminates the shortcomings you mentioned!

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  20. Thanks, Brent! Here are some must-haves for time saving!!! I’m sure lots of admins and consultants out there already know about these, but I have saved so many hours of my life I feel like I just have to share:

    1. Force.com LOGINS: a must-have for all consultants! (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/forcecom-logins/ldjbglicecgnpkpdhpbogkednmmbebec)

    2. Salesforce API Fieldnames: for those of us too lazy and like avoid clicks! (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforce-api-fieldnames/oghajcjpbolpfoikoccffglngkphjgbo)

    3. Salesforce Navigator: this extension has saved me HOURS of “useless clicking” (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforce-navigator/ecjmdlggbilopfkkhggmgebbmbiklcdo)

    4. Salesforce.com Enhanced Formula Editor: helps you keep track of all your parenthesis, haha (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforcecom-enhanced-fo/cnlnnpnjccjcmecojdhgpknalcahkhio)

    5. Salesforce.com Quick Login As: helps with troubleshooting an ironing out security profiles FAST (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/salesforcecom-quick-login/dccccilgophpadpomgajjlkkioipoojh)

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  24. Brent,

    Wanted to let you know that I downloaded the extension mere minutes after you posted this article and in the weeks since, have found it a tremendous time saver! I’ve passed the “secret” to my boss and several of my end users who all have the same enthusiastic response as I did when reading your blog post.

    Thanks for providing a solution to a problem I didn’t realize could be solved!

    Katie

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  26. There is a share meeting after lunch every Thursday in our company.
    In this meeting, some coworker will share their story, experiences they got in their work with us.

    Last week, I shared some useful Mac tools and Chrome Extensions. I got a lot of good feedbacks from my coworkers.

    Here is the list of the most useful and frequently used Chrome Extensions:
    1. [QR Code Maker](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/qr-code-maker/jmadehfbknkdlbhiajnmpodahfloajgk) – Generate a QR Code of the website you are visiting. Then you can use your mobile to scan it and visit it on your phone. No need to type.

    2. [Draft](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/draft/nmfjkeiebceinkbggliapgfdjphocpdh) – A new tab is just like a draft. Open a tab and write. It will save for you.

    3. [Evernote](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/evernote-web-clipper/pioclpoplcdbaefihamjohnefbikjilc?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon) – Product of Evernote. It helps sync the article reading to your Evernote account.

    4. [One Tab](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/onetab/chphlpgkkbolifaimnlloiipkdnihall?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon) – You opened too many tabs? No worries, it helps you save them in one tab.

    5. [Bookmark Manager](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bookmark-manager/gmlllbghnfkpflemihljekbapjopfjik) – It has a much better UI than default Chrome browser.

    6. [QR Reader Beta](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/qrreader-beta/bfdjglobiolninfgldchakgfldifphic) – You want to scan a QR Code on PC? This is exactly what it does.

    7. [Send to kindle](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/send-to-kindle-for-google/cgdjpilhipecahhcilnafpblkieebhea) – Sync articles to your Kindle device.

    8. [[For Developer] Postman](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/postman-interceptor/aicmkgpgakddgnaphhhpliifpcfhicfo?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon) – It is a very useful tool to test APIs. You can imitate POST & GET.

    9. [[For Developer] JSON View](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jsonview/chklaanhfefbnpoihckbnefhakgolnmc) – It will help you display a JSON in a readable way.

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  27. ColumnCopy is great and I’ve been using it ever since I saw your recommendation, but sad times! It doesn’t appear to work with Lightning Experience 😦 – you need to switch back to classic to be able to use it

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    1. Hey Keith! I saw your initial comment. This extension doesn’t work in Lightning Experience (which is a real bummer). However, it’s still a big time saver even when having to go back to Classic.

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  33. Hi I right click on the the column and click “copy this column” but how exactly do I paste it onto excel?
    I am looking at your demo but cant see how exactly you are doing the paste onto excel.
    Paste does not work for me,

    when I click paste it pastes values from the standard cut and paste

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