How to Do a Pipedrive to Salesforce Migration Without Losing Deals

Pipedrive is built around the deal and the pipeline, and that focus is why a lot of teams like it. The move to Salesforce usually starts when reporting, forecasting or a parent company needs a Salesforce org, or when the process has more objects and rules than a pipeline was meant to hold.

The work is less about getting a CSV out, and more about reshaping it. Pipedrive people and organizations have to become Salesforce contacts and accounts. Deals need an account, a stage that already exists in Salesforce, and a single close date, even though Pipedrive keeps several date fields. Activities and notes come out in their own files. Below is the export, the mapping, the Salesforce setup and the test run, in the order we’d do them.

Before you start your Pipedrive to Salesforce migration

Spend ten minutes deciding what’s moving. For most teams it’s people, organizations and deals, sometimes with leads, products, notes and activities. Old lost deals, test records and leads nobody has touched in years can stay behind in an archive file.

Then pick a cutover date, and ask the team to stop editing Pipedrive shortly before it so your final export is complete. Count your people, organizations and deals. You’ll use those numbers to check the migration at the end.

Export your data from Pipedrive

Pipedrive’s help center describes two ways to get your data out, in Exporting data from Pipedrive.

Export everything by item type

This is the best option for a full migration. You need global admin permissions. Even then, you can only export what your visibility settings allow you to see.

1. Open the account menu in the top right corner.
2. Go to Tools and apps > Export data.
3. Choose the item type you want, such as People, Organizations or Deals.
4. Choose CSV as the format and click Export.
5. Download the file from the Generated exports list by clicking the cloud icon.

Repeat this for each item type. Pipedrive notes that activities, notes and files linked to deals and contacts are exported separately, and that generated exports are available for 28 days.

Export a filtered list

If you only want part of your data, open a list view, apply a filter, choose your columns with the gear icon, then click … > Export filter results.

While you’re in there, export your field setup too, from Personal preferences > Data fields. That list of field names, types and options is a handy reference when you map fields in Salesforce.

Map Pipedrive items to Salesforce objects

Pipedrive’s main items line up with Salesforce like this:

• Organizations → Accounts
• People → Contacts
• Deals → Opportunities
• Leads → Leads, or Contacts, if you don’t use Salesforce Leads
• Products → Products
• Notes and activities → Tasks or other activities, planned separately

Watch these Pipedrive to Salesforce field differences

Close dates are the one that catches people. Pipedrive keeps several date fields on a deal, like won time, lost time and expected close date. Salesforce opportunities have one Close Date, and it’s required. Decide which Pipedrive field fills it, and fill any blanks before you import.

Salesforce also expects an opportunity to belong to an account. A Pipedrive deal with no organization needs a rule: create a placeholder account, attach it to the person’s account, or hold that row back. If a deal has more than one participant, pick who becomes the primary contact.

Create each Pipedrive pipeline and stage in Salesforce before you import opportunities, and write down the translation. Won and lost deals need a matching Closed Won or Closed Lost stage, not just a status column. If you use more than one sales process, set up record types first so each stage is valid.

Labels and custom dropdowns need a matching Salesforce picklist with the same options, translated one by one. Add your team as Salesforce users so owners can carry over. Lowercase and dedupe emails before you export. Store the Pipedrive ID on each Salesforce record.

Set up Salesforce before you import anything

Importing into an org that isn’t ready is the usual cause of a messy migration. Before you load any data:

1. Create a custom field for every Pipedrive custom field you’re keeping, including a text field for the Pipedrive ID. Make that ID field an External ID if you want to upsert later.
2. Add opportunity stages (and record types, if you need them) to match your map.
3. Add users so owners can be assigned.
4. Review validation rules, required fields, duplicate rules and assignment rules. Decide which ones should stay on during the import, and which ones you’ll relax for the load and turn back on after.
5. Pause flows, workflow rules and email alerts that could fire on insert and message people by accident.

Choose how to move the data

You have a few realistic options for a Pipedrive file.

Salesforce Data Import Wizard

In Salesforce, go to Setup, enter Data Import Wizard in the Quick Find box, then click Launch Wizard. You can import accounts, contacts, leads, campaign members, person accounts and custom objects from a CSV, up to 50,000 records at a time. You can add new records, update existing ones, or do both, and match contacts by email.

It’s included with Salesforce, and Salesforce recommends testing a small CSV first. It does not import opportunities. If deals are part of the move, you’ll need Data Loader or another tool for that object.

Salesforce Data Loader

Data Loader is Salesforce’s desktop app for inserting, updating, upserting and exporting any object, including opportunities. You can download it from Setup (search for Data Loader) or from Salesforce’s Data Loader page. You pick the object, choose a CSV, map columns to Salesforce fields, then review the success and error files it writes when the job finishes.

Use it when you’re loading opportunities, when a file is larger than the wizard allows, or when you want a mapping you can run again. You still do the cleanup and the field map yourself, and records are written as soon as the job runs.

Carryrow

With Carryrow, you upload your Pipedrive export, and every column is shown with a few real values next to it and the Salesforce field it will go into. You can point a column somewhere else, drop it, skip rows missing a value, or lowercase emails. Nothing is written until you accept the map.

Then we write the records into Salesforce using access you create there. We never log into Pipedrive, and you can delete the Salesforce access the same day. The price follows the number of records in your file, from $129 for up to 5,000 rows. See CRM migration pricing and how a move works. Comparing quotes? Here’s what CRM migrations usually cost.

If you’re comparing tools, we also wrote an honest look at Carryrow, Import2 and HubSpot’s built-in importer. Import2 is often used for Salesforce moves, especially when you want history pulled through an API. Carryrow works from the file you export.

Test with a sample, then migrate everything

Start with a small sample that includes your hardest records: people with no organization, deals in unusual stages, won and lost deals, and records with custom fields filled in.

Open each one in Salesforce and check:

• Names, emails and phone numbers are right
• The contact is linked to the right account
• Opportunities are in the right stage, with the right close date, amount and account
• Custom fields hold the values you expected
• Owners match the right Salesforce user

Fix the map, run the sample again, then run the full migration in the same order: accounts, then contacts and leads, then opportunities. Compare your Pipedrive counts with Salesforce’s counts for each object before you go live.

Go live in Salesforce

Tell the team Salesforce is now the system of record. Turn automations back on one at a time. Keep your Pipedrive export somewhere safe for reference, and keep Pipedrive readable for a short overlap if you can.

For a longer checklist, see our CRM migration checklist. Moving from Pipedrive to HubSpot instead? See the Pipedrive to HubSpot guide. We also have guides for HubSpot to Salesforce and Zoho to Salesforce.

Pipedrive to Salesforce migration FAQ

How long does a Pipedrive to Salesforce migration take?
For a small team with clean data, the data move itself can be quick. Most of the time goes into cleaning Pipedrive, translating pipelines and stages into Salesforce, and testing a sample.

Can I migrate Pipedrive activities and notes to Salesforce?
Yes, but plan for them separately. Pipedrive exports activities, notes and files on their own, and they need to be linked to the right accounts, contacts and opportunities in Salesforce.

Will my Pipedrive custom fields move to Salesforce?
They can, as long as you create a matching Salesforce field first and map each column to it.

What happens to Pipedrive pipelines and stages?
They don’t arrive as a pipeline object. You create matching opportunity stages in Salesforce first, and record types if you use more than one process, then map each Pipedrive stage to the Salesforce value it should become.

Do you need my Pipedrive password?
No. You export the file from Pipedrive yourself. We never log into it.

Can I test the migration before paying?
Yes. Carryrow offers a free sample migration of up to 250 records from Pipedrive to Salesforce. It’s one per company and approved by our team.

Can I move from Pipedrive to a CRM other than Salesforce?
Yes. Carryrow also writes into HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Zoho and Close. Moving to HubSpot instead? See our Pipedrive to HubSpot guide.