Salesforce Inspector Reloaded: Setup and 10 Admin Tasks

Most admins don't lose their day to hard problems. They lose it to forty small clicks: find the field's API name, open Setup, search for the object, open the field list, go back, repeat. Salesforce Inspector Reloaded is a free browser extension that removes a lot of those clicks, and this guide shows ten real admin tasks where it does.

Key takeaways

• Salesforce Inspector Reloaded is a free, open-source Chrome and Firefox extension that adds a record inspector, SOQL query tool, data import and Setup shortcuts on top of the normal Salesforce UI.
• Setup is quick, unless your org uses API Access Control, in which case you also need a connected app step.
• Its biggest wins for admins are reading: finding API names, querying data, auditing permissions and checking limits.
• Treat anything that writes data as a controlled change: sandbox first, small batch first, and a backup of what you're about to overwrite.

My argument is simple: use it to read first and write carefully. The extension is fast, and fast is exactly why it needs rules.

What Salesforce Inspector Reloaded is, and what it isn't

It's a community-maintained browser extension that adds a metadata layer on top of Salesforce, and it isn't an official Salesforce product.

Thomas Prouvot took over maintenance of the original Salesforce Inspector when its author stopped maintaining it. The project's documentation describes it as a Chrome and Firefox extension. The source code is on GitHub.

The Salesforce Developers Blog post about it carries a clear note: this is not an official Salesforce solution, and development and support are not Salesforce's responsibility. Read that as a governance instruction. If your company has a browser-extension policy, get it approved like any other tool.

How to set up Salesforce Inspector Reloaded in five steps

Install it from your browser's store, pin it, then open any Salesforce page and click the small tab the extension adds on the edge of the screen.

1. Open the Chrome Web Store (or Firefox Add-ons) and search for "Salesforce Inspector reloaded". The project page lists the official store links under "Installation".
2. Click Add to Chrome, then pin the extension from the puzzle-piece menu so it's always visible.
3. Log in to a sandbox first. Open any record page.
4. Look at the right edge of the page. You'll see a small tab or arrow added by the extension. Click it and a popup opens with the current object, record ID and a set of buttons.
5. Open the extension's Options page once and read what's switched on. Defaults change between versions, and version 2.0 changed some, including the SObjects list cache default, according to the release notes.

Button labels shift slightly between releases, so match by purpose rather than exact wording.

If your org uses API Access Control

If "API client whitelisting" (API Access Control) is on, the extension stops working until you authorise it through a connected app.

The project's how-to page documents the flow for Chrome and Edge:

1. Open the extension and scroll to Generate Access Token.
2. Click it. You'll see an OAUTH_APP_BLOCKED error. That's expected at this stage.
3. In Salesforce Setup, open Connected Apps OAuth Usage and search for "Salesforce Inspector reloaded".
4. Click Install, then follow the remaining steps on the how-to page to allow the app for your users.

Do this deliberately, not as a workaround. It means you decide who can use the extension against your org, which is the right way round.

Ten admin tasks Salesforce Inspector Reloaded makes faster

These ten tasks cover most of what admins do daily: look something up, query something, fix a small set of records, or check something before a change.

#	Task	Where in the tool	What it replaces
1	Find field API names and values	Popup → Show all data	Object Manager clicks
2	Jump to a Setup page	Popup → Shortcuts search	Setup Quick Find and menus
3	Run a SOQL query	Data Export	Developer Console
4	Find duplicate emails	Data Export + GROUP BY	A report and export
5	Update records from a spreadsheet	Data Import	A data loader session
6	Audit a user's permission sets	Data Export	Clicking through the user record
7	Log in as a user	Popup → user section	Setup → Users → Login
8	Inventory your active flows	Data Export, plus Flow Scanner	Flows list in Setup
9	Check org limits	Org Limits	Setup storage and API pages
10	Inspect an object over REST	REST Explore	Browser-based API tools

1. Find a field's API name and its raw value

Open the popup on a record and use Show all data to see every field with its API name, type and stored value on one screen.

Picture the page: a table with one row per field, showing the label, the API name and the value. Search is built in. Type "stage" and you'll see StageName straight away. No more guessing whether a formula references Opportunity_Source__c or Source__c.

2. Jump straight to Setup

The Shortcuts tab lets you type the name of a Setup page and go there directly.

Type something like "Account fields" or "permission sets" in the search box. It's a small saving per use, but admins do this fifty times a week.

3. Run a SOQL query with autocomplete

Data Export is a SOQL editor with field suggestions, so you can answer data questions in a minute.

Open Data Export, type your query, run it. Results appear as a table you can copy to the clipboard or export. For example, to see accounts changed in the last week:

SELECT Id, Name, Owner.Name, LastModifiedDate
FROM Account
WHERE LastModifiedDate = LAST_N_DAYS:7
ORDER BY LastModifiedDate DESC
LIMIT 200

If you want the language itself, the SOQL reference is the place to check clause behaviour.

4. Find duplicate emails before an import

A GROUP BY with HAVING shows duplicates in seconds, without building a report.

SELECT Email, COUNT(Id)
FROM Contact
WHERE Email != null
GROUP BY Email
HAVING COUNT(Id) > 1

5. Update records from a spreadsheet

Data Import takes pasted rows with a header row and applies an insert, update, upsert or delete.

Paste your data with an Id column (for updates), pick the object, pick the action, check the column mapping, and run. The result shows per-row success or failure. This is the dangerous one, so see the mistakes section below.

6. Audit what a user can actually do

Query PermissionSetAssignment to list every permission set a user holds.

SELECT PermissionSet.Label, PermissionSet.IsOwnedByProfile
FROM PermissionSetAssignment
WHERE Assignee.Username = 'name@yourcompany.com'

Rows where IsOwnedByProfile is true are the profile's own permission set, which is a quick way to separate profile from added access.

7. Log in as a user to reproduce a problem

The popup can show login-as actions for users, so you can see what the user sees.

This still depends on your org's login-access rules, since the extension doesn't bypass anything. The release notes mention that LoginAs buttons for frozen users were restored in 2.0.

8. Inventory your active flows

Query FlowDefinitionView to list active flows, then open any one that looks suspicious.

SELECT ApiName, Label, ProcessType, LastModifiedDate
FROM FlowDefinitionView
WHERE IsActive = true

Sort by LastModifiedDate and look at what changed recently before you debug anything. The extension also includes a Flow Scanner, so check the release notes for what it covers in your version. When a flow fails, my guide to debugging a Salesforce Flow covers the next step.

9. Check org limits before a big load

The Org Limits view shows limits such as daily API requests and storage, with how much you've used.

Check it before a large import or an integration test. It has a refresh button to update the limits, so you can check them just before a big load.

10. Explore the REST API without leaving the org

REST Explore lets you send a GET request using your current session, which is handy for describing an object.

Try /services/data/vXX.X/sobjects/Account/describe, replacing the version with your org's current API version. You get the full field list as JSON. Useful when you're helping a developer or checking an integration user's view.

My take: The best use of Salesforce Inspector Reloaded is as a read tool. I'd rather an admin run ten queries before a change than do one clever bulk update from a pasted spreadsheet. I'm judging that from how data incidents usually happen, and nobody has measured it for this tool.

Common mistakes with Salesforce Inspector Reloaded

Almost every problem comes from treating a fast tool as a safe one.

• Updating production first. There's no undo. Run the same import in a sandbox with the same five rows.
• No backup. Before an update, query the current values with the same WHERE clause and save the file. That's your rollback.
• Ignoring automation. A bulk update fires flows, triggers and validation rules. If you're unsure what runs and in which sequence, read Order of Execution in Salesforce.
• Spreadsheet damage. Excel can strip leading zeros and mangle IDs. Check a few rows after pasting.
• Unlimited queries. Add LIMIT on big objects. Every query is an API call against your limits.
• Skipping the connected app step and then telling users to bypass API Access Control.

The same discipline applies to browser-based data tools generally. I've written about it for another tool in Salesforce Workbench: how to use it safely.

My take: Admins who master SOQL, not just this extension, will be the ones who stay useful as agents start doing more of the clicking. The extension is the shortcut; the query skills are the career. If you're preparing for roles, the questions in Salesforce Admin Interview Questions & Answers 2026 will test exactly this.

Try this week:

• Install the extension in a sandbox and pin it.
• Run the permission set query on your own user and one colleague.
• Run the active flow inventory and note the three most recently changed flows.
• Write a one-page rule for your team: sandbox first, five rows first, backup query saved. If you'd like a second opinion on your data-change process, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

Is Salesforce Inspector Reloaded safe to use?

It's open source, and the code is public on GitHub, but it isn't an official Salesforce product and Salesforce doesn't support it. It acts with your own user's permissions. Get it approved under your company's extension policy and test in a sandbox first.

Is Salesforce Inspector Reloaded free?

Yes. The project is free and open source, and you install it from the Chrome or Firefox store.

What's the difference between Salesforce Inspector and Salesforce Inspector Reloaded?

Reloaded is the maintained continuation of the original Salesforce Inspector, which its author stopped maintaining. Thomas Prouvot took it over, and it has added features since, such as the Dependencies Explorer, according to the project documentation.

Why has Salesforce Inspector Reloaded stopped working in my org?

If your org uses API Access Control (API client whitelisting), the extension is blocked until you authorise it. Use the Generate Access Token button, expect the OAUTH_APP_BLOCKED error, then install the connected app via Connected Apps OAuth Usage in Setup, as the project's how-to describes.

Does it work in Firefox and Edge?

The project documents Chrome and Firefox extensions, and its how-to has specific guidance for Chrome and Edge users. Check the installation section of the docs for current store links.