What are the differences between the Import Wizard and Apex Data Loader in Salesforce?

Hello Suniti

Import Wizard is designed for less-technical users and smaller, simple imports of up to 50,000 records. It is a step by step process and displays error messages to alert the potential record duplications (“dupes”).

Apex Data Loader is used for complex imports of any size. It doesn’t display error messages to alert the potential problems. This tool includes several features that help in making large data imports easier.

Hi,

Import Wizard:

For simple imports of up to 50000 records.
It supports all custom objects and only few standard objects like Account, Contact, Leads, Solution.
It supports schedule export.
Delete operation is not available.
We cannot export data.
It doesn’t require installation.
While importing, duplicates can be ignored.

Data Loader:

For complex imports of any size more than 50000 records.
It supports all standard and custom objects.
It doesn’t support schedule export.
Delete operation is available.
We can export data of all custom & standard objects, and can import all custom & standard objects except User standard object.
It requires installation.
While importing, duplicates cannot be ignored.

Hope this helps.