Introducing Profile Cloner. The fastest way to clone and modify Salesforce Profiles
Profiles in Salesforce are powerful... and frustrating. They define what users can see and do, but managing them across environments has long been a complex task for admins and developers. If you’ve ever tried to change the license type of a profile, migrate a community profile to internal users, or even just clone an existing profile with slight modifications, you’ve likely hit a wall of Salesforce limitations.
The new Profile Cloner in mtdt is built to change that.
The pain: working with Salesforce Profiles
Salesforce doesn’t make it easy to manage profiles:
- You can’t change the user license of an existing profile.
- You can’t clone profiles with a different license through the UI.
- You’re stuck manually replicating permissions, sometimes across dozens of profiles.
- If you try to deploy profile changes through metadata and mess up the XML even slightly — boom — cryptic errors.
This is especially frustrating in real-world scenarios, like this one we saw recently:
A common issue faced by Salesforce admins:
I have a Standard User profile with Salesforce license and full FSL setup. Now I need the same setup for the Salesforce Integration license.
But I can’t change the license of the existing profile — I have to clone a new one and manually copy everything.
And I have to do it multiple times.
Help!
Sound familiar?
The solution: mtdt Profile Cloner
With mtdt’s Profile Cloner, you can:
➡ Select a Salesforce org and profile
➡ Instantly view and edit the profile's full metadata (XML)
➡ Make any changes you want — including license type, name, or permissions
➡ Deploy the new profile directly to your org
➡ See immediate feedback on errors, if any, during deployment
And it works exactly how you wish the native tools would.
What you can do with Profile Cloner
Here’s where Profile Cloner becomes your go-to tool:
1. Clone and change license type effortlessly
Whether you're switching from:
- Internal to Community,
- Community to Integration, or
- Standard Salesforce User to Salesforce Integration,
With Profile Cloner, just select the original profile, update the license directly in the XML, rename it, and deploy. It’s the fastest way to bypass Salesforce’s license restrictions and get the setup you need.
2. Customize and reuse profiles for any scenario
Want a slightly modified version of an existing profile? Whether you’re:
- Renaming a profile,
- Adjusting permissions or layout visibility,
- Creating a variant for a new user group (e.g., Partner Community vs Customer Community Plus).
You can do it all in one place — no need to manually rebuild access configurations. mtdt gives you full visibility and control before deployment.
3. Deploy profiles across multiple orgs with ease
Rolling out similar profiles across multiple sandboxes or client orgs? Profile Cloner simplifies the process:
- Clone once
- Make necessary changes
- Deploy to all environments
Perfect for test org setup, consultants, and teams working with multiple environments.
4. Safely experiment “What If” scenarios
Want to try out a different license, permission set, or layout configuration? Clone the profile, make your changes, and deploy into a sandbox. It’s a safe and efficient way to test without risking production data.
5. Test deployment errors easily
Trying to validate your metadata error handling? You can edit the XML directly and deliberately introduce errors. mtdt provides immediate, clear feedback so you know exactly what went wrong and where.
6. Accurate profile cloning
Everything in your cloned profile stays in place:
- Object and field-level security
- Tab and app visibility
- Apex class and Visualforce access
- Layout assignments
- User permissions
No surprises post-deployment.
7. Set up sandboxes in minutes
When spinning up a new sandbox, cloning profiles can help you quickly prepare test users without rebuilding access settings from scratch.
Try It Now
Profile management has been a sore spot in Salesforce for years. mtdt’s Profile Cloner brings much-needed flexibility and speed — right where you need it.
Ready to stop wasting time manually recreating profiles?
➡️ Log in to mtdt, head to Orgs → Add Org, then open Utilities → Profile Cloner, pick your org, and start cloning profiles your way.
Got Feedback?
Tried the Profile Cloner? Found an edge case? We’re building mtdt to make deployments smarter and faster — your feedback helps shape what’s next.
Have questions or suggestions? Reach out to us at info@mtdt.io.
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