Why do date fields import incorrectly when I use the Data Loader in salesforce?

Hi Saurabh,

When importing date fields using the Data Loader, sometimes dates import incorrectly because the Data Loader converts the date specified in the imported .csv file to GMT. If your machine’s time zone isn’t GMT or if your machine’s clock adjusts for daylight savings time (DST), your dates may be off by a day.

To prevent the Data Loader from adjusting the date when it converts to GMT, directly change the format of cells containing dates to reflect the native time zone.

Open your .csv file in Microsoft® Excel®.

In each cell in which you entered dates, add hour data to represent the native time zone. For example, if the date is June 9, 2011 and the time zone is GMT+8, enter June 9, 2011 8:00. Excel will reformat this to 6/9/2011 8:00.

Right-click the cell in which you entered dates, and click Format Cells.

Click Number | Custom.

In Type, enter yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sssZ. For example, if the cell was 6/9/2011 8:00, it’s now 2011–06–09T08:00:00.00Z.