Merge duplicate contacts and companies

Duplicates are inevitable — an import overlaps, someone creates a record without searching, a person changes email address. Merging is the repair.

It is worth doing promptly, because every day a duplicate exists is another day of history landing on the wrong half.

Who this is for

Anyone who notices two records for the same person or organisation.

Before you start

• Permission to merge contacts or companies.
• Both records in front of you, so you can see which holds what.

Choose the survivor first
One record continues and the other folds into it. Pick the one with the richer history and the correct current details, because that decision is much harder to unpick afterwards than to make now.

Merge two records

1. Confirm they are genuinely the same
   Two people at one company with similar names are not duplicates. Merging distinct people loses information that is hard to recover.
2. Compare what each holds
   One usually has the email history, the other the recent deal. Knowing which is which decides the survivor.
3. Pick the survivor
   Usually the record with the most history attached, since that is the hardest part to move.
4. Merge
   The records come together so the relationship reads as one history rather than two partial ones.
5. Check the result
   Look at the merged record — owner, company link and current details. This is the moment to fix anything that came out wrong.
6. Find out how it happened
   A duplicate from an import is a mapping problem; one from manual entry is a habit problem. Fixing the cause beats merging repeatedly.

What you get

• One record holding the full relationship.
• Correspondence and deals no longer split across two records.
• Accurate counts and reporting.
• A clue about what is producing duplicates.

Frequently asked questions

Which record should survive?

The one with the most history attached, since moving history is the expensive part. Correct the details on it afterwards if needed.

Can I undo a merge?

Treat it as permanent. That is exactly why choosing the survivor deliberately, before merging, is the step that matters.

What if two people genuinely share a name?

Then they are not duplicates and must not be merged. Check the email address before deciding.

How do I stop duplicates appearing?

Search before creating, and get the email column mapped correctly when importing. Those two habits prevent most of them.