How to Find and Merge Duplicate Contacts
Why This Matters
Duplicates happen. Someone fills out a form with a different email address, a list gets imported twice, or a contact is added by hand when they're already in your database. Two records for one person means notes split between them, follow-up that's hard to track, and emails sent twice.
Merging combines the two records into one. You choose which contact stays and which details to keep, and the system moves everything else, like notes, onto the contact you keep. Nothing is lost: anything you don't keep is saved in a merge record you can look at later.
Before You Begin
You'll need two contact records for the same person. To find duplicates across your whole database, use the Duplicate Contacts report in Step 1. To learn how the system keeps duplicates out in the first place, see Duplicate Contacts Overview.
If you're on a team, you need permission to both edit and delete contacts to merge them.
Watch & Learn
🎥 Video: Find and Merge Duplicate Contacts
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Start a Merge
You can start a merge in two places.
From the Duplicate Contacts report: go to Reports and choose Duplicate Contacts. In the Show Contacts With Exact Same list, choose how to match, such as First Name + Last Name, Email Address (Primary) or Phone Number (Primary Only). Then click Merge next to one of the contacts.
From a contact: open the contact, click Actions, and choose Merge Contact.
The report is the fastest way to clean up many duplicates at once. Starting from a contact is handy when you notice a duplicate while you're working.
Time: 1 minute
2. Pick the Duplicate
The Merge Contacts page shows the contact you started from at the top. Under Likely Duplicates, you'll see up to 20 contacts that have the same first and last name, share an email address or share any of its phone numbers. Each one shows the name, email, phone and the date it was added. Click Select next to the right one. If the contact you want isn't listed, click Search for the other contact, type the name, click Search, and then click Select.
Picking the right record matters, because the one you choose here is the one that gets removed. If you started from the report, the list only uses the match you picked there, such as Email Address (Primary). If only one other contact matches, the system skips this step and takes you straight to the compare screen. If none match, you see the full list.
Time: Less than a minute
3. Choose Which Contact Stays
The compare screen shows the two contacts side by side. The one on the left is marked Keep (this one stays), and the one on the right is marked Remove (this one is removed). Each card shows the contact's email address, address, the date it was added and how many notes it has. To keep the other contact instead, click Swap.
The system suggests keeping the contact with more history, like notes, to-dos, appointments, attachments and deals. If they're even, it suggests the older one. The contact you keep holds onto its own added date. Swapping clears any choices you've made below it, so decide this first.
💡 To look at either contact before you decide, click the small icon in the top-right corner of its card. It opens that contact in a new tab.
Time: Less than a minute
4. Pick What to Keep Where the Two Are Different
Each row below the cards is a field where the two contacts don't match, such as Category, Source, Address, Photo or Phone 1. The value with the green check mark is the one that will be kept. To keep the other value, click it. The address is kept as a whole: street, city, state and postal code together.
Phone numbers and email addresses you don't pick aren't thrown away. A note under the row tells you where they'll go, for example "(404) 555-0127 will be saved as Phone 2" or "will be saved as the Other Email." Click Show more fields to see the fields that are the same on both contacts or filled in on only one of them. Values marked "from the removed contact" will be added to the contact you keep.
This step decides what the combined contact looks like, so it's worth a quick look at each row.
Time: 1 to 2 minutes
5. Review What Moves
Under Moves To, followed by the name of the contact you're keeping, you'll see everything that will move over, such as notes. Under Won't Carry Over (Kept in Record), you'll see anything that won't move. If the contact you're removing is in a workflow that's still running, a Follow-Up section shows a checked box to continue it for the contact you keep. Uncheck it if you want that follow-up to stop.
This is your last look before the merge, so you know exactly what the contact you keep will have.
Time: Less than a minute
6. Merge the Contacts
Click Merge Contacts. A box asks you to confirm and reminds you that the Remove contact's history moves to the Keep contact and then the Remove contact is deleted. Click Yes, Merge. A Merging contacts box shows the progress. Keep the page open until it finishes.
When it's done, you land on the contact you kept if you started from a contact. If you started from the report, you go back to the report and see "Contacts merged," so you can move on to the next duplicate.
Time: Less than a minute. Contacts with a lot of attachments can take a minute.
Two People in the Same Household
Sometimes two different people who live together, like a couple, were entered as two separate contacts. You can combine them into one contact without losing the second person.
When the two first names are different, the compare screen shows a checkbox that reads "[Name] is a different person in the same household." Check it to save the person you're removing as the Other Contact on the contact you keep. Their name, birthday and email address go into the Other fields, and their phone numbers move over with their first name as the phone note. The Moves list will show "Saved as the Other Contact" with their name. Everything else moves the same way as a regular merge.
Check the Merge Record
After a merge, the contact you kept gets a note that reads "Merged with [name] on [date]. View merge details." Click View merge details to open the merge record. It's kept permanently and shows:
- What moved
- Values not kept
- Didn't carry over
- The duplicate as it was, a full copy of the removed contact
Questions and Answers
Q: Can I undo a merge?
A: No. Before you merge, check that you've picked the right two contacts. If you merge the wrong ones, open View merge details on the contact you kept. The duplicate as it was section has everything you need to add the removed contact back by hand.
Q: Will I lose any phone numbers or email addresses?
A: No. Phone numbers and email addresses you don't pick move to an empty slot on the contact you keep, and the note under the row tells you where. If every slot is already full, the value is saved in the merge record under Values not kept.
Q: Why don't I see Merge Contact or the Merge link?
A: On the Duplicate Contacts report, the Merge link only appears after you choose how to match in the Show Contacts With Exact Same list. If you're on a team, you need permission to both edit and delete contacts. Merging also isn't available in the mobile version.
Q: Can I merge more than two contacts at once?
A: Merging works one pair at a time. If someone has two duplicates, merge the first one, then the second. When you work from the report, the system takes you straight into the next merge if the contact you kept still matches others.
Q: What happens to workflows that are already running?
A: If the contact you're removing is in a running workflow, you can choose to continue it for the contact you keep. If both contacts are in the same workflow, only the kept contact's copy continues, so the person doesn't get the same emails twice.
Q: What happens to text messages?
A: Texts follow the phone number, and a merge keeps every phone number, so the texts show on the contact you keep.
Q: Why don't I see the household checkbox?
A: It only shows when the two first names are different and neither contact already has an Other Contact name filled in.
Q: Can I find duplicates entered by different team members?
A: Yes, if you're an administrator. On the Duplicate Contacts report, choose First Name + Last Name (Across Databases) to find the same person entered by different team members.
Guide Type: How-To Guide
Estimated Time: 3 minutes