How Dynamics CRM Merges Contacts

Dynamics CRM merges contacts through a proper merge dialog, backed by duplicate detection rules and scheduled jobs. Most of it needs turning on first.

All platforms Duplicate tickets too?

How Dynamics CRM merges contacts and other records

Select the two records in a view

From a contact, account or lead view, tick two records and choose Merge. Dynamics compares them field by field.

Choose the master record

The master survives and keeps its ID. For each conflicting field you choose which value to keep.

Merge and check the child records

Related activities and records reparent to the master. The subordinate record is deactivated rather than deleted, which is more forgiving than most CRMs.

Duplicate detection rules and jobs

Duplicate detection rules define matching per entity: same email, same name plus account, and so on. They have to be published to take effect, and unpublished rules are a common surprise.

Detection settings control when detection runs: on create, on update, during import, and when Outlook syncs offline.

Duplicate detection jobs scan existing data on a schedule and produce a list to work through.

Together those cover both the backlog and the inflow, which is more than most CRMs offer.

Stopping the next batch

Publish your rules. An unpublished rule does nothing at all.

Enable detection during import, which is where most duplicates enter.

Run a detection job monthly rather than doing an annual cleanup.

Watch the Outlook sync, historically a reliable source of duplicate contacts.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How to merge duplicates in Dynamics 365 beyond contacts?

The same dialog handles accounts and leads. Dynamics 365 merge duplicate contacts is the common case, and how to merge duplicates in Dynamics 365 for other tables depends on whether merge is enabled for that entity.

How does Dynamics CRM merge contacts?

Select two contact records in a view and choose Merge. You pick the master record, then decide field by field which values survive. The loser is deactivated rather than deleted, and its related records move across.

Is a merged record deleted in Dynamics 365?

The subordinate record is deactivated rather than deleted, so the data is recoverable in a way most CRMs don't allow.

Why is duplicate detection not firing?

Almost always an unpublished rule, or detection not enabled for that operation such as import.

Duplicate records, duplicate tickets

The same person existing twice in Dynamics 365 usually means the same person raising two support tickets that never connect. Ticket Merger fixes that half automatically, on Zendesk and Freshdesk.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. No credit card required.

Keep reading

How to Merge Duplicate Records in Any CRM

How to merge duplicate records in HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Dynamics 365 and Marketo, with the real steps and the gotchas for each platform.

How to Merge Contacts in HubSpot (Step by Step)

How to merge contacts in HubSpot: choosing which record survives, what happens to properties, activity and associations, and how to prevent the next duplicate.

Duplicate Ticket Detection for Support Teams

Duplicate tickets inflate your volume, split your replies and hide SLA breaches. Here's how automatic duplicate ticket detection finds them the moment they arrive.

Marketo Merge Duplicates: Leads, Scores, History

Marketo merge duplicates without losing the story: what happens to activity history and scores, and how to stop forms and CRM sync creating more of them.

Pipedrive Merge Duplicates: Contacts, Orgs, Deals

Pipedrive merge duplicates properly: merging contacts, organizations and deals, finding the pairs in the first place, and stopping your imports creating more.