Merging Duplicates in Dynamics 365

Dynamics has proper duplicate detection built in: rules, scheduled jobs and a merge dialog. Most of it needs turning on.

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Merging two records in Dynamics 365

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 They have to be published to take effect, and unpublished rules are a common surprise.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 An unpublished rule does nothing at all.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.

Frequently asked questions

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Almost always an unpublished rule, or detection not enabled for that operation such as import.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

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