Fundamentals > Working with Data > Common Record Tasks >

Merging Duplicate Records

You may sometimes find that two or more records contain the same information and that to keep the database accurate, the records should be merged into one. The Merge Records command allows you to merge a number of records into one.

NOTE:  Depending on your access privileges and your configuration, merge functionality may not be available to you.

If other records are associated with the records you merge, those records, with the exception of duplicates, are associated with the surviving record; any duplicate associated records are deleted.

CAUTION:  When you merge two records, only the top two levels of a record are combined. For example, if you merge an Account record that is associated with a Contact record, both levels are merged. But if there is also an Activity associated with the Contact record, it is not merged. Be careful when you merge records.

To merge two records

  1. Select one of the records being merged, click the menu button, and then click About Record to record the Row #.
  2. Repeat Step 1 for each record being merged.
  3. Click the record that will be the source record.
  4. Press and hold down CTRL on your keyboard and click the record that will survive. The source record will be merged into the surviving record.
  5. Click the menu button, and then click Merge Records.

    6. A dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 26, displaying the Row # of the surviving record, and asks if you want to proceed with the merge. Use the numbers you recorded before the merge to make sure the correct record survives.

    NOTE:  If the Merge Records command is unavailable, the feature is not supported for the record types you have selected.

  6. Click OK to accept the merge, or Cancel to abort it.

    7. The records are merged into a single record that bears the name of the record you designated as the surviving record, and includes the data from it.

Figure 26.  Merge Records Dialog Box


 Fundamentals 
 Published: 14 August 2003