Merging Duplicate Records

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

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.

You can merge only records for which you are the owner or for which you are designated as the primary person. Depending on your access privileges and your configuration, the merge functionality might not be available to you.

Caution: When merging records you must decide which record will survive, and which record will be the source record. Source record field values will not exist after you merge records. Only values in the surviving record's fields will remain after merging records. For example, if you are merging two contact records, and the source record contains a value in the Job Title field, but the surviving record does not, after the merge there will be no value in the Job Title field. The source record field value for Job Title is overwritten by the value in the Job Title field in the surviving record, even when the value is NULL.

To merge two records

1. For each record being merged, select the record, click the menu button, and then click About Record to record the Row #.

2. Click the record that will be the source record.

3. Press and hold down the CTRL key and click the record that will survive.

   The source record will be merged into the surviving record.

4. From the application-level menu, choose Edit, then Merge Records.

   A dialog box appears, displaying the Row # of the surviving record. 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.

   
   

5. Click OK to complete the merge.

   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 the surviving record.