What Happens When You Delete a Contact

There are usually consequences when a contact is deleted. If the contact is associated with multiple incidents, tasks, opportunities or both, different results may occur with each record, depending on the type of associations and the association of other contacts with the record.

In cases where the contact has multiple incidents, tasks, or opportunities, follow the flowchart for each record the contact is associated with to discover what will happen to the record if you delete the contact.

For example, assume a contact is associated with two opportunities. Also assume that the first opportunity does not have an organization association while the second one does, and that neither opportunity has a secondary contact. Deleting the contact removes the contact from the knowledge base and nulls the contact (c_id) out of the first opportunity. The second opportunity remains in the knowledge base, and the contact is nulled.

Note: When you delete secondary contacts for incidents and opportunities, the incidents and opportunities are not deleted.

This figure is a flow diagram that shows the process flow for deleting contacts from incidents, tasks, and opportunities contacts. Incidents or tasks: If the contact is the primary contact for the incident or task, the contact, incident/task are deleted from the knowledge base. If the contact is not the primary contact for the incident or task, only the contact is deleted from the knowledge base. Opportunities: If the contact is not associated with an opportunity, the contact is deleted from the knowledge base. If the contact is associated with an opportunity, there is another contact associated with the opportunity, the contact is the primary contact for the opportunity, and the opportunity is associated with an organization, then the contact is deleted from the knowledge base; the opportunity is not deleted, but the contact no longer appears on the opportunity’s Contacts tab. If the contact is associated with an opportunity, there is no other contact associated with the opportunity, nor is the opportunity associated with an organization, then both the contact and opportunity are deleted from the knowledge base. If the contact is associated with an opportunity, there is no other contact associated with the opportunity, but the opportunity is associated with an organization, the contact is deleted from the knowledge base; the opportunity is not deleted, but the contact no longer appears on the opportunity’s Contacts tab. If the contact is associated with an opportunity, there is another contact associated with the opportunity, the contact is the primary contact for the opportunity, and the opportunity is associated with an organization, then the contact is deleted from the knowledge base; the opportunity is not deleted, but the contact no longer appears on the opportunity’s Contacts tab. If the contact is associated with an opportunity, there is another contact associated with the opportunity, the contact is the primary contact for the opportunity, and the opportunity is not associated with an organization, then the contact is deleted from the knowledge base; the opportunity is not deleted, but the contact no longer appears on the opportunity’s Contacts tab. Since the opportunity has no organization association, you must select a primary contact the next time you edit the opportunity.