TL;DR
- Finding Pipedrive duplicates on your own fields takes a duplicate search you configure.
- Pipedrive compares a shared name plus phone, email or organization for people, and address for organizations.
- Custom fields, website domain and phone in any format need a search you set up.
- Two to four fields per item type, with one strong field, keep false matches low.
- Dedupely matches Pipedrive records on any field you choose, custom fields included.
To find duplicates in Pipedrive with the fields you choose, you need a duplicate search you configure, usually in a connected deduplication tool. Pipedrive's Merge Duplicates feature compares a fixed set of fields. A search you configure lets you pick the fields for each item type and decide how strictly each one matches.
The fixed rules start with the name. That works when names are typed the same way every time. It misses the person entered as "Bob" once and "Robert" later, and the company with a missing address. It also skips the custom field your team trusts most, like a customer number or tax ID.
In this post, you'll see which fields Pipedrive compares and which fields to choose for people, organizations, deals, leads and products. You'll also see how strictly each field should match.
Which fields Pipedrive compares
Pipedrive's Merge Duplicates feature uses the same rules as its import tool. People need the same name plus the same phone number, email address or organization. Organizations need the same name and the same address.
As of October 2026, from Pipedrive's support center: How does the Merge Duplicates feature identify duplicates in Pipedrive?
The help page doesn't describe a way to change these fields, and it doesn't cover deals, leads or products. If you need matching on other fields inside Pipedrive, it's worth asking Pipedrive's support team what they can set up for your account. What these rules catch, and where Pipedrive's merge stops, is covered in Pipedrive duplicates and where native merging stops.
Why fixed fields miss duplicates
Fixed fields work for the duplicates they were designed for. In Pipedrive, three gaps show up most:
- The name has to match first. A person with the same email but a nickname, or "Acme" next to "Acme Inc.", never gets to the second field.
- Organizations need a matching address. Records created from a form, an email or a call often have no address, or one written another way.
- Your best field isn't on the list. A customer number, a tax ID or an ID from another system often identifies a customer better than any name.
How to choose fields for each Pipedrive item
A good search uses two to four fields. At least one should be strong, meaning two different customers rarely share it. The others confirm that the strong field isn't a coincidence.
What counts as a duplicate is case by case, so treat this table as a starting point and adjust it to your data.
| Item | Strong fields | Fields that confirm | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| People | Email; a customer number or other ID in a custom field | First and last name, allowing for nicknames and typos; phone compared without formatting; organization | Shared inboxes like info@, and relatives who share a phone or address |
| Organizations | Website or email domain, ignoring "www" and country endings; a tax ID or customer number | Name, ignoring suffixes like Inc. or Ltd.; phone; city | Branches, franchises and subsidiaries that share a domain or a name |
| Deals | A deal or order ID from another system, if you sync one | Title with the same words in any order; value; owner; created date | Renewals and repeat orders with the same title and value |
| Leads | The fields on the lead itself, like title and source | Owner; value; created date | Name and email live on the linked person, so deduplicate people too |
| Products | A product code or SKU, if your catalog uses one | Name; price; unit | Sizes, plans and variants that share a name |
For a deeper look at strong and supporting fields in any CRM, see which fields to match on to find CRM duplicates.
Decide how strictly each field matches
Choosing a field is half the decision. The other half is how close two values have to be to count as the same:
- Identical values: best for IDs, emails and codes, where any difference means a different record.
- Small typos allowed: best for names, and for phone numbers once formatting and country codes are ignored.
- Sounds alike: catches spellings like Steven and Stephen, which a typo allowance may miss.
- Shared words in any order: best for company names and deal titles, with common words like "Inc." or "deal" left out.
- Same core domain: matches sales@acme.com with support@acme.com, or acme.com with www.acme.co.uk.
Build one search per pattern
One search can't catch every kind of duplicate. A person who changed jobs has a new email, and a person added from a call has no email at all. Each of those needs its own combination.
Build a search for each pattern you see, like "same email and name", "same phone and last name" or "same domain and company name". Then test each one: open a sample of matches, reject the false ones and check that blank fields aren't doing the matching. More patterns are in complex duplicate matches and how to find them.
How to find Pipedrive duplicates on your own fields with Dedupely
In Dedupely, you build duplicate searches on Pipedrive People, Organizations, Deals, Leads and Products using any standard or custom field. Each field gets its own match option: Exact, Similar, Fuzzy, Similar Words or Domain Root. You can leave out terms like Inc. or LLC, hold several field combinations in one search and clone a search to test new criteria. Changing a search never changes your Pipedrive data until you merge.
Your data, your fields
Pipedrive's duplicate detection is built on names, addresses and a few contact details. That covers the clean cases. It leaves out the fields many teams know best: the customer number, the website, the phone written five ways.
Choosing your own fields means one strong field per item type, one or two that confirm it and a set strictness for each. Build a search per pattern, test it on a sample, and the duplicates Pipedrive didn't suggest start showing up.
Frequently asked questions
How does Pipedrive find duplicates?
Pipedrive suggests people who share a name plus a phone number, an email or an organization. It suggests organizations that share a name and an address. Merge Duplicates uses the same rules as the import tool. The help page doesn't describe a way to change the fields it compares.
Can I find Pipedrive duplicates using a custom field?
Pipedrive's help page on Merge Duplicates lists name, phone, email, organization and address, not custom fields. A duplicate search you configure, in a tool connected to Pipedrive, can match on custom fields like a customer number or tax ID. Check how often the field is filled first.
How do I find duplicate organizations in Pipedrive by website?
Match on the core domain of the website or email, ignoring "www" and country endings, and add the organization name as a second field. Leave out suffixes like Inc. or Ltd. when comparing names. Check branches and subsidiaries before merging, since they can share a domain and still be separate.
Which fields should I use to find duplicate people in Pipedrive?
Start with email plus first and last name for the clearest duplicates. Then add searches for people without a matching email: phone compared without formatting plus last name, or name plus organization. Watch for shared inboxes and relatives who share a phone, since those aren't the same person.
How many fields should a duplicate search use?
Two to four. One field alone, like a name, pairs too many different records. Too many fields miss real duplicates where one value is missing or written differently. Aim for one strong field that rarely repeats between customers, plus one or two fields that confirm it.
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