How to Merge Duplicate Contacts in Pipedrive
Duplicates spreading across Pipedrive is never fun. They come in a number of ways, from bad imports to integrations that don't check for existing records. However, merging duplicate contacts in Pipedrive is easier than most other CRMs. Pipedrive has gone the extra mile to give the user some extra control over the merging process.To merge a duplicate person contact, click on the person you identify as a duplicate:
Then navigate to the merge button at the top right:
Here I'm checking if M. Vela has a duplicate. Since I already know there's another duplicate named Mario Vela, I'm just going to search for that name. However if I'm in doubt that there are more duplicates, I can also search for similar last names, emails, etc:
Continue, and you'll see where Pipedrive's merging capabilities shine. This screen gives you more control over what gets merged and in the winning contact (or final contact) and what gets removed:
What's up with the "In case of conflict"? Basically, if the field only accepts one input value, one can stay, and the rest will have to be left behind. If one field is blank, the corresponding field of the other duplicate will be used by default.This is true with fields like first and last name, organization, owner, "visible to" settings, etc.Multiple input value fields get merged together and there's no worry about any data loss there because they all end up on the same stack. Phone and email are examples of this because they allow more than one value.So once you're satisfied with the match, hit preview and you'll see how the fields actually merge:
As you can see here, the selected "in case of conflict" fields get correctly chosen. Also, the blank organization field has been populated. If it looks good, you can either go back or hit merge.The same feature works for Organisations and Deals.
This helps you catch any obvious duplicate contacts in Pipedrive.The second way works for imports. When importing, by default, Pipedrive will attempt to merge existing records:
Then navigate to the merge button at the top right: Here I'm checking if M. Vela has a duplicate. Since I already know there's another duplicate named Mario Vela, I'm just going to search for that name. However if I'm in doubt that there are more duplicates, I can also search for similar last names, emails, etc:Continue, and you'll see where Pipedrive's merging capabilities shine. This screen gives you more control over what gets merged and in the winning contact (or final contact) and what gets removed:What's up with the "In case of conflict"? Basically, if the field only accepts one input value, one can stay, and the rest will have to be left behind. If one field is blank, the corresponding field of the other duplicate will be used by default.This is true with fields like first and last name, organization, owner, "visible to" settings, etc.Multiple input value fields get merged together and there's no worry about any data loss there because they all end up on the same stack. Phone and email are examples of this because they allow more than one value.So once you're satisfied with the match, hit preview and you'll see how the fields actually merge:As you can see here, the selected "in case of conflict" fields get correctly chosen. Also, the blank organization field has been populated. If it looks good, you can either go back or hit merge.The same feature works for Organisations and Deals.How Pipedrive Merges Contact Object Links
Pipedrive also merges the contact's linked objects such as:- Notes
- Deals
- Organizations
- Tasks
- Activities
How to Prevent Further Duplicate Contacts in Pipedrive
If most of your duplicates are coming from manual input and imports, Pipedrive has two features to combat duplicates from being entered in the first place.The first one is when you enter a new contact. As you type the name of a contact that already exists, you'll see the following:This helps you catch any obvious duplicate contacts in Pipedrive.The second way works for imports. When importing, by default, Pipedrive will attempt to merge existing records: