# How to merge thousands of companies in HubSpot | Dedupely > How to merge thousands of companies in HubSpot: match on domain and name, plan for association and merge limits, test, then bulk merge. - URL: https://dedupe.ly/blog/merge-thousands-of-companies-hubspot - Section: blog - Published: 2026-10-30 - Site index: https://dedupe.ly/llms.txt - Any page: append `.md` to its URL for this plain-text form --- [Blog](https://dedupe.ly/blog) HubSpot ## How to merge thousands of companies in HubSpot By [Gaby Salinas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbyslns) Updated October 30, 2026 # min read TL;DR - To merge thousands of HubSpot companies, match them, test the matches, then bulk merge. - HubSpot's own merge combines two company records at a time. - By default, every HubSpot merge gives the company a new record ID. - Association limits and a 250-merge cap can stop a HubSpot company merge. - Dedupely bulk merges thousands of HubSpot company matches with rules you preview. To merge thousands of companies in HubSpot, match them on domain and name, test a small batch, then bulk merge the rest. HubSpot's own merge combines two records at a time, so a backlog of that size needs a plan before it needs a merge button. Companies are often the hardest object to merge at scale. They carry the contacts, deals and tickets linked to them, and the biggest ones carry the most. Those links are what HubSpot's limits apply to. In this post, you'll see what HubSpot does when two companies merge and which limits can stop a merge. You'll also see how to match companies and how to test before you bulk merge thousands of them. ### What HubSpot does when two companies merge Every company merge in HubSpot has a primary record and a secondary one. Here's what HubSpot's help page says happens, as of October 2026. | Part of the company | What happens | | --- | --- | | Records per merge | Two records of the same object | | Property values | The primary's values come first; the secondary fills empty properties | | Domain | The primary's domain stays primary; the other is added as a secondary domain | | Record ID | A new ID by default; the old IDs are kept in the "Merged [record] IDs" property | | Workflows | Both records are unenrolled from active workflows by default | | Associations | Associated records from both companies appear on the merged company | | Undo | Not possible; HubSpot can't unmerge records | As of October 2026, from HubSpot's Knowledge Base: [Merge records](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/merge-records). HubSpot also runs an opt-in public beta, Primary ID Preservation for Merged Records. Portals enrolled in it keep the primary's record ID, and only the secondary leaves its workflows. Our post on [what happens to workflows and record IDs when you merge](https://dedupe.ly/blog/merge-workflows-automations-record-ids) covers what to check in the tools around HubSpot. ### Why thousands of companies need a different approach A merge of two records works well for a handful of duplicates. At a few thousand, the numbers change the job. - **Every pair is its own merge.** Two thousand duplicate pairs mean two thousand separate merges, each with its own choice of primary. - **Large groups take several merges.** A company with five records takes four merges, and each one creates a new record ID. - **HubSpot's suggestions come in pairs.** On Professional and Enterprise plans, the duplicates tool lists likely duplicate companies as pairs. Bulk merging those suggestions needs Data Hub Professional or Enterprise. - **The suggestions use fixed properties.** For companies, HubSpot's default rule compares domain, name, country or region, phone and industry. As of October 2026, from HubSpot's Knowledge Base: [Review and manage duplicate records](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/manage-duplicate-records). Company duplicates also tend to arrive in large groups. One list import or one integration can create many records for the same company at once. Our post on [why one company shows up hundreds of times](https://dedupe.ly/blog/one-company-hundreds-of-records) covers how that happens. ### The HubSpot limits that can stop a company merge Two HubSpot limits matter most for companies, because large companies carry so many links. #### Association limits Super Admins can cap how many records of one type a record can be associated with, up to 10,000. If the merged company would go over a limit, the merge may fail. HubSpot's fix is to review and remove associations, then try again. That rarely shows up on small companies. It shows up on your biggest customers, where hundreds of contacts and deals sit across several duplicate records. #### Past merges Records that have been part of a combined total of 250 or more merges can't be merged again. HubSpot's suggestion is to create a new record or edit the record by hand. A company can reach that number when the same duplicates keep arriving and getting merged into it, week after week. Sources, as of October 2026: HubSpot's Knowledge Base, [Merge records](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/merge-records) and [Set limits for record associations](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/object-settings/set-limits-for-record-associations). Decide in advance what should happen to the sets that hit a limit. A thousand clean merges shouldn't wait on the twenty that need a person. ### Match companies on domain and name The quality of a bulk merge depends on the matches behind it. For companies, two fields do most of the work. - **The core domain first.** Compare it without "www", paths or country endings, so example.com and example.co.uk line up. - **Then the name, without legal suffixes.** Leave Inc., LLC and Ltd. out of the comparison, and confirm with a second field like city or phone. - **A separate search for blank domains.** Records with no domain never match on domain, so search them on name plus phone or city. - **Related companies, case by case.** Parents, subsidiaries and branches often share a name or domain. Tell them apart with a field like country, or reject those matches. Our post on [why one company shows up hundreds of times](https://dedupe.ly/blog/one-company-hundreds-of-records) walks through each of these searches. For names, see [how company suffixes like Inc. and LLC hide duplicates](https://dedupe.ly/blog/company-name-suffixes-duplicates). ### Test, then bulk merge Once the matches look right, the merge itself is the quick part. The testing before it takes the time. - **Decide which company survives.** The oldest record, the one with the most deals or the most complete one are common choices. - **Set the values that win.** Agree on owner, lifecycle stage and phone with the teams that use them. - **Preview a sample.** Include your largest groups and a few branches, and check each merged company. - **Merge one set, then one page.** Open the results in HubSpot the way a rep would. - **Keep a record of every merge.** Keep the original values and IDs, and treat every merge as permanent. When the first page looks right, merge the rest of the search in bulk. Then move to the next search, from the most certain matches to the less certain ones. Our guide on [deduplicating a large CRM database](https://dedupe.ly/blog/deduplicate-large-crm-database) covers merging in stages and holding back very large groups. Example A fintech team merged 2,158 company matches in HubSpot after testing its searches. Read the full [fintech case study](https://dedupe.ly/case-studies/fintech-hubspot-duplicate-deals). ### How Dedupely merges thousands of HubSpot companies In Dedupely, you match HubSpot companies on the core domain and on names that ignore the terms you add, like Inc. or LLC. Every record in a match merges in one action, and bulk merging a few thousand matches takes minutes. For sets that hit HubSpot's association or past-merge limits, you choose in advance to always ask, merge what can move or skip. [Find your duplicate HubSpot companies](https://v2.app.dedupe.ly/signup) ### Plan the matches and the limits before the merge Merging thousands of companies in HubSpot is mostly a matching job. Once domain and name matches hold up on a sample, the bulk merge confirms what you've already checked. What needs planning is the edge of the backlog: the biggest customers, the related companies and the sets that hit HubSpot's limits. Decide those first, and the thousands in between can merge in one pass. ### Frequently asked questions #### Can you bulk merge companies in HubSpot? Yes, with Data Hub Professional or Enterprise, which adds bulk merging of HubSpot's duplicate suggestions, as of October 2026. Other plans merge companies one pair at a time, from a record or from the duplicates tool on Professional and Enterprise plans. Each merge combines two records and creates a new record ID by default. #### What happens to contacts and deals when companies merge in HubSpot? Associated records from both companies appear on the merged company, so contacts, deals and tickets stay linked. The primary company's property values come first, and the secondary fills empty ones. The secondary domain is added as a secondary domain. Check the largest companies first, since they're the most likely to hit association limits. #### What is HubSpot's association limit when merging companies? It's the limit your Super Admins set on how many records of one type a record can be associated with, up to 10,000. If the merged company would go over it, the merge may fail. HubSpot's help page says to review and remove associations, then try the merge again. #### Can HubSpot's duplicate tool find all duplicate companies? It finds the pairs its rule catches. As of October 2026, the default company rule compares domain, name, country or region, phone and industry. Data Hub Professional or Enterprise adds up to two custom rules per object. Companies with different domains, blank domains or name variants need their own searches. #### Is there a limit on how many times a HubSpot company can be merged? Yes. Records that have been part of a combined total of 250 or more merges can't be merged again, as of October 2026. HubSpot's suggestion is to create a new record or edit the record by hand. Companies that collect duplicates from a busy import or integration are the most likely to reach it. Behind the article ### Gaby Salinas Marketing Assistant at Dedupely Gaby Salinas came to CRM data from marketing and advertising, so she looks at duplicates from two sides: the match and merge logic behind them, and what they do to the people using the CRM, like the rep who calls a customer twice, the admin who gets blamed and the cleanup nobody wants to start. As Marketing Assistant at Dedupely, she follows how RevOps teams, end users, consultants and technical teams actually work with their data: the records they stop trusting, the workarounds they build and the moment they finally decide to clean up. What she finds shapes most of what Dedupely publishes. [Connect with Gaby on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbyslns) ### Contact us We’d be happy to help you get this set up. #### Write us a message We probably know the answer to your question already help@dedupe.ly Email copied to your clipboard! [Book a Zoom Whether you’re getting started or getting intense. Get in touch! Book a zoom](https://meetings.dedupe.ly/meetings/gaby-salinas/dedupely-zoom-scheduler) ### Discover Related Blog Posts Stay updated with our latest articles and insights. [CRM Organization How to deduplicate a CRM with millions of records A CRM with millions of records needs a different cleanup plan. Plan the first sync, hold back oversized matches, merge in stages and keep a full record. Gaby Salinas October 24, 2026](https://dedupe.ly/blog/deduplicate-large-crm-database) [Duplicates Why does one company show up hundreds of times in my CRM? One company can turn into hundreds of records after a list import, a sync or a migration. Why it happens and how to bring it back to one record. Gaby Salinas October 28, 2026](https://dedupe.ly/blog/one-company-hundreds-of-records) [HubSpot What happens when you merge in Dedupely for HubSpot What a Dedupely merge does in HubSpot: which values win, the new record ID, workflows, associations, merge limits and synced Salesforce records. Gaby Salinas October 28, 2026](https://dedupe.ly/blog/merge-in-dedupely-for-hubspot) ### Get started for free 20 free trial merges and as much free support as you need to get your duplicates under control. [Talk to sales](https://meetings.dedupe.ly/meetings/gaby-salinas/talk-to-sales)[Try for free](https://v2.app.dedupe.ly/signup) [Or sign up with Google](https://v2.app.dedupe.ly/signup/google) Running CRM cleanup for clients? [See the Partner Program](https://dedupe.ly/become-a-partner) Skip to content