Merging records with Salesforce
Best practices, known limitations and how to mass merge records
Last modified by Ben Ford, on 26/Feb/2023
Salesforce's native Merge tool will allow you to merge up to 3 duplicate records at a time. The following are the best-practices steps that will allow to clean your database in a proper way using the "out of the box" Salesforce function:
- Identify the duplicates: Use the Salesforce Duplicate Management feature to identify and flag duplicate records in your database. The native merge feature can be accessed from the actual record and a report can be generated by using custom report type "Duplicate Record Set".If you can't find the duplicates-section then use the gear-icon>edit page at the top of the page.
- Decide which record to keep: Once you've identified the duplicates, you'll need to decide which record you want to keep and which ones you want to delete or merge. You may want to keep the record with the most complete or accurate information, for example.
- Merge the duplicates: To merge the duplicates, select the records you want to merge and click the "Merge" button in the toolbar. You'll be prompted to select the record you want to keep, and you can then choose which fields to merge and which ones to keep from each record.
- It's important to note that merging duplicates with native Salesforce is non-reversible process, and it's important to be careful to avoid losing any important data in the process. If you're not familiar with the Merge tool or the Duplicate Management feature, it might be a good idea to seek the help of a Salesforce administrator or consult with online resources and tutorials. If you want to keep the old data, then use ZaapiT's merge tool auto-keep the old data and you can use ZaapiT to mass merge records if you have a lot of duplicates.
- You can only merge up to three records at a time: The Merge tool allows you to merge two records and choose a third as the surviving record, but you can't merge more than three records at once. If you have more than three duplicates, you'll need to merge them in smaller batches.
- You can't undo a merge: Once you've merged records in Salesforce, you can't undo the merge. It's important to be sure you want to merge the records before you proceed, and to make a backup of your data if you're not sure.
- Some data may be lost during the merge: When you merge records in Salesforce, the surviving record will contain the merged data from all of the other records. However, some data may be lost during the merge process, particularly if the records have conflicting data in the same fields. It's important to review the merged data carefully to ensure that all of the important information has been retained.
- Merging records can cause issues with data integrity: If you have records that are related to other records in your database (for example, a contact that's related to an account), merging those records can cause issues with data integrity. It's important to be mindful of these relationships when you're merging records, and to take steps to ensure that all of the related data is properly updated.
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