How Do Exercises Lead to Hormonal Balance

Got duplicate records cluttering your CRM? Here’s how to merge accounts in Salesforce, quickly and accurately. Whether you’re using Salesforce Classic or Lightning, this guide breaks it down step by step.

Merging removes duplicates, protects your data, and helps teams avoid costly mistakes. It’s not just cleanup but smarter selling.

We’ll cover how to merge duplicate accounts in Salesforce, what to check before merging, and how to avoid errors.

Duplicate accounts cause confusion. Your sales and support teams waste time switching between scattered records. That’s why Salesforce account cleanup isn’t optional, it’s essential.

When you deduplicate Salesforce accounts, you combine emails, meetings, and deal activity into one profile. This gives you a clear and complete view of your customer.

Accurate records lead to better reporting. With clean data, your forecasts and dashboards tell the real story.

• Improved sales productivity with faster access to accurate data
• Cleaner pipelines that are easier to manage and track
• Stronger forecasting from unified records and reliable insights

You should know when to merge accounts in Salesforce to keep your CRM clean and effective. A common trigger is importing lists that include overlapping companies. This often leads to duplicate entries with fragmented data.

Another red flag is when reps log the same company using different names. This splits engagement history and affects visibility. You’ll also see clutter if older systems created messy, disconnected records.

• Inconsistent naming like “Acme Ltd.” and “Acme Inc.”
• Duplicate entries showing the same contact or domain
• Multiple owners assigned to what’s clearly one company

These are all signs it’s time for a Salesforce merge of duplicate records before it gets out of hand.

Merging accounts isn’t just about clicking a button. A little prep goes a long way in ensuring your Salesforce account merging process goes smoothly. 

Here’s what to tick off first:

• Confirm the Master Account: Pick the one with the most accurate and complete info. All other accounts will merge into this.
• Verify Ownership and Related Records: Check who owns each account and review attached contacts, deals, and custom records.
• Back Up Your Data: Use Salesforce’s export tool or a backup solution. Just in case something doesn’t go as planned.
• Audit for Dependencies: Look for linked objects like opportunities, custom fields, or automations that may be impacted.
• Communicate with Stakeholders: Let sales, support, and ops know. No one likes surprise changes in their pipelines.

Running through this list helps you avoid headaches when you merge duplicate accounts in Salesforce.

Both Salesforce Classic and Lightning let you merge duplicate accounts but how you do it varies. Before diving in, it helps to know where the tools live and what they can do.

Lightning gives you more control, smarter duplicate detection, and a cleaner process. However, Salesforce Classic vs Lightning merge behavior still depends on your edition and admin settings.

Merging duplicate accounts in Salesforce helps keep your CRM clean and accurate. Whether you’re using Classic or Lightning, here’s how to handle common merge scenarios confidently.

Before merging, make sure the feature is available to your user profile:

• Check Availability: Go to a duplicate Account record and look for a “Merge” option. If it’s missing, permissions may be restricted.
• Enable Permissions: Ask your admin to grant “Delete” access for Accounts and check that “Merge Accounts” is enabled under User Profile Settings.
• Note: Merging is only supported for accounts owned by the user or accessible via sharing rules.

• Go to the Accounts tab.
• Click Merge Accounts (usually in the Tools section).
• Enter the account name and search for potential duplicates.
• Select up to 3 accounts to merge.
• Choose the master record and field values to retain.
• Click Merge.

• Navigate to an account and check for a “View Duplicates” button (if Duplicate Rules are active).
• Or, go to Duplicate Record Sets under the Duplicate Management section.
• Review the list and click Merge from the record set.
• Use the guided interface to select master and preferred field values.

Tip: You can also use custom Reports or List Views filtered by matching criteria to find likely duplicates manually.

Salesforce won’t let you merge records that aren’t flagged as duplicates but there are workarounds:

• Manual Merge: Use reports to identify similar records and manually merge via Classic tools.
• Third-Party Tools: Use apps like Cloudingo or DemandTools to bypass native limitations and merge unrelated accounts.

If you’re handling hundreds of duplicate accounts:

• Data.com Clean (legacy): If still active in your org, use it for bulk deduplication.
• Third-Party Apps: Tools like Duplicate Check, Informatica, and RingLead support mass merging.
• Native Limits: Standard Salesforce tools only allow merging up to 3 accounts at a time.

To reduce manual effort and keep your system clean:

• Use Flows or Apex: Create automated rules to flag and merge duplicates using Matching Rules and Flow logic.
• Recommended Tools:
  
  • Duplicate Check for Salesforce
  • DemandTools
  • Openprise

These support custom logic, automated merges, and error handling.

Whether you’re cleaning up legacy data or managing day-to-day entries, learning how to Merge Accounts in Salesforce, manually or at scale, can dramatically improve system efficiency.

• When merging, only the values from the master account are retained unless otherwise selected. Be cautious because critical data from secondary accounts can be lost.
• Tip: Review and manually select preferred field values during the merge.

• Related contacts, opportunities, cases, and custom objects may not always transfer correctly.
• Tip: Ensure all child records are linked to the master account post-merge.

• If merged accounts have different owners, Salesforce assigns ownership based on the master record.
• Tip: Communicate with team leads and confirm ownership alignment beforehand.

• Merged records may not retain complete change history, affecting audit accuracy.
• Tip: Back up account data before merging and use Field History Tracking where needed.

• Salesforce’s standard API doesn’t support merging more than 3 accounts at a time, and certain editions have restricted access.
• Tip: Use tools like DemandTools or Duplicate Check for bulk Salesforce merge operations.

Keeping your Salesforce environment clean isn’t a one-time task but requires consistent attention. Follow these best practices to avoid CRM clutter and maintain reliable data.

Use built-in or third-party deduplication tools to identify duplicate Salesforce accounts on a scheduled basis.

Create rules that flag or block entries with matching account names, domains, or other identifiers.

Ensure your sales and support teams follow consistent account naming standards to reduce accidental duplicates.

Use Salesforce’s Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules to automatically alert users before saving potential duplicates.

Tools like DemandTools, Cloudingo, or Duplicate Check can help automate cleanup tasks regularly without manual effort.

To merge duplicate accounts in Salesforce Lightning, go to the Account record, click on “View Duplicates,” and follow the Merge Accounts wizard. You’ll be prompted to select a master account and review field data before completing the merge.

Salesforce does not natively support mass merging of duplicate accounts. For bulk operations, tools like DemandTools, Duplicate Check, or Cloudingo can help you combine multiple accounts efficiently.

When you perform a Salesforce account merge, most related records like Contacts, Opportunities, and Cases are automatically reassigned to the master account. However, custom objects or third-party app relationships may require manual validation.

The ability to merge accounts in Salesforce is available in most editions, but it may need to be enabled by your admin. You’ll also require the correct permissions (like “Merge Accounts”) to access this feature.

There’s no built-in undo feature for Salesforce merge duplicate records. It’s strongly recommended to back up your data or use a sandbox environment for testing before finalizing merges.

You can avoid unnecessary Salesforce account cleanup by enabling duplicate management rules, using validation logic, and regularly reviewing deduplication reports.

Merging duplicate accounts in Salesforce is essential for maintaining a reliable, high-performing CRM. Clean account data enables better reporting, smoother user experiences, and more informed decision-making across teams.

By establishing a routine for Salesforce account cleanup and using the right tools to merge duplicate records, you can avoid long-term CRM clutter and ensure your data stays actionable.

Need help setting up deduplication workflows, configuring merge automation, or choosing the right tools? Reach out to our Salesforce experts at RT Dynamic, we’ll help you optimize your CRM with clarity and confidence.