What Is Deduplication?
Deduplication is the process of finding and merging duplicate records in a CRM — the same contact or company entered more than once. Duplicates split activity history, distort reporting and cause double outreach, so dedupe is core CRM hygiene.
Key takeaways
- Dedup merges multiple records that represent the same person or company.
- Duplicates fragment history and corrupt reporting and outreach.
- Prevent them with unique identifiers and automated dedupe rules.
How duplicates happen
Imports without matching, multiple form fills with different emails, integrations that create rather than update — duplicates creep in from many directions. Left alone they multiply, until your “10,000 contacts” are really 8,000 with overlap.
Preventing and fixing them
- Match on a unique identifier (email, domain) on import and sync.
- Use the CRM's dedupe tools to review and merge.
- Standardize data entry so the same record isn't created twice.
Frequently asked questions
What is deduplication?
Identifying and merging records that represent the same person or company so each entity exists once in the CRM.
How does HubSpot handle duplicates?
HubSpot deduplicates contacts by email and companies by domain automatically, and provides a duplicate-management tool to review and merge others.
How do you prevent duplicates?
Match on unique identifiers when importing or syncing, configure integrations to update rather than create, and standardize how records are entered.
Related service: Dedupe and clean your HubSpot data