Salesforce Duplicate Management: A Hands-On Guide for Admins

Duplicate data can wreak havoc on your Salesforce org—cluttering your database, skewing reports, and frustrating your users. Fortunately, Salesforce offers powerful native duplicate management tools that allow Admins to prevent, identify, and resolve duplicates.

In this hands-on guide, you’ll learn how to configure duplicate rules, build matching logic, use reporting and third-party tools, and adopt best practices that keep your data clean, reliable, and trusted.

Why Duplicate Management Matters

Clean data improves trust, productivity, and performance across your CRM.

Core Components of Duplicate Management

1. Matching Rules – Define how records are compared
2. Duplicate Rules – Control what happens when a match is found
3. Reports and Dashboards – Visualize and resolve duplicates
4. Third-party Tools – Handle large-scale deduplication

What Are Matching Rules?

Matching Rules define the logic used to compare new or updated records against existing records. Salesforce provides standard rules and lets you create custom ones.

Standard Matching Rules:

• Leads by Email
• Contacts by Name and Account
• Accounts by Name and Billing Address

Custom Matching Rule Example:

Match Contacts using:

• First Name (Fuzzy)
• Last Name (Exact)
• Email (Exact)

Use fuzzy matching for name variations like “Jon” vs “John”.

What Are Duplicate Rules?

Duplicate Rules specify the behavior when a match is found:

• Allow or block duplicate creation
• Show alert to user or silently report
• Different actions for internal vs external sources (API, web-to-lead)

Example:

• Rule Name: Lead Email Duplicate Rule
• Matching Rule: Lead Email Match
• Action: Block save
• Alert: “This email address already exists. Please update the existing Lead.”

How to Set Up Duplicate Management

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to Setup > Duplicate Rules
2. Click New Rule or clone a standard one
3. Choose Object (Lead, Contact, Account, Custom)
4. Select a Matching Rule
5. Define actions:
   • Alert vs Block
   • Behavior for web/API
6. Activate the rule

Repeat for multiple objects and channels.

Using Duplicate Jobs (Data.com Replacement)

Salesforce allows batch deduplication via Duplicate Jobs:

• Go to Setup > Duplicate Jobs
• Select object and Matching Rule
• Run the job to scan for duplicates
• View and merge duplicates from the results

This is great for cleaning existing data.

Merging Records in Salesforce

For Standard Objects:

• Leads: From List View or Record Page
• Contacts: Via Account > Related Contacts > Merge
• Accounts: From List View

Merge Wizard:

1. Choose up to 3 records
2. Select master record
3. Merge fields and values
4. Finalize and audit

Always back up data before merging!

Reporting on Duplicates

Create a custom report type:

• Object with Duplicate Record Set
• Group by Duplicate Record Set ID
• Add filters for status, record type, or owner

Use dashboards to track volume and progress of cleanup.

Third-Party Deduplication Tools

These are ideal for complex or high-volume orgs.

Best Practices for Admins

1. Start with Soft Alerts

Use warning messages first to assess duplicate volumes without blocking users.

2. Focus on High-Impact Objects

Start with Leads, Contacts, and Accounts before moving to custom objects.

3. Use Field History Tracking

Track merges and changes to understand behavior.

4. Educate End Users

Train sales, support, and marketing teams on how to search and avoid duplicates.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Real-World Scenario: Web-to-Lead Duplicate Rule

Problem: Marketing forms keep creating duplicate leads.

Solution:

1. Create custom Matching Rule for Leads using Email + Last Name
2. Create Duplicate Rule:
   • Source: Web
   • Action: Allow, but alert internal team
   • Create Task to follow up on potential duplicate

This balances lead capture with deduplication needs.

Conclusion

Duplicate management is more than a one-time cleanup—it’s a continual process that every Admin should oversee. With Matching Rules, Duplicate Rules, Duplicate Jobs, and third-party tools, you can maintain a single source of truth across your CRM.

Need a ready-to-import duplicate rule set or cleanup checklist? Drop a comment and we’ll send you our battle-tested templates!