How to Merge Accounts & Duplicate Contacts in Salesforce lightning?

Salesforce instance is no less than a Pandora's box. There are troubles, there are solutions, there are mysteries. But it has a solution to everything. It is one intriguing platform. Off late, two very interesting questions have been doing the rounds on the internet and they are- How to merge Salesforce contacts and How to merge Salesforce Accounts. This blog addresses these two questions specifically. Before we start our tryst with them, let us first see what all points do this blog cover-

Things that You Must Know Before Merging Accounts in Salesforce

Here is a list of a few things that require your attention before you start to merge accounts in Salesforce-

A). Sharing Rules

In Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, or Developer version organizations, any sharing tenets are connected to the merged account. Additionally, any manual sharing from the main record is connected to the consolidated account after the merge.

B). Redundant Relationships

In case you endeavour to combine accounts that are in a roundabout way identified with a similar contact, Salesforce shows a message recommending that you evacuate the repetitive connections. On account records, circuitous connections are overseen from the Related Contacts related list.

C). Related Items, Chatter Feeds, and Attachments

At the point when copy records are identified with things, for example, battles or exercises, Salesforce relates the things to the consolidated record, with a few exemptions. Chatter feeds are held from the main record as it were. Salesforce Files appended in the Chatter feed or Files related rundown are held in the merged account.

D). Account Hierarchy

In Lightning Experience, you can pick the parent record to retain. In Salesforce Classic, the merged record holds the account hierarchy of command from the main record.

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E). Divisions

In the event that divisions are empowered, the merged record is doled out to the division from the main record except if you select something else.

F). Relationship Groups

Lightning Experience doesn't support merging of records related to the connected groups.

How to Merge Accounts in Salesforce Classic?

Here are the steps that you need to follow if you are merging contacts in the Classic edition of Salesforce-

1. Go to the Accounts tab, then click on Merge Accounts given in the Tools section. If you are unable to see the merge option, in that case, ask your Salesforce admin to check the user permissions of your account.
2. In order to discover the duplicate accounts, you will have to enter a search string.
3. After this click on the Find Accounts option.
4. You will now have to select up to three accounts that you wish to merge. Once you are done then click on Next option.
5. You will have to select one account as the master record.
6. Thereafter select the desired fields that you wish to retain from each record. The fields that have conflicting values are highlighted.
7. Click on Merge option. 

How to Merge Accounts in Salesforce Lightning?

Here are the steps that you need to follow if you are merging accounts in Lightning edition of Salesforce-

1. Choose the account record you wish to merge. A message will come that will inform you if the duplicates exist for that particular record. To be able to see them, click on View Duplicates option.
2. You are allowed to select up to three account records that you want to merge. Click on Next option.
3. You can either merge the business accounts or personal accounts. The catch here is that the business and the person accounts can’t be merged with one another.
4. The last step is to select one account record as the master record and choose the desired field values that you wish to keep. Click on Next option and you are done.
5. Confirm your choices and merge.

Things that You Must Know Before Merging Contacts in Salesforce

Here is a list of a few things that you must know before you start to merge contacts in your Salesforce account- 

A). Primary Account

In Lightning Experience, you can consolidate contacts that have distinctive essential records except if the contact is related with a portal user. In Salesforce Classic, you can combine only the contacts that have a similar primary record. The essential record is the record recorded in the Account Name field on the contact record.

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B). Data Privacy Preferences

When you merge the copy leads or get in touch with, you likewise partner an information security record with the master record. In the event that you chose the option to hold the most recently refreshed information security record for merging leads and contacts, Salesforce partners the right record for you. Else, Salesforce will brief you to choose the one you need to hold for the records you combine.

C). Redundant Relationships

In the event that you attempt to combine contacts that are in an indirect way identified with a similar record, Salesforce shows a message proposing that you expel the repetitive relationship. On contact records, roundabout connections are overseen from the Related Accounts related list.

D). Contact Roles

At the point when contacts are consolidated, contact jobs on non-master contacts lose their status as the primary contact.

E). Campaigns

At the point when copy contacts that are individuals from various campaigns are consolidated, Salesforce holds the Member Status Updated date for each campaign the blended contact is an individual from.

F). Related Items, Chatter Feeds, and Attachments

At the point when copy records are identified with items, like, campaigns or exercises, Salesforce relates the things to the combined record, with a few special cases. Chatter feeds are held from the master record as it were. Salesforce Files appended in the Chatter feed or Files related list are held in the consolidated record.

How to Merge Contacts in Salesforce Classic?

Here are the steps that you need to follow if you are merging contacts in the Classic edition of Salesforce-

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1. You will have to go to the Contacts related list of an account and then click on Merge Contacts.
2. The next step is to select up to three contacts that you want to merge. You can make use of the search box to refine the list, or you can select the All Contacts option to view the entire list of contacts. Thereafter select the Next tab given there, to continue.
3. Pick one contact for the master record.
4. Select the desired fields values that you wish to retain from each contact.
5. Click on the Merge option.

How to Merge Contacts in Salesforce Lightning Experience?

Here are the steps that you need to follow if you are merging contacts in Lightning edition of Salesforce-

1. The first step is to choose a contact record. A message will appear that will tell you whether or not the duplicates exist for that record. To see the full list you can click on View Duplicates.
2. The next step is to select up to three contact records that you want to merge. Click on Next.
3. Select one contact record as the master record, and choose the requisite field values that you wish to keep. Click on Next option.
4. Reaffirm your selections and hit the merge option.

Conclusion

Merging an account or contact in Salesforce is not difficult. All you have to do is to follow the simple steps given above and take into consideration all the necessary information that we have listed. Good Luck!