Find and merge duplicate records

Find records that look like the same customer, company or deal, and merge two of them into one. A record is one entry in Mesy, such as one customer, one company or one deal. Mesy also warns you when a new record looks like one you already have.

Anyone can check for duplicates. Admins and managers can merge any two records. A member can merge two records only if they own or created each one.

Mesy spots duplicates using identity fields. A field is one piece of information on a record, such as a phone number. Identity fields are fields that should be different on every record, such as an email address. Each record type has its own identity fields. A record type is a kind of record, such as Contacts or Deals, with its own list in the sidebar.

When two records share a value in an identity field, Mesy treats them as possible duplicates. In the standard setup, contacts match on email, phone and mobile. Companies match on name, and deals match on their title.

Review duplicates across a whole list

To check a list:

1. Open the list you want to check, such as your Contacts list.
2. In the toolbar, click the Review duplicates icon. It has no text, so hover over the icons to find it. Mesy scans the list and shows groups of records that match.

On a phone, open More actions (⋯) and choose Review duplicates.

Each group shows why its records match, such as same email, and the shared value. Each record shows the date it was created. The oldest one is marked oldest.

Mesy checks the whole list, whatever filters or saved view you have on.

Merge two records

A merge joins two records of the same type into one. You can’t undo a merge.

You pick one record to keep. Everything linked to the other record moves to it. This covers other records it’s linked to, notes, tasks, files, emails, meetings and customer chats. Its history moves to the kept record’s Timeline, the list of everything that happened on that record. Mesy then deletes the other record. The kept record keeps its own owner.

To merge a pair from Review duplicates:

1. In a group, tick the two records you want to merge. Mesy ticks the first two for you.
2. Click Compare & merge. The two records appear side by side, one column each.
3. Look at which record has the Keep tag. Mesy puts it on the older record.
4. To keep the other record instead, click its name at the top of its column. This clears any values you’ve already picked.
5. Find the rows marked differs. These include rows where the kept record is empty.
6. To use the other record’s value on a row, click that value. Otherwise the kept record’s value stays, even when it’s empty.
7. Click Merge records.
8. Click Merge records again when Mesy asks, for example, “Merge Tan Wei Ling into Wei Ling Tan?”. Mesy takes you back to the list of groups and scans again.

The kept record still appears in a group if it matches other records.

On a phone, each field is a card. Fields that differ have an amber border. Tap the other record’s value to use it.

Merge from a record

Start from the record you want to merge away. Merge into… is only in the record panel, the panel that opens when you click a record in a list.

1. Click the record in its list. Its record panel opens.
2. In the panel header, open More actions (⋯) and choose Merge into….
3. Search for the record you want to keep.
4. Click it. The two records appear side by side.

The record you searched for has the Keep tag. Its column is marked older, but it may not be the older record, so check the dates before you merge. Finish the merge as in Merge two records, from the rows marked differs onwards.

See a warning while you add a record

When you fill in a new record, Mesy checks each identity field as you type. If a value matches an existing record, a line starting “Possible duplicate” appears. It names the field and lists up to three matching records.

Click a name to open that record instead. You can still save the new record.

Mesy doesn’t check when you edit an existing record.

The Add New row at the bottom of a list checks only the name you type. So does the quick add on a pipeline board. In the standard setup, contact names aren’t identity fields, so neither shows a warning for contacts. To get every check, add the record with the full form.

Mesy AI, the AI you chat with (the Chat item in the sidebar), checks too. When you ask it to add a record and a match exists, it shows a card headed “Possible duplicate”. This only happens for record types with identity fields.

• Click Use this one to have Mesy AI use that record instead of adding a new one.
• Click Create new anyway to have Mesy AI go ahead with the new record.

If the card lists two or more existing records of one type, they may be duplicates of each other. To merge two of them, click Merge…. With exactly two, the side-by-side view opens. With more, tick the two to merge and click Compare & merge. Here Mesy doesn’t put the Keep tag on the older record, so check it before you merge.

Choose the fields that identify a duplicate

Only an admin can change identity fields:

1. In the sidebar, click Admin.
2. Click the Schema tab.
3. Click the record type to open its settings.
4. Under Identity Fields (duplicate detection), tick each field that should be unique, such as Email or Phone. Each tick saves straight away.

Some ready-made record types you add with Add Type come with identity fields already ticked. A record type you make with Start blank has none until you pick some. A record type with no identity fields shows a No identity fields tag.

To stop checking a record type, untick every field.

If something doesn’t work

• The review says “Duplicate detection isn’t configured for this type”. The record type has no identity fields yet. Ask your admin to choose some.
• Two records you know are the same aren’t flagged. Mesy compares each field only with the same field. A number saved as Phone on one contact and Mobile on another isn’t flagged.
• The same phone number isn’t flagged. Mesy needs exactly the same digits, so “9123 4567” doesn’t match “+65 9123 4567”.
• A merge fails with a message starting “You don’t have permission”. Ask a manager or your admin to merge the records.
• You don’t see Merge into…. The full record page doesn’t have it. Open it in the record panel instead.