How do I merge duplicate contacts?
Open Customers > Contacts and follow the possible duplicates link. Pick the record to keep and press Merge, or press Not the same person to stop the suggestion.
The same person can end up in your list twice, for example once from an old import and once from your website. NinjaHQ finds likely pairs for you so you can combine them into one clean record.
Before you begin
- Owners and managers can merge.
- NinjaHQ suggests contacts with the same name (capital letters, accents and middle initials ignored) or a nearly identical one, such as a first name one letter off or a nickname like Mike and Michael.
Steps
- Open Contacts. If there are suggestions, a link at the top says how many possible duplicates are waiting. Click it to open the Possible duplicates page.
- Each box shows the matching contacts side by side with their email, phone, tags, where they came from and when they were last active. You can click a name to open that contact first.
- Under Pick the one to keep, choose the best record. The first one is chosen for you.
- Press Merge into the one picked, then confirm Merge.
- If they are really different people, press Not the same person instead.
What you'll see
- The kept contact has every blank filled from the others (phone, address, guardian, birth date), all their tags, the member and waiver marks, and the most recent activity.
- The other email addresses are saved on the kept contact, so its page still shows their registrations, orders, memberships and packs. Notes, saved cards, invoices and email fixes move over too. Children of a merged guardian now point at the kept contact.
- The extra records are deleted, and History records the merge.
- When nothing is left, the page says "No likely duplicates. Nice and tidy!"
Troubleshooting
I cannot save a contact because the email already belongs to someone. That is a sign the two contacts should be merged. Open the duplicates page and merge them.
The pair I expect is not listed. Only same or very similar names are suggested. Two records with different names for the same person need to be fixed by editing the contact.
I merged the wrong pair. A merge cannot be undone. Edit the kept contact to restore anything missing, or ask the family.
Questions
Can I undo a merge?
No. The other records are deleted after their details are added to the one you kept. History records that the merge happened, so check the pairs side by side before you press Merge.
Does a merge lose the other person's orders or registrations?
No. The kept contact's page also looks under the other email addresses, so their registrations, orders, memberships and packs still show.
What if two different people share a name?
Press Not the same person. That pair is never suggested again.