I have duplicate contacts or companies

Duplicates are the most common data problem there is, and a little routine attention keeps them from piling up.

Where they come from. Duplicates creep in through imports, multiple people entering the same record different ways, or forms creating a new record instead of matching an existing one. HubSpot matches contacts on email and companies on domain, so records missing those, or with them entered inconsistently, are the ones that double up.

Fixing them: merging. When two records are the same company (or the same person), you fix it by merging them — combining both into a single record. Merging is the right move rather than deleting one, because deleting throws away whatever history lived on the record. Merging keeps it. HubSpot can surface likely duplicates for you under Actions → Manage duplicates on the Companies or Contacts page, or in Settings → Data Management → Duplicates.

Picking the right record to keep. When you merge, you choose one record as the primary — the one that survives. The other is merged into it and then removed. Which you pick matters, because of how the data resolves:

• Property values: for each field, the primary record's value is kept. Where the primary's field is empty, the value from the other record fills it in. So the primary "wins" on any field where both have data.
• Because of that, make the record with the most complete, accurate information your primary. If the better data is on the record you weren't planning to keep, either set that one as primary or update the primary's fields first.
• Review the key fields before you merge — company name, domain, owner, lifecycle stage, and any custom properties your team reports on. HubSpot shows the two records side by side so you can compare.
• Domains: the merged company keeps the primary's domain as its main domain, and the other record's domain is retained on the record as an additional domain, so you don't lose it.

What happens to everything attached. This is why merging beats deleting: all associated records from both come along onto the surviving record. Associated contacts, deals, and tickets — plus all the activity history (logged emails, calls, notes, meetings, and tasks) — combine onto one record. Nothing on the association side is lost; the two timelines become one. That single, complete record is the whole point — the 360° view your team can actually trust.

One thing to know before you click: merging can't be undone, so double-check you've got the right two records and the right primary. Only merge true duplicates — a parent company and its subsidiary, or two branches, are related but distinct, and shouldn't be merged. (Merging also requires "Merge records" or Super Admin permission; if you don't see the option, your admin can do it or grant access.)

For HubSpot's always-current, step-by-step instructions — including the full merge rules and exceptions — see their guide: Merge records.

Preventing them. Entering data consistently (especially email and company domain) and cleaning imports before they go in stops most duplication at the source. This is exactly why your system's naming and data conventions matter.

If you're facing a large volume of duplicates, or you're not sure which record to keep, don't guess in bulk — reach out to the Help Desk and we'll help you clean it up safely.