How to merge contacts in SugarCRM?

Question

In SugarCRM, my company has been using it for 10+ years. For some ex employees, it was easier to create new contacts then search for existing contacts, and we have many, many duplicates. Is there a way to merge the duplicate contacts, without manually cutting/pasting/deleting information, in SugarCRM? We are willing to manually select duplicates, but we don't want to go in to each contact, copy down the information and paste into another contact unless absolutely necessary

EDIT: This does not work in my version, which is apparently quite old. Any other suggestions would be welcome, but I'm not the administrator on it

Answer 1

Found an answer... On SugarCRM's Help site:

1. From the module home page list view, check the record boxes you wish to merge and select Merge from the Actions drop-down.

   Results: The Merge Records page displays with fields from the primary record on the left and fields from the duplicate records on the right; a horizontal line across the page separates the data with fields containing different data above and fields with identical data below.

   Note:

   • The first record you selected will display as the primary record.
   • Your system administrator sets the number of records that can be merged at a time in your system.

2. Click Set as Primary above a duplicate record, if you wish to set it as the primary record.

   Results: The selected record displays on the left.

   Note:

   • This is useful and recommended if one of the duplicate records has more field data you wish to keep.

3. Click the left arrow buttons of the fields in the duplicate record column you wish to move to the primary record fields. You can make any spelling and data corrections needed in the fields.

   Results: The data from the duplicate record field displays in the primary record field.

4. Click Save Merge to continue with the merge.

   Results: A dialog box displays and notes which records(s) will be deleted and asks if you want to proceed.

   If you want to exit and return to the module list view without saving the merge, click Cancel.

5. Click OK to proceed with the merge.

   Results: The primary record is saved, the duplicate record(s) are deleted and the primary module list view displays.

   Note:

   • Once the record is deleted you cannot recover it.
   • You must have record editing permissions in order to merge and delete records; check with the system administrator to determine if you have the proper editing rights.