Create or edit a duplicate-detection rule

Can I do this task?

Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes default duplicate-detection rules for accounts, contacts, and leads. No default rules are provided for other record types.

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Data Management, and then click Duplicate Detection Rules.

2. To create a new duplicate-detection rule, click New. Type a name and description.

   - OR -

   To edit an unpublished existing duplicate-detection rule, double-click the duplicate-detection rule.

   - OR -

   To edit a published duplicate-detection rule, select the rule, on the Actions menu, click Unpublish, and then double-click the duplicate-detection rule.

3. Select the criteria to be used to identify a record as a duplicate.

   1. If you are creating a new rule:

      • In the Duplicate Detection Rule Criteria section, in the Base Record Type list, click the type of record that this rule applies to.

      • In the Matching Record Type box, click the type of record that this rule applies to.

   2. If you want the rule to consider only active records while detecting duplicates, select the Exclude inactive matching records check box. You should also select this check box if your duplicate detection rule criteria is based on a status field. For more information about what status is considered as active or inactive, see Status consideration for duplicate detection.

   3. If you want the rule to be case-sensitive, select the Case-sensitive check box.

   4. If you selected different record types for the base and matching record types, for each new criteria, in the Base Record Field column, click Select, and then click an attribute. In the same row, in the Matching Record Field column, click Select, and then click an field.

      - OR -

      If you selected the same record types for the base and matching record types, for each new criteria, in the Attribute column, click Select, and then click a field.

   5. In the same row, in the Criteria column, click Select, and then click an operator.

   6. If you specified Same First Characters or Same Last Characters, in the No. of Characters column, click Enter Value, and then enter the number of characters to compare.

      Note

      If you are unable to see the No. of Characters column, scroll the to the right of the dialog box.

   7. If you do not want the rule to detect blank fields (null values) as equal while identifying duplicates, select the Ignore Null Values check box.

   Important

   If the duplicate detection rule contains only one condition, null values will be ignored during duplicate detection. That is, null values in the selected fields will not be considered equal during duplicate detection.

   Note

   Microsoft Dynamics CRM sets the value for any empty fields in a record to "NULL." If the Ignore Null Values check box is not selected, Microsoft Dynamics CRM shows two or more records as potential duplicates if both the base and matching fields have null values, and if the other condition in the rule (for non-null fields) is also met. For example, you have a duplicate detection rule that detects duplicates when the first name and the e-mail address of records exactly match. If two records do not have a value specified in the E-mail field, Microsoft Dynamics CRM sets the value of the E-mail field in these records to "NULL". If the Ignore Null Values check box is not selected, and if the first name of two records is also equal, Microsoft Dynamics CRM detects the records as potential duplicates. To avoid this, select the Ignore Null Values. Microsoft Dynamics CRM then considers the null values in two fields as unequal and does not flag the records as duplicates.

   The number of criteria that you can select is limited by the number of characters that can be stored in the matchcode for the record. As you add criteria, watch the Current matchcode length value shown at the bottom-left of the Duplicate Detection Rule area.

4. Click Save and Close.

5. To make the new or changed duplicate-detection rule usable, select the rule, and then click Publish.

   When you publish a duplicate-detection rule, a matchcode is created for every record in the matching record type for that rule. Publishing occurs in the background as a system job.

Related Topics Data Management Area Work with Duplicate-detection Rules Check for duplicates Avoiding Duplicate Records