How to Merge Accounts in Salesforce: A Comprehensive Guide

Your sales team pulls up a quarterly report, only to realize something doesn’t add up. The same customer appears multiple times-once with the full corporate name, again with an abbreviation, and a third time with a slightly different legal suffix. Each record holds fragments of the relationship: contacts scattered across different versions, opportunities tied to the wrong account, activities that don’t paint the complete picture.

The problems spread quickly.Reps waste time chasing the wrong version of the truth. Marketing can’t attribute campaigns properly because engagement is split across duplicate accounts. Leadership sees inflated customer counts and unreliable forecasts. And while these issues feel operational on the surface, they hurt your bottom line. Studies show that poor data quality, including duplicates, costs companies nearly 12% in annual revenue.

Account merging solves this by creating one accurate customer record. Merging accounts in Salesforce is more than clicking a Merge button. It’s about understanding permissions, choosing the right master record, preserving relationships, and ensuring every downstream system continues to function smoothly.

This guide walks you through how account merging really works from the fundamentals and step-by-step workflows to advanced strategies and tools that keep your data clean long after the merge is done. When your teams operate from a single, accurate customer view, every part of your revenue engine becomes stronger.

What Duplicate Accounts Actually Cost Your Business

Beyond the frustration factor, duplicate accounts create measurable business costs. Here’s what duplicate accounts actually cost your organization:

Sales Efficiency Loss: Reps spend an average of 2.5 hours per week reconciling account information across duplicates, reducing actual selling time.

Marketing Attribution Errors: Campaign ROI appears 30-40% lower when engagement is split across duplicate records, leading to budget misallocation.

Forecasting Accuracy: Pipeline reports with duplicate accounts show 15-20% variance from actual close rates due to fragmented opportunity tracking.

Storage Costs: Each duplicate account consumes unnecessary Salesforce storage and increases licensing complexity as your database grows.

Before You Merge: Permissions and Prerequisites

Before you begin consolidating accounts, Salesforce puts a few guardrails in place. Merging records directly affects reporting, ownership, automation, and related objects across your CRM. Having the right permissions is a safeguard against accidental data loss.

At the most basic level, you will need Read access on accounts to view potential duplicates and Delete permission on the Account object to complete the merge. You will also need Edit access for related records like opportunities, cases, and contacts. 

Beyond object-level access, Salesforce requires that the person performing the merge either:

• Is a system administrator
  
• Owns the account
  
• Sits above the account owner in the role hierarchy

Salesforce designed this hierarchy requirement to prevent junior reps from altering or deleting records owned by senior team members without oversight.For teams working with account teams or custom access models, the requirement may go a step further. In some cases, Modify All Data is needed to navigate complex sharing models or child-account permissions.

Rather than giving admin access to anyone who needs to merge records, create a lightweight permission set instead. This focused setup grants only what’s needed like Delete on accounts, Edit on related objects, and API access if you’re using automated tools.

Getting these prerequisites right removes friction later and keeps your governance model intact as your team moves into more complex merge scenarios.

Once your access is set, you’re ready to start merging, beginning with how the process works inside Salesforce Lightning.

Merging Accounts in Lightning Experience

With the right permissions in place, Salesforce Lightning gives you a clean, intuitive workflow for merging duplicate accounts. The process feels straightforward on the surface, but each step plays a meaningful role in shaping the final, consolidated record your team will rely on.

Step 1: Identify Duplicate Accounts
Start by navigating to an account you suspect has duplicates. If your organization has duplicate rules enabled, Salesforce will surface a banner that flags potential matches. Clicking View Duplicates brings up a list of accounts that appear similar based on your matching criteria.

If duplicates exist but aren’t being flagged, that’s usually a sign your matching rules need refinement. Many teams adjust these over time as naming patterns, sales processes, or data entry habits evolve.

Step 2: Select Accounts to Merge
From the duplicate list, select up to three accounts. Salesforce limits merges to three at a time, which means large clusters of duplicates may require multiple rounds of merging.

Step 3: Choose the Master Record and Field Values
This is the most important step. You will pick which account becomes the master, which is the record that survives the merge. Salesforce then presents a side-by-side comparison of field values. For each field with conflicting data, you decide which value to keep.

This is where accuracy matters. Choose based on recency, completeness, or business significance rather than defaulting to the master’s values across the board.

Step 4: Review and Confirm
Salesforce shows a final summary before you commit. Once you confirm, Salesforce deletes the non-master accounts and reparent all related records like contacts, cases, opportunities, notes, attachments, and custom-object relationships  to the surviving master account.

This creates a clean, unified customer profile without requiring manual reassignment.

With Lightning covered, it’s worth understanding how the same process works for teams still relying on Salesforce Classic or managing scenarios that require the Classic interface.

Merging Accounts in Salesforce Classic

Some organizations still maintain parts of their workflow in Salesforce Classic, or they manage account types that surface merge options only in the Classic interface. The process is similar to Lightning, but the path and screens look a bit different.

Step 1: Access the Merge Tool
Navigate to the Accounts tab and scroll to the Tools section. There, you’ll find Merge Accounts. If you don’t see it, it’s almost always a permissions issue, specifically missing Delete access.

Step 2: Search for Duplicate Accounts
Classic begins with a search box. Enter a name fragment such as “Acme,” and Salesforce returns all accounts containing that keyword. This flexible search is helpful when naming conventions have drifted over time or when accounts were created quickly without standardization.

Step 3: Select Accounts to Merge
Choose up to three accounts from the search results. As with Lightning, Salesforce restricts merges to a maximum of three at once.

Step 4: Choose the Master Record and Field Values
Next, designate your master record. Salesforce highlights fields with conflicting data so you can decide which values to carry into the final record. While the Classic interface is simpler, the same rules apply, accuracy wins over convenience.

Once confirmed, Salesforce deletes the non-master records and reparent all related objects to the surviving account.

Classic may not have Lightning’s polish, but it remains fully capable of executing safe, structured account merges for teams still using it.

Now that the mechanics are clear in both interfaces, the next step is understanding how to choose the right master record and decide which data values should survive the merge.

Field Selection Strategy: Making the Right Choices

Selecting which data survives a merge is where most teams slow down and rightly so. Once a merge is complete, the non-master records are deleted, and any field values you didn’t keep are gone for good. A deliberate approach prevents accidental loss of important context.

Start by evaluating all duplicate records. Before choosing a master, look at each account side by side. Consider:

• Which record has the most complete company profile
  
• Which version has the most recent updates
  
• Whether any older accounts contain valuable historical data
  
• Which data points matter most for reporting, segmentation, territory assignments, and automation

Use recency, completeness, and business impact as your filters. For conflicting fields:

• Prefer the most recent phone numbers and addresses
  
• Choose richer profile data when completeness matters more than recency
  
• Prioritize fields that drive downstream logic like industry, account type, region, ownership, and lifecycle stage

This step is all about accuracy. The master record becomes the single source of truth that sales, marketing, support, and leadership will rely on, so the values you select should reflect the most trustworthy and actionable version of the customer.

A well-chosen master also keeps automations, account hierarchies, and reporting structures consistent.

With your field strategy set, the next consideration is what happens to everything connected to these accounts: contacts, opportunities, cases, and custom relationships.

Special Considerations for Related Records

When accounts are merged, Salesforce automatically moves most related records like contacts, opportunities, cases, notes, attachments, and custom-object relationships to the surviving master account. This keeps the full customer history intact without requiring manual updates.

A few items, however, need closer attention:

• Brand fields: Only the master account’s brand stays. Values tied to non-master records go to the Recycle Bin.
  
• Account teams: Team members from all merged accounts are combined, so access may expand.
  
• Hierarchies: Parent-child relationships may shift and often need manual review after the merge.

These small checks help ensure the final account reflects both accurate data and accurate structure. With the related-record behavior covered, the next step is exploring more advanced strategies for organizations dealing with high volumes or more complex duplicate scenarios.

Advanced Merge Strategies: Beyond Basic Functionality

Salesforce’s built-in merge tool works well for small batches, but teams dealing with large datasets or complex duplicates often need more scalable options.

Mass merge tools:
Platforms like DemandTools, Cloudingo, and DupeCatcher allow you to merge hundreds or thousands of accounts at once, apply custom rules, and preview outcomes before committing changes.

API-based merging:
Technical teams can use Data Loader or custom scripts for bulk merges, especially when dealing with structured naming conventions or large imports.

Automated duplicate prevention:
Strengthen your data quality by refining matching rules, enforcing standard data entry, and using fuzzy matching to catch non-exact duplicates before they enter your system.

These strategies help you move from reactive cleanup to proactive data governance, reducing the volume of duplicates that make it into Salesforce in the first place.

With advanced tactics in place, the next question is post-merge verification and recovery.

Post-Merge Verification and Recovery

Post-merge verification checklist:

• Check related records – Confirm contacts, opportunities, and cases are now tied to the master account 
• Review activity timeline – Verify emails, meetings, and calls appear in one unified history. 
• Run key reports – Ensure the merged account shows accurate totals and classifications

If something looks off, Salesforce gives you a short recovery window. Non-master accounts sit in the Recycle Bin for 15 days, allowing you to restore them if needed. Restored accounts won’t automatically reclaim their related records, so you may need to manually reassign opportunities or contacts in rare cases. For merges outside the 15-day window, backups or export logs are your only path to recovery.

This quick check keeps your data reliable and prevents small inconsistencies from rippling into reports or automation.

With verification complete, the final step is building habits and systems that maintain data quality long after the merge.

Best Practices for Sustained Data Quality

Long-term data quality strategies:

• Standardize data entry – Create consistent naming rules, address formats, and required fields to prevent duplicates at the source
• Configure prevention rules – Set up Salesforce duplicate alerts that warn users before creating records that already exist
• Schedule regular audits – Run quarterly or monthly reviews to catch new duplicates before they impact reporting
• Train your team – Teach users to search before creating new accounts—the simplest prevention method
• Use data enrichment tools – Implement validation tools that fill missing fields and reduce manual entry errors

These practices create a strong foundation that keeps your CRM reliable as your customer base grows.

With those habits in place, the final step is understanding how a tool like Revenue Grid strengthens this entire process and helps teams maintain consistent, accurate data at scale.

Ready to Transform Your Salesforce Data Quality?

Merging accounts is more than a cleanup task, it’s a direct investment in better forecasting, stronger customer relationships, and reliable reporting. Salesforce gives you the tools to handle basic merges, but organizations that want ongoing accuracy need something deeper.

Revenue Grid brings intelligence to your data quality efforts with AI-driven duplicate detection, automatic activity capture, and relationship insights that keep your CRM clean long after the merge is done. Your teams get a single, accurate view of every account, and your leaders gain confidence in the numbers they use to make decisions.

Book a demo to see how Revenue Grid can help you maintain clean, consolidated Salesforce data and build a CRM your entire revenue team can trust.