Merge and delete records
Merge and delete records to keep your data tidy.
Available on all plans.
Members with write access to an object can merge and delete records.
Merge records
Attio's merge feature helps you clean up and de-duplicate records, merging them into one record. You'll be prompted to merge any duplicates when Attio detects them using domain for companies and email address for people.
Note: Members with Read only access to an object are not able to merge or delete its records.
What happens when I merge two records?
When merging records you combine all data including list entries, notes, folders and files, tasks, comments, and call recordings and meetings from two source records into a single record. Emails will also be merged when two person records are merged.
Merging creates a new record rather than keeping one of the two originals. Both source records are marked as merged, and the record you end up with has a new record ID (and URL) that is different from either of the records that went into the merge.
The data for the record on the right is prioritized, so its values take precedence where the two records hold conflicting data. You can swap the order of records by clicking the arrow icon between them.
To the right of the = sign, you'll see the information your merged record will contain: the record name, email addresses or domains, and the number of lists, notes, tasks, and comments.
How do I merge records?
You can manually merge any two company or person records from a record page. It's not yet possible to merge records for Deals, Workspaces, Users, or custom objects.
To merge two companies or people:
Navigate to a record page by searching for and clicking the name of the record.
Click the ⋮ icon in the top right corner of the record page.
Select Merge Records.
Click the + icon on the left, then search for and select the duplicate record.
Optionally, click the arrows between records to swap the order. The record on the right will be merged to and prioritized.
Click Merge records to combine the records' data.
Delete records
When a record is no longer needed in your workspace, you can delete it to remove the data.
What happens when a record is deleted?
When you delete a record:
It is removed for all members of your workspace.
Any linked notes and files are also deleted.
References to the record in tasks, notes, note templates, and comments are removed.
Records previously merged with it are not restored.
Its data is removed from reports.
Note: Take caution with deleting records, as once a record is deleted, it cannot be recovered by you or your team.
Delete a single record
Open the record page by searching for and clicking the record name.
Click the ⋮ icon in the top right corner of the record page.
Click Delete record.
Confirm you want to delete the record by clicking Delete.
Delete records in bulk
To delete records in bulk, follow these steps:
Navigate to the page under Records in the sidebar, such as Companies or People.
Select one or more records using the checkboxes to the left of record names.
From the dialogue box that appears at the bottom of the view, click More ▾, then Delete records.
Confirm you want to delete the records by clicking Delete.
Frequently asked questions
Attio helps prevent duplicates at the point of creation. When you create or import records, Attio checks for matches and prompts you to update an existing record instead of creating a new one when:
Company domains match
Person email addresses match
When you sync your mailbox, Attio also enriches records automatically. If two person records do not share an email address but enrich to what appears to be the same person, Attio may automatically merge them to reduce duplication.
For existing duplicates, records can be merged manually from the record page. Merges are currently completed one pair at a time, which gives you full control over how data is combined.
If your goal is to clean up older or unnecessary records, filters are often the fastest approach. Many teams use communication intelligence attributes such as Last interaction to:
Surface inactive People or Companies, for example no interaction in the last year
Identify records with no contact history
Review older records in bulk and delete those that are no longer needed
You can apply filters in a view, select multiple records, and delete them at once. Keep in mind that if you email someone or schedule a calendar event with them in the future, Attio may recreate their record.
It can also help to think of People and Companies as a representation of your broader network. Most day to day work happens in deals, lists, filtered views, and custom objects. By using filters and focused views, you can keep active records front and center while older records stay out of sight unless you search for them directly.