How do I merge duplicate contacts in Redtail CRM?

Pull the duplicates into Advanced Search, Contacts A-Z or Favorites and tick their checkboxes. Open Contact Options, choose Bulk Actions and click Combine Contacts. Choose the Primary Contact from the dropdown, which is the record you keep, and click Combine. The other records are merged into the primary and marked for deletion.

What is the Contacts by Duplicate Names report in Redtail?

It is a report that lists contacts sharing the same first and last name. Select the contacts, click Combine and choose the Primary Contact from a box limited to the contacts you selected. Because it matches names only, two different people with the same name appear on it, so read each pair before combining.

What data transfers when you combine Redtail contacts?

Phone numbers, addresses, internet addresses (emails and websites), notes and activities transfer to the combined record. Contact photos and broadcast email history do not. Afterward, look for two entries of the same phone, address or email type, because those can cause duplicate lines in exports and mail merges.

How long does a Redtail combine take?

Redtail's duplicate names report sends an email notification when the combine process is complete, which suggests it can run in the background rather than instantly. The article we read gives no timing. For a large batch, run a small test first and wait for the email before you start more.

Why do my Redtail exports still show duplicates after combining?

Often there was never a second record. Two entries of the same phone, address or email type on one contact each produce a row in exports and mail merges. Open the contact and change the type on one entry. Redtail also suggests checking the combined record for same-type entries, since combining carries every entry over.

Can I find duplicate contacts in Redtail without the report?

Yes. Use Advanced Search or Contacts A-Z, look for the same name or email, select the records and run Combine Contacts from the bulk actions menu. The report is the quickest route only for exact first-and-last-name matches. Duplicates with misspelled names or different formats will not appear on it.

What should I do before combining contacts in Redtail?

Decide which record is primary, note the Contact Status of each because the combine box shows it and you may need to change a status first, and save anything that will not transfer such as photos. Export the affected contacts so you have a copy, and combine a small test pair before a large batch.

Does Redtail have an automatic duplicate checker?

The pages we read describe a Contacts by Duplicate Names report and a Combine action, and do not describe an automatic merge. We could not confirm any automatic matching on email or phone, so treat duplicate checks as a manual task and schedule a regular review.

By Alpit Patel and the aibrevo team · October 22, 2026 · 5 min read

How Do You Merge Duplicate Contacts in Redtail CRM?

Q: Can you undo a Redtail combine?

Partly. Redtail's article says both original records are deleted when the combine happens and a new record is created, and both originals sit in your Recycle Bin, where you can restore one or both if you spot a mistake. Check the new record and the Recycle Bin straight away, before cleanup jobs or staff changes.

Q: Does the order of records matter when combining in Redtail?

Yes. Redtail has no way to reorder the combine list, so with three or more records you should combine the Primary Contact with the next most important record first, then continue down the list. The first record in the merge list is treated as the next most important one, so build the sequence deliberately.

Quick answer

In Redtail CRM, select the duplicate contacts, open Contact Options > Bulk Actions, click Combine Contacts, choose the Primary Contact and click Combine. The Contacts by Duplicate Names report offers a quicker route. Photos and broadcast email history do not carry over, and both originals go to the Recycle Bin.

Updated October 22, 2026 · Reviewed by Alpit Patel, Founder and CEO

Key takeaways

Redtail calls merging Combine. Select the duplicates in Advanced Search, Contacts A-Z or Favorites, open Contact Options > Bulk Actions > Combine Contacts, pick the Primary Contact and click Combine (Redtail support article, read through search results, checked Oct 22, 2026).
The Contacts by Duplicate Names report finds pairs by first and last name only, and its Combine button works the same way. Redtail emails you when the process finishes.
Phone numbers, addresses, internet addresses, notes and activities carry over. Contact photos and broadcast email history do not, so save anything you need before you combine.
You cannot reorder a combine, so with three or more records, combine the primary with the next most important one first.
Both original records are deleted during a combine and a new record is created, and both stay in the Recycle Bin so you can restore one or both if the result is wrong.

Redtail merges duplicates with a feature called Combine. Select the duplicate contacts, open Contact Options > Bulk Actions, click Combine Contacts, choose the Primary Contact and click Combine. The other records move into the primary and are marked for deletion, and both originals are kept in the Recycle Bin.

A note on sources: Redtail’s support site (support.redtailtechnology.com) renders only in a browser, so our fetch tools could not load the article text. The steps and rules below are the article text as returned by search for “How do I combine records?”, “Contacts by Duplicate Names Report” and “Troubleshooting Duplicate Contact Records in Exports, Reports or Mail Merges”. Check them against your own Redtail screen. Checked October 22, 2026.

How do you combine contacts in Redtail with Advanced Search?

Use this route when you already know which records are duplicates. It follows Redtail’s combine records article.

Bring up the duplicate records in Advanced Search, Contacts A-Z or Favorites.
Tick the checkboxes beside the names.
Open Contact Options and choose Bulk Actions.
Click Combine Contacts.
In the dropdown, choose the Primary Contact, which is the record you keep. Each record’s Contact Status and some identifying data are shown so you can choose, and you may need to change a status on the others first.
Click Combine. The other records in the box are merged into the primary and marked for deletion.

How do you find duplicates with the Contacts by Duplicate Names report?

This is the quicker route. Redtail’s report article says it matches on first and last names only.

Run the Contacts by Duplicate Names report.
Select the contacts you want to combine.
Click Combine. A box asks you to choose the Primary Contact, and the choices come only from the contacts you selected.
Wait for the email Redtail sends when the process is complete.

Because the match is name-only, the report will list two different people who share a name, and it will miss the same person entered with a different spelling or a nickname. Read each pair before you combine. If you also need clean spreadsheet data, the CRM import file checker finds bad emails and repeated rows in a file before you load it.

What transfers when you combine Redtail contacts?

Most contact data transfers, and two things do not.

Item	Carries over?
Phone numbers	Yes
Addresses	Yes
Internet addresses (emails, websites)	Yes
Notes	Yes
Activities	Yes
Contact photos	No
Broadcast email history	No
Everything already on the Primary Contact’s record	Kept

Source: Redtail Support, “How do I combine records?” (read through search results), checked Oct 22, 2026.

After combining, check the record for two entries of the same phone, address or email type, since carrying everything over can leave them side by side. Redtail says same-type entries are a known cause of duplicate lines in exports and mail merges.

Does the order of records matter when you combine in Redtail?

Yes, for three or more records. Redtail has no way to reorder the combine list, so the article’s advice is to combine the Primary Contact with the next most important record first, then continue down the list. The first record in the merge list is the next most important one. Plan the sequence before you click Combine.

Can you undo a Redtail combine?

The Recycle Bin is the undo. The article says both original records are deleted during the combine and a new contact record is created, and both originals are in the Recycle Bin so you can restore one or both if necessary. It does not say how long records stay in the Recycle Bin, so check your combined records on the same day.

What are the common problems after a Redtail combine?

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Duplicate lines in an export or mail merge	Two entries of the same phone, address or email type on one contact	Change the type on one entry
The wrong record was kept	The wrong Primary Contact was chosen	Restore from the Recycle Bin and combine again
Photo or broadcast email history is missing	Neither carries over in a combine	Re-add the photo; broadcast history stays only on the deleted originals in the Recycle Bin
Combine box will not proceed	A record’s Contact Status may need to change first	Change the status on the non-primary records, then retry
A name match that was two real people	The Duplicate Names report matches on first and last name only	Do not combine; leave both records
Report shows no match for an obvious duplicate	Name spelled differently	Find it in Advanced Search and combine from Bulk Actions

Source: Redtail Support articles on combining records, the Duplicate Names report and duplicate records in exports, read through search results, checked Oct 22, 2026. The fixes are our reading of those articles.

How do other CRMs handle this?

HubSpot lists suspected duplicates with a similarity score and has its own merge limits, which our page on finding and merging duplicate contacts in HubSpot explains. Redtail gives no merge limit in the article text we read. If you are planning a move, CRM data cleaning before migration covers cleanup order, and our page on exporting contacts from Redtail covers getting the data out first.

When to get help

A dozen duplicates is an afternoon with Combine. Get help when the database holds thousands of duplicate pairs, when you want to clean it before moving to another CRM, or when audit and retention rules mean you cannot afford to lose notes or history. aibrevo implements Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, monday.com, Airtable and GoHighLevel, and quotes Redtail work per project. Cleanup and migration into one of those eight is the common request. You can book a short call or send a message, and the HubSpot service page shows how data cleanup is handled. For firms weighing platforms, GoHighLevel for financial advisors sets out the trade-offs, and Wealthbox Pro vs Premier covers a direct alternative.

Sources

Redtail Support, How do I combine records?, text read through search results because the page needs a browser, checked Oct 22, 2026.
Redtail Support, Contacts by Duplicate Names Report, text read through search results, checked Oct 22, 2026.
Redtail Support, Troubleshooting Duplicate Contact Records in Exports, Reports or Mail Merges, text read through search results, checked Oct 22, 2026.

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