> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://alguna.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Duplicate Customers > Find, review and merge duplicate customer records: automatic detection on create and import, the review queue, and what a merge moves to the customer you keep A **duplicate** is a second customer record for a buyer you already bill. Duplicates appear when the same company is created by hand and again by a CRM sync, a payment processor import or a signup flow. They split subscriptions, invoices, payments and usage across two records, so reports and collections see two half-customers instead of one. Alguna flags likely duplicates as customers are created or imported, collects them in a review queue, and merges a pair or a group into the one customer you choose to keep. Merging is a dashboard action; there is no public API for it. For how customers relate to subscriptions, invoices and payments, see [How Alguna Works](https://alguna.com/docs/concepts/how-alguna-works.md) and [Manage Customers](https://alguna.com/docs/customers/customer-management.md). *** ## How duplicates are found Alguna compares customers on four signals: | Signal | Shown as | Matches when | | - | - | - | | Email | **Same email** | A contact email is the same on both customers | | Domain | **Same domain** | Both customers have the same website domain | | Name | **Similar name** | The customer names are close, for example "Acme Inc" and "Acme Corporation" | | Alias | **Matching alias** | An external ID or connected-account ID is the same on both customers | Each candidate pair gets a confidence level from the signals behind it: **Strong match**, **Likely match** or **Possible match**. Hover the confidence pill in the queue to see which signals matched. Candidates come from three places. The queue's **Found** column shows which one: | Found | Where the pair came from | | - | - | | **On create** | A newly created customer matched an existing one | | **On import** | An import created a customer although a strong match already existed | | **Manually** | Someone marked the customers as duplicates | Detection only flags pairs. It never merges, edits or hides a customer on its own. ### While creating a customer The **New Customer** dialog checks the name, website and contact emails as you type. When an existing customer looks like the same buyer, the dialog shows **This customer might already exist** with up to three matches, the reasons for each match, and a **View customer** link. You can still create the new customer. ### During an integration import When you import customers from a connected integration under **Customers**, each record is matched against your existing customers before anything is created. For each row you choose **Create new** or link it to an existing customer. A strong match is preselected as the link; weaker matches are shown as a suggestion and the row defaults to **Create new**. If you create a new customer for a row that had a strong match, the pair goes to the review queue as **On import**. ### Marking duplicates yourself * From a customer, open the actions menu and choose **Mark as Duplicates**. Search for the customers that duplicate this one, select them and choose **Continue**. Alguna opens the merge review; nothing changes until you confirm. * From the **Customers** list, select exactly two customers and choose **Mark as duplicates** in the action bar. *** ## Review the queue When there are open candidates, the **Customers** list shows a **possible duplicates** link next to its tabs. Choose **Review** to open the **Possible duplicates** queue. It shows the open and dismissed counts. Pairs that share a customer are grouped, so three records of the same buyer appear as one group with an option to merge the whole group into one customer. From the queue you can: * **Review** a pair to compare the two customers side by side. * Dismiss a pair with **Not a duplicate**. Dismissed pairs move to a collapsed section under the queue and can still be opened. * Merge a group of overlapping customers into one. Reviewing, dismissing and merging require permission to manage customers. *** ## Merge customers The merge review shows the customers side by side. Choose which customer to keep as the primary, and for each field where the values differ, choose which value the kept customer ends up with. Fields you can choose include the name, website, billing address, currency, tax rate, sales owner, CSM, payment terms, Autopay and timezone. Contacts from both customers end up on the kept customer. Before you confirm, the review lists the records that will move to the kept customer, with a count per record type. These include subscriptions and billing schedules, invoices, payments and payment methods, connected accounts, emails, tags, timeline activity and child customers. When you confirm: * Every listed record moves to the kept customer. * The kept customer takes on the other customer's external IDs (aliases), so lookups and usage sent with those IDs resolve to it. * The other customer is retired, not deleted, and no longer appears in the customer list. * The kept customer's timeline records the merge. A merge cannot be undone. ### When a merge is blocked Some state cannot move between customers. The review names each blocker, and the merge stays unavailable until it is resolved: | Blocker | Why | | - | - | | **Legal entity** | The customers are billed by different legal entities. Their invoices, payments and revenue belong to different books | | **Credit balances** or **Credit grants** | The customer being retired holds credits | | **Wallet balances** | The customer being retired has a wallet balance | | **Payment schedules** | The customer being retired has a payment schedule | When both customers link to the same integration, you choose which customer's link the kept customer keeps. *** ## Next steps > [card] [Manage Customers](https://alguna.com/docs/customers/customer-management.md) > > Create and edit customer records. > [card] [Sync Accounts](https://alguna.com/docs/migrations/sync-accounts.md) > > Import customers from a CRM or payment processor. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.