Check whether it is the same contact
Use the matched fields and See Contact to compare the existing record with the incoming row. A similar name alone is not enough to identify the same contact.
Choose Create as a new contact for a different person or organisation, or Ignore this row if it should be left out. After importing, inspect representative contacts and any skipped or failed rows.
Choose Soft Merge or Hard Merge deliberately
Start in: Review row → Merge mode / Field-by-Field Merge Preview
Hard Merge can permanently remove notes and clear empty or unmapped fields. Committed merges have no Undo. Back up first and check the Result column.
- Select the existing contact you intend to merge into.
- Compare Field, Existing, Imported and Result in the field-by-field preview.
- Choose Soft Merge to apply non-empty imported values while retaining fields that the CSV leaves blank or unmapped.
- Choose Hard Merge only to replace importable details and clear blank or unmapped fields, including notes.
- Check the preview and warnings again before continuing to Confirm.
Result: The import plan records the chosen merge behaviour for that row.
- An empty imported Email keeps the existing email under Soft Merge and clears it under Hard Merge.
- Hard Merge replaces existing notes with mapped note text, or removes them when Notes is blank or unmapped.
- Ignore skips the row. Reset Action returns it to review. Review rules can be undone before import; committed changes have no Undo.
- The preview is a plan. Contact changes are committed when the confirmed import runs.
Resolve a repeated import issue in bulk
Start in: Review & Resolve → Resolve issues in bulk
Bulk choices affect the entire issue group. A sample preview does not review every contact. Hard Merge can permanently clear existing fields and notes; back up first.
- Select Resolve issues in bulk and choose the repeated issue group.
- Inspect its affected issue count, matched fields and preview rows.
- Choose the available replacement, ignore or merge action appropriate to that group.
- Read any permanent-data-loss warning before applying a bulk Hard Merge.
- Wait for the operation to finish, then check resolved counts and any dates or rows still requiring individual review.
Result: A shared resolution rule applies to the matching issue group.
- Bulk resolution is optional; individual review remains available after closing the window.
- The modal is locked while a bulk operation runs. A sample preview does not mean every affected contact was individually reviewed.