"This may already exist" Duplicate Warnings

What you are seeing

When you add a client or a contact, a box titled "This may already exist" can appear, for example: "A client that looks the same already exists: Example Traders Pvt Ltd (same name)." It lists up to five matches and asks "Create another one anyway?" with two buttons: "Create anyway" and "Go back".

What triggers it

• Clients: the same name (ignoring capital letters and extra spaces), or the same GSTIN as an existing client.
• Contacts: the same name and the same email address or phone number (compared on the last 10 digits).
• The check only runs when you create a client or contact. It never blocks edits.

What to do

• "Go back" — the form shows the message and nothing is created. Search for the existing record and use it instead, or fix a typo.
• "Create anyway" — a second record is created. Use this only when they really are different, for example two branches that share a name.
• If you are unsure, go back and check the existing record first. Duplicates are easy to create and slow to clean up.

When you import a file

• On the import dialogs, "Import duplicates anyway" is off by default. Rows that match an existing record (same PAN, GSTIN, name plus email or phone, or client name) are skipped and listed, not merged.
• The results panel shows how many were skipped and lets you download the skipped list to review.
• Leads import also skips duplicates by default (same email, or same name plus phone), with the same "Import duplicates anyway" option.

Clean up existing duplicates

Open CRM → Find duplicates. Switch between contacts and companies, and each group is labelled "Same email", "Same name + phone", "Same domain" or "Same name". Pick the record to keep and click Merge. Links to invoices, deals and other records are re-pointed to the one you keep, and the others are removed.