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Find duplicate contacts by email in Zoho CRM

The Zoho CRM AI Assistant finds contacts that share an email address and shows each group side by side with a suggestion of which to keep. Once you approve, it copies missing values to the kept contact, moves its deals, and deletes the extras.

Add to Chrome

Zoho CRM AI Assistant is a Chrome extension that opens beside Zoho CRM. Tell it what you want to do in plain language, and it works with your CRM for you. Try Plus free for 14 days, then stay on Free forever.

the problem

The same person is in Contacts twice, with different deals

A contact came in from a form, then again from an import, and a rep added them a third time by hand. Each copy has its own owner and some of the deals, so nobody sees the full history and campaigns reach the same person twice. Sorting by email shows them, but deciding which to keep takes opening every record.

the solution

Group the duplicates, pick the keeper, approve

Describe what to compare. For example:

Find contacts that share an email. For each group show the owner, account, created date and related deals and activities, and suggest which one to keep.

It scans up to 2,000 contacts at a time, comparing emails while ignoring case and spaces at the start or end. For each group it shows the owner, account, created date and the number of deals, calls, meetings and tasks on each copy, and proposes a keeper, usually the one with the most history. Groups where the choice is not clear are marked for you to decide.

For the groups you approve, it:

  1. Copies values the kept contact is missing, such as a phone or a title, from the extra copies. It does not overwrite a value the kept contact already has unless you say so.
  2. Moves deals from the extra copies to the kept contact, and moves campaign memberships where Zoho allows the link.
  3. Moves the extra contacts to the recycle bin. Deleting asks for a final confirmation.

Notes and attachments on an extra contact are not moved. They stay with the deleted record unless you move them first. The assistant can copy a note’s text onto the kept contact if you ask.

  • Reads contacts, and the deals, campaigns, calls, meetings and tasks linked to each candidate.
  • Writes field values, deal links, campaign memberships and deletes, only after you approve.
  • It is not Zoho’s merge: it does not combine record history, emails or attachments.
Try it on your contacts More use cases

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pricing

Start with 14 days of Plus. Stay on Free after that.

Start free without a card. Choose a paid plan to continue to checkout, with the same CRM actions and safety controls.

Plus

For reps who use the assistant every day.

5x the Free usage

$23/ month
Try Plus

14-day free trial, then billed monthly

  • 5x the Free usage
  • All supported CRM actions
  • Approval controls
  • Includes the MCP connector

Pro

For heavy daily CRM work.

25x the Free usage

$94/ month
Get Pro

Billed at signup, then monthly

  • 25x the Free usage
  • 5x the usage of Plus
  • All supported CRM actions
  • Approval controls
  • Includes the MCP connector

Max

For the heaviest CRM workloads.

125x the Free usage

$500/ month
Get Max

Billed at signup, then monthly

  • 125x the Free usage
  • 5x the usage of Pro
  • All supported CRM actions
  • Approval controls
  • Includes the MCP connector

Free

Limited weekly usage, with the same supported CRM actions and approval controls. It is where your account settles after the 14-day Plus trial.

No card, and permanent

$0Start free

By hand

Without the assistant

Not ready to install? Here is how to do the same thing in Zoho CRM yourself, step by step.

See the steps

Need more than Max? Contact sales

use cases

Explore use cases

without the assistant

How to do it by hand in Zoho CRM

You can do this in Zoho CRM yourself. Here are the steps.

  1. Open the Contacts module and use Zoho CRM’s Deduplicate option.
  2. Choose Email as the field to match on.
  3. Review each group Zoho finds and pick the master record.
  4. Choose which values to keep from each copy and merge.

Zoho’s merge keeps related records together, which the assistant does not do. It gets slow when there are many groups, because each one is reviewed and merged on its own.

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faq

Frequently Asked Questions

Will it change my contacts?

Only the groups you approve. On the kept contact it fills fields that are empty, and changes values that are already there only if you ask. It moves deals and campaign memberships to the kept contact, then moves the extra contacts to the recycle bin after a final confirmation. Contacts in groups you do not approve are not touched.

Is this the same as merging in Zoho CRM?

No. Zoho’s merge combines two records, related history included. The assistant keeps one record, copies values onto it, moves the links it can, and deletes the rest. Notes, attachments and emails on a deleted copy go to the recycle bin with it. For a group with history you need, use Zoho’s merge.

What does it read?

Contacts, and on each candidate its account, owner, created date, linked deals, campaign memberships, calls, meetings and tasks. It reads only the fields it needs to compare and fill.

Can it be wrong?

Yes. A shared email such as an office address puts different people in one group, and one person with two emails is not found. If more contacts are in scope than one scan covers, it says the scan was incomplete. Check each group before you approve, and mark any that are not real duplicates.

Can I undo a delete?

Yes, for 60 days. Deleted contacts sit in the Zoho CRM recycle bin and the assistant can restore them exactly as they were. Values it copied to the kept contact stay there. After 60 days the deleted copies are gone for good.

Will it work on my Zoho CRM edition?

It needs a Zoho CRM edition and user profile with API access, and it can only do what your profile is allowed to do. This use case has not been checked edition by edition yet, so write to us if you want to check yours first.

Want to ask something?

Write to the team at hello@zsetup.com.