---
schema_version: "1"
id: 1dd3bd38fa0bf4e273c8d45c6d8a7dc599b17414f49740d4c0d83e8b28262ca8
title: Stop Users from Creating Duplicate Records
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sales/264-0-0/duplicate_prevention.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.duplicate_prevention.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 90c18522acee6a192ecc0c4f72ac10d91e6386ca4b4e84771ce7bd40ab05a03d
description: When sales reps are in the process of creating or editing a record, alert them that the data they’re entering duplicates an existing record. Or block sales reps from creating duplicate records altogether, whether or not they have access to the existing record. Activate duplicate rules and customize the settings.
products:
  - Sales
  - Sales Enablement
release: "264"
---
# Stop Users from Creating Duplicate Records

When sales reps are in the process of creating or editing a record, alert them that the data they’re entering duplicates an existing record. Or block sales reps from creating duplicate records altogether, whether or not they have access to the existing record. Activate duplicate rules and customize the settings.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Essentials</strong>, <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d7345e79">User
              Permissions Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d7345e79 ">To view duplicate rules and matching rules:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d7345e79 ">View Setup and Configuration</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d7345e79 ">To create, edit, delete, activate, and deactivate duplicate rules
              and matching rules:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d7345e79 ">Customize Application</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

Standard duplicate rules are activated by default for business accounts, contacts, and leads. If your org was created before Summer ’17, the rules came activated for you. To use duplicate rules for person accounts, first enable person accounts, and then activate person account matching and duplicate rules in Setup.

Here are three ways to use a duplicate rule to handle duplicates, using leads as an example.

- Alert sales reps when they’re about to create a duplicate lead.
    
    In Setup, use the Quick Find box to find **Duplicate Rules**. Make sure that the Standard Lead Duplicate Rule is set to display the alert.
    
    ![Duplicate rule options set to allow duplicates but alert users when they're about to create a duplicate](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_rule_actions.png)
    
    With the Standard Lead Duplicate Rule activated, suppose that a sales rep starts creating a lead. The rep enters a phone number that matches the phone number of a lead already in Salesforce. The rule detects the duplicate and alerts the rep. The rep can choose to save the lead, because the rule is set to show an alert but not block duplicates. Or the rep can click **View Duplicates** to see existing records instead.
    
    ![Duplicate warning that says: The record you're about to create looks like a duplicate, with a link: View Duplicates](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_alert.png)
    
    In this example, the lead the rep started to create is a duplicate of two other leads and a contact. Lightning Experience displays up to 15 duplicate records.
    
    ![View Duplicates window showing records that a duplicate rule has matched to data entered by a sales rep](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_view_duplicates_objects.png)
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note In Salesforce Classic, when users create accounts using a quick action, they can’t view duplicate records or save the new record if it’s a duplicate. This condition applies even if you’ve set Action on Create to **Allow**.
- Block sales reps from creating duplicate leads.
    
    In the Standard Lead Duplicate Rule, select **Block** instead of **Allow**.
    
    ![Duplicate rule options set to block users from creating duplicates](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_block.png)
    
    With the Standard Lead Duplicate Rule set to block duplicates, a rep can click to view duplicates of leads but can’t save a new lead.
    
    ![Duplicate warning that says: This record looks like a duplicate, with a link: View Duplicates](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_alert_block.png)
- Prevent reps from creating duplicates of records they don’t have permission to view.
    
    In the duplicate rule, change **Enforce sharing rules** to **Bypass sharing rules**.
    
    ![Record-level security on a duplicate rule set to bypass sharing rules](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-data_quality-264-0-0-production-enus/abf88105-66d5-422e-983e-0592556338d7/data_quality/images/duplicate_management_rule_details_bypass.png)
    
    When the duplicate rule is set to bypass sharing rules, it operates on all potential duplicates regardless of ownership. Suppose that a rep starts creating a record that duplicates a record the rep doesn’t have access to. Salesforce alerts the rep and allows or blocks the duplicate according to your Action on Create setting. But Salesforce doesn’t display the record the rep doesn’t have access to.

#### See Also

- [Show Duplicate Records in Lightning Experience](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.duplicates_existing_setup.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "If a record duplicates other records, you can alert sales reps when they open the record in Lightning Experience. Activate duplicate rules and add alerts to page layouts.")
- [Enable Person Accounts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.account_person_enable.htm&type=5&language=en_US)