---
schema_version: "1"
id: 2b4eb8facd0ee155875d82fce9db2676447e8206519b5645455444b41582570f
title: Normalization Criteria for Match Keys
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version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sales/264-0-0/matching_rules_normalization_for_match_keys.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.matching_rules_normalization_for_match_keys.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 4daac6c72e9e41ecd8d0b5d944a58d9328424fd5ecfb1c15a5563d99824cd789
description: As part of the process of creating match key values, matching rule field values are normalized. How a field value is normalized depends on several factors, including the matching method for that field as specified in the matching rule. In addition, some commonly used fields are normalized to optimize duplicate detection.
products:
  - Sales
  - Sales Enablement
release: "264"
---
# Normalization Criteria for Match Keys

As part of the process of creating match key values, matching rule field values are normalized. How a field value is normalized depends on several factors, including the matching method for that field as specified in the matching rule. In addition, some commonly used fields are normalized to optimize duplicate detection.

### 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>

![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 Fields, including custom fields and fields to which the exact matching method is applied, are normalized by lowercasing all letters and removing leading and trailing spaces.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:10.01001001001001%">
          <col style="width:36.33633633633633%">
          <col style="width:23.823823823823822%">
          <col style="width:29.82982982982983%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d5822e86">Field</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d5822e89">Normalization Details</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d5822e92">Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d5822e95">Examples</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">City</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Lowercases all characters. Removes non-alphabetical and non-numeric characters,
              including white spaces. Retains up to the first six characters.</td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy:
                City</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>San Francisco = sanfra</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Rome = rome</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Company</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Expands abbreviations. Lowercases all characters. Removes suffixes, such as
              Corporation, Incorporated, Inc, Limited, and Ltd. Removes the words and, the, of. Removes
              special characters and accents.</td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy:
                Company</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>IBM = international business machines</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Intel Corp. = intel</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">First Name</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Replaces the first name with an alias, if applicable. Removes salutations, special
              characters, and accents. Keeps only the first letter of the first word, and lowercases this
              letter. </td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy: First
                Name</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>Dr. Jane = j</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Mr. Bob= robert = r</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Last Name</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Removes special characters and suffixes. Replaces consecutive identical consonants
              with a single consonant. Lowercases the first letter. After normalization, the double
              metaphone algorithm is applied so that misspellings and spelling variants are accounted for. </td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy: Last
                Name</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>O’Reilly, Jr. = oreily (without double metaphone)</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">O’Reilly, Jr. = oreily = arl (with
                double metaphone)</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Email</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Removes special characters, such as underscores and periods, from both parts of the
              email address. Retains the @ character.</td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">No. Applies only to standard matching rules.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">john.doe@us.salesforce.com = johndoe@salesforcecom</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Phone</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Removes all non-alphabetical and non-numeric characters. For all U.S. phone numbers,
              converts alphabetical characters to numeric characters, and removes leading international
              code. Removes last four digits. </td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy:
                Phone</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>1-800-555-1234 = 800555</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">44 20 0540 0202 = 44200540</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Street Address</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Removes all punctuation except hyphens. Removes common stop words, such as Avenue and
              Street. Takes the first five characters of the first two tokens.</td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">Yes. But on custom matching rules, the matching method must be <strong class="uicontrol">Fuzzy:
                Street Address</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>123 Ocean View Avenue = 123ocean</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">567 Fifty-fourth St. = 567fifty</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Field" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e86 ">Website</td>

            <td data-label="Normalization Details" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e89 ">Removes the protocol (http), subdomain (www), and file path. Then takes only the last
              two or three tokens, depending on whether there are international designations. Retains the
              periods.</td>

            <td data-label="Applies to Standard and Custom Matching Rules?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e92 ">No. Applies only to standard matching rules.</td>

            <td data-label="Examples" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d5822e95 ">
              <p>http://www.us.salesforce.com/product = salesforce.com</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">http://www.ox.ac.uk/ =
                ox.ac.uk</p>
            </td>

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