Checking for Duplicates

Stage 4 of the Import Wizard is where you can control how Workbooks compares your source data with the records already on your database to see if there’s a match and thus reduce the likelihood of creating duplicate records.  You are also given a choice of Import Mode:

• Only create new records
  This is the default setting and will simply create new records (subject to the duplicate checking controls that you apply).

• Update existing records and create new ones
  This setting will use the values in your source data to update the fields on your existing records, providing that a matching record can be found.  If no matching record can be found, the import will create a new one.

• Only update existing records
  This option will use the values in your source data to update the fields on your existing records, providing that a matching record can be found.  If a matching record cannot be found a new one will not be created.

Tick the checkboxes provided to specify the combination of fields you want to use to uniquely identify an existing record.  The options provided will depend on the type of record you’re importing and will include any custom fields you’ve created (as long as you have mapped some source data against them).  The ones shown in this screenshot below are for an import of People records.

The more options you tick, the more rigorous the duplicate checking will be.  The Import Mode you apply will govern what happens when a match is or is not found.