What this tool does
The Duplicate Finder scans your Airtable table for records that have the same (or similar) values in fields you specify. It can flag duplicates for review, delete them automatically, or merge their data into a single record.Settings reference
Source
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Source table | The table to scan for duplicates. |
Match fields
Define which fields determine whether two records are duplicates. You can add multiple match fields. A record pair is a duplicate only if all match fields satisfy their respective match type. Each match field has:| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Field | The field to compare between records. |
| Match type | How to compare values: Exact, Case Insensitive, Normalized, or Fuzzy. |
| Fuzzy threshold | Minimum similarity score (0.0–1.0) for fuzzy matching. Default: 0.8. Only shown when match type is Fuzzy. |
Match types explained
| Match type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Exact | Values must be identical, including case and whitespace. |
| Case insensitive | Values are lowercased before comparing. “John” matches “john”. |
| Normalized | Values are trimmed, lowercased, and whitespace-collapsed before comparing. |
| Fuzzy | Values are compared using Jaro-Winkler similarity. Useful for catching typos and slight variations. |
Action
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Action | What to do when duplicates are found: Flag duplicates, Delete duplicates, or Merge into primary. |
| Flag field | Field to write the flag value to (for Flag action). |
| Flag value | Value to write (default: “DUPLICATE”). |
| Keep record | Which record to keep when deleting or merging: Newest, Oldest, or Most complete. |
Actions explained
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Flag duplicates | Writes the flag value to a field on every record in each duplicate group. The records are not deleted. |
| Delete duplicates | Keeps the primary record (based on Keep record setting) and deletes all others in the group. |
| Merge into primary | Fills empty fields in the primary record with values from duplicates, then deletes the duplicates. |
Keep record strategies
| Strategy | Which record is kept |
|---|---|
| Newest | Record with the most recent created time |
| Oldest | Record with the earliest created time |
| Most complete | Record with the fewest empty fields |
Preview
The Duplicate Finder has a preview panel. Run a preview to see which records would be identified as duplicates before committing to the action. Review the proposed groups and confirm before running.Common questions
What if two records have both empty values in a match field?
What if two records have both empty values in a match field?
Two empty values are not considered a match. This prevents false duplicates when many records have a blank field.
Can I use multiple match fields?
Can I use multiple match fields?
Yes. All match fields must match for two records to be considered duplicates. This creates stricter matching, which is useful when a single field alone isn’t unique enough.
Can I undo the Delete or Merge actions?
Can I undo the Delete or Merge actions?
No. Deleting or merging records in Airtable is permanent. Use the Flag action first to review duplicates, and only switch to Delete or Merge after confirming the results.