Same email on two rows with two different names? See which values stay before you upload your contact list.

Why a contact list has repeats before it reaches Keap

• Several sources: a webinar list, a trade-show list and an old CRM export each hold their own copy of the same contact.
• Small differences hide repeats: the same address typed with capitals, or with a stray space at the start or end.
• Two names on one email: a shared inbox or a typo puts two different names, titles or tags on the same address, and only one value can stay.
• Keap’s help says the imported values overwrite the existing values for the fields in your file, so it pays to know which value your file carries.

What Keap already does

Keap’s help pages describe its own options, and they come with your account. Check them first (How to Import Contacts into Your Keap CRM; Identify and Merge Duplicate Contacts):

• At import, Keap says: “Duplicate contacts are checked automatically based on email address. A contact with the same email address as an existing contact will not be imported twice.”
• It also says “the imported values will overwrite the existing values for the fields included in the file”, except email status.
• For duplicates already inside Keap, Data cleanup has a duplicate check plus a manual merge (where “The center displays what the contact record will contain after the merge”) and an automatic merge.

We help with the step before the upload: your CSV merged by email outside Keap, with a change log of every merge and every value set aside, so you know which name, title, phone or tag your file carries before the importer runs.

Why read the file first

Keap’s help says of its automatic merge: “When you automatically merge duplicates, you do not have a chance to review them prior to merging”, and you are asked to acknowledge that the step is irreversible. It also notes the merge function “does not merge Appointments or Deals”. A cleaned file plus a change log lets you see every merge and every kept value before anything is uploaded.

What we don’t do

• Nothing inside Keap: we don’t log in, and we don’t touch contacts, tags, deals, appointments or automations. For duplicates already in Keap, use Keap’s own Data cleanup.
• We can’t see which contacts are already in your Keap account, so matching against existing contacts is still Keap’s email check at upload.
• Rows are merged only when they share the same email. Rows with the same name and company but a different email are noted, never merged.
• Tags are not combined. When merged rows have different tags, the first row’s tags are kept and the other row’s tags are listed in the change log.
• Columns are not matched to Keap fields. Name, email, phone, company and title come back under plain names (full_name, first_name, last_name, email, phone, company, title) and your other columns follow at the end; you match them to Keap fields in the importer.
• Who you may contact is your call, and Keap’s own list rules still apply. A cleaned file is not permission to email or call anyone.

What you get back

• One row per email: rows with the same email, ignoring capitals and spaces at the start or end, merged into one; every merge listed in the change log with its row numbers
• Where merged rows differ, the first row’s value is kept and the other value (a second name, title, phone or tag) is listed in the change log; a blank cell in the kept row is filled from the duplicate, and that is logged too
• Possible duplicates noted, never merged: rows with the same full name and company (ignoring Inc, LLC and similar) but a different email get a “possible duplicate” note in qa_notes and are marked for review
• Invalid or missing emails kept and marked for review with the reason in qa_notes, so you decide what to upload
• Your other columns (tags, source, notes and so on) kept at the end, values unchanged apart from extra spaces

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