How to check for a similar Email address in multiple fields upon entering a new record

Last published at: December 2nd, 2022
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After completing this tutorial you will be able to check if there are any similar values between multiple fields upon entering a new record. 

For example: If record 1 has "support@duplicatecheck.com" as primary email and a user creates a new record 2 with the same "support@duplicatecheck.com" as alternative email, Duplicate Check duplicate prevention will trigger.

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In order to cross-check two or more different fields and their values, you need to create a combined field that contains all these values.

1. Create a Combined Emails formula field

In this step, we are creating the combined email fields and use it later in the duplicate prevention scenario. For this example, we are using the fields Email1 and Email2:

  1. Navigate to Salesforce Setup menu
  2. In the search box type "Object Manager", click on it.
  3. Select the Object to which you want to add the Combined Emails field.
  4. Now, on the left menu, navigate to the "Fields & Relationships" page.
  5. Click the 'New' button.
  6. From the options available on the page, choose 'Formula' and click 'Next'.
  7. Fill the blank fields:
    'Field Label' with 'Combined Emails'
    'Field Name' with 'Combined _ Emails'
     Under 'Formula Return Type' select "Text" and click 'Next'
  8. As a formula, insert the fields (API names), separated by a white space. In our example, those are the “Email1” and “Email2" fields.
    Example of Combined Emails Formula    
    Email1 + " " + Email2
  9. Under 'Blank fields handling' select "Treat blank fields as blanks". Click Next.
  10. Apply the field-level security by your choice and click 'Next'. 
  11. Click 'Save' 

2. Create a scenario with the Combined Field.

  1. Navigate to DC Setup page.
  2. Select the Object you want to do a cross-check comparison in duplicate prevention.
  3. Add the newly created field by clicking on the 'Add new Fields' button. From the drop-down menu that will show, select "Combined Emails".
  4. For 'Matching Method' choose "Email Address".
  5. Set the 'Threshold level' to 100%. If you want fuzzy results set the threshold level at 95%.
  6. Apply the scenario to 'Manual Insert Prevention' and 'Manual Update Prevention'
    Example Scenario
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By adding the formula field to the scenario and choosing the 'Email Address' as the matching method, we are enabling Duplicate Check to do a cross comparison between the email addresses included in the formula field.

3. (Re-)Create the search index

The Search Index is necessary when the new field you are going to cross-check is custom and has never been indexed before by the Duplicate Check Search Index, but even if you already have created a Search Index, please re-create it now.

  1. Go to DC Setup.
  2. On the left hand side, under Object Setup, select the Object you want to create a Search Index for.
  3. On the *Object* Settings tab, make sure the Search Index option is enabled, and the search index is configured in the Advanced Settings > Index. Read more here‍.
  4. Go to the Index Batch tab.
  5. Click the Start button and select Create Search Index.

Click here to watch a short video of how to enable and create the Search Index.

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Now when you completed this article, you will be able to cross-check if there are any similar values between multiple fields upon entering a new record.