NOTE: Some of this functionality will be widely available on August 5th, 2026.
Duplicate candidate profiles can occur when a candidate applies using different email addresses or registers through multiple workflows. Flo provides two ways to manage these records:
Merge Duplicate Profiles when you already know two profiles belong to the same person.
Potential Duplicate Detection to proactively identify possible duplicate candidates before they create confusion.
Merge Candidate Profiles
If you know a candidate has multiple profiles, you can merge them into a single candidate record.
Why Merge Candidates?
Merging duplicate profiles helps maintain a complete recruiting history while eliminating duplicate records. Information from both profiles is consolidated into a single primary candidate profile.
Merge Candidates Manually
Navigate to Candidates.
Search for and select the duplicate candidate profiles using the checkbox.
Open the Actions menu.
Select Merge Duplicates.
Choose which profile should remain as the Primary Candidate, then click Merge Records.
Note: If one of the candidate profiles was submitted by an agency, Flo will display a notification before the merge. You can still choose which profile should remain as the primary record.
What Happens During a Merge?
When two candidate profiles are merged, Flo combines information from both records while preserving the selected primary profile.
Data | Merge Behavior |
Jobs | All job applications are retained. |
Events | All event registrations are retained. |
Interviews | All interview records are retained. |
Documents | If multiple job applications exist and the documents are different, each version will be retained. The most recent version of the document type will be displayed on the left-hand side of the profile. |
Qualifying Questions | Responses are combined. If answers differ, the most recent response is kept. |
Internal Fields | Populated values are combined. If both records contain different values for the profile, the most recent value is retained. If both records contain different values in different job applications, both values are retained. |
Self-ID Responses | Responses are combined. If answers differ, the most recent response is retained. If both records contain different values in different job applications, both values are retained. |
Note: After clicking Merge Records, it may take a few seconds for the page to refresh while the duplicate record is removed.
Merging Duplicate Applications Within the Same Job (ATS)
If both candidate profiles have applied to the same job, you'll complete the merge from the Candidates page or the Job Page.
During the merge process, Flo displays the application details for each record, including:
Source
Application status
Application date
After selecting the primary candidate profile, you'll be shown a pop-up detailing the job applications and statuses. You may alter the statuses from this page as well:
This allows you to preserve the preferred candidate profile while keeping the correct application status for the remaining applications. If you prefer to keep one application, you may delete this from the job page itself.
Potential Duplicate Detection
Flo can also identify potential duplicate candidates automatically. Rather than waiting for duplicate records to become a problem, Flo compares candidate information and alerts you whenever it detects profiles that may belong to the same person.
Where Duplicate Alerts Appear
Potential duplicate notifications may appear from:
Jobs
Candidates
While adding a new candidate
When a potential duplicate is detected, a yellow notification banner appears. Click Manage Duplicates to open the list of potential matches.
From there, click the down caret beside a candidate's name to review the potential duplicate.
How Duplicate Detection Works
Flo compares multiple pieces of candidate information to identify potential duplicate records. A duplicate may be flagged when the following combinations match:
Name + Address
Name + Education
Name + Address + Education
Name + Phone Number
Name + LinkedIn Profile
Name + Candidate ID
Name + Phone Number + Address or Education
Name + Phone Number + LinkedIn Profile
Name + Phone Number + Candidate ID
Name + LinkedIn Profile + Candidate ID
Name + (LinkedIn Profile or Candidate ID) + (Address or Education)
Note: A matching name by itself will never trigger a potential duplicate. Flo requires additional identifying information before flagging candidate profiles for review.
Because duplicate detection is based on multiple matching criteria, every potential duplicate should be reviewed before merging.
Reviewing a Potential Duplicate
The duplicate comparison screen allows you to review both candidate profiles side-by-side before deciding how to proceed.
After reviewing the records, you can:
Merge the records into a single candidate profile.
Dismiss the notification if the records belong to different people.
If you choose Merge:
Review both profiles.
Select the Primary Candidate.
Click Merge Records.
The selected primary profile remains while information from the duplicate profile is consolidated into it.
If Flo identifies a cluster of three or more potential duplicate candidates and you determine that one of the profiles is not a match, click the X next to that candidate to remove it from the group.
After removing any unrelated profiles, you can either Merge the remaining duplicate records or Dismiss the notification if you determine that none of the candidates are duplicates. Choosing Dismiss leaves all candidate profiles unchanged.
Agency Candidate Notification
If one of the candidate profiles was submitted by an agency, Flo displays a notification before the merge is completed.
This reminder helps ensure agency-submitted candidates receive additional review before records are combined. You can still choose which profile should remain as the primary candidate.
Duplicate Detection When Adding a Candidate
Flo also checks for potential duplicates while creating new candidate profiles.
If the information entered matches an existing candidate, you'll receive a notification before the record is created.
Click View Existing Profiles to review the existing candidate and determine whether a new profile is necessary.
Best Practices
Before merging candidate profiles, we recommend:
Reviewing names, email addresses, phone numbers, education history, and other identifying details.
Confirming the records belong to the same individual before merging.
Selecting the profile with the most complete or accurate information as the primary candidate.
Paying special attention to agency-submitted candidates before completing a merge.
Using Dismiss instead of Merge if you've confirmed the records belong to different individuals.
This workflow helps maintain clean candidate data while preserving recruiting history and preventing duplicate records throughout the hiring process.