Smart Duplicate Handling in Multi-Object Imports
Friday, August 28, 2026
What it is
Going forward, import will better handle scenarios where you don't include a unique ID in a single file, multi-object, create and update import.
Why it matters
Imports are a powerful tool for managing data in bulk and also the source of many data quality challenges. By better handling how associations are created in single file, multi-object imports, HubSpot is removing a common way duplicate records are created in the CRM.
The Take
Madelyn Donovan
it was either too much too many spreadsheets to import to HubSpot for HubSpot's brain to handle all at once or it was too much for my brain to handle to figure out how to configure it for HubSpot's brain
Madelyn's first reaction was that her team is going to kill her, because they had figured this exact process out days earlier. The workaround she described is the one every admin eventually builds: import something to get the record IDs, export it back out so you have them, then use those to associate everything across objects.
Chris's point is that the hardest part of a process like that is not building it, it is testing it. You find out an import will not finish only after you are most of the way through it, which is precisely why the workarounds exist. He also flagged this as a sleeper area where the last couple of years of improvement have been surprising, and getting away without unique IDs is another level again. Neither host would guess at the mechanism, because HubSpot only says it will better handle the scenario.
Watch Us Discuss This
The full segment from the show, us working through this update start to finish.
Produced by Value-First Media