How do I match users' accounts between my source and target CRMs?

Updated on June 26th, 2025

After completing the Fields Mapping step during your data migration, the next stage is Match Records. Among the various objects optionally listed, Users will definitely appear:

In the right-hand panel, user accounts from your target CRM may be prefilled with an existing account (by name or email), or marked with a status such as "Not Matched" or "Create New."

Why is User Matching Important?

Matching users ensures that record ownership is preserved in your new CRM. When you associate users from the source system with corresponding users in the target system, you define how records like Contacts, Activities, and Deals will be assigned.

If a source user remains unmatched, those records will still migrate, but without links to the original Creator or Owner. This means the historical context will be lost, and unassigned records can easily be overlooked by your team.

To avoid this, we strongly recommend matching each source user to a valid user account in your target CRM. This helps maintain accurate ownership and ensures a smoother transition for your team.

What If User Accounts in the Source CRM Don’t Match Those in the Target CRM?

This is a very common scenario in data migration projects, and there are several best practices for handling it effectively.

1. Let’s take an example: you see a user account for a sales manager named John in the left pane, but he’s no longer with your company. It’s not necessary to match the source user with an account using the same email address in the target CRM. Instead, you can select any valid active account from the list on the right by clicking the placeholder in that row.
   
   
   
   A selected target user will be the new owner of John's records.
   
   
2. Assign to a Generic Account: If you're unsure who should take ownership of records previously assigned to former employees, you may create a generic user in your target CRM, such as ex-employees@acme.com, and map all unmatched legacy users to it. The wizard's bulk matching feature can help speed up this process.
3. Preserve Historical Ownership: If it's important to retain the historical information about record creators or owners, even if those users won't be active in the new CRM, you can re-create the original accounts in the target system and match them one-to-one.

However, consider the limitations of your target CRM:

• • • Will adding new users increase your subscription cost?

    • Does the system require email verification for new users, and are those emails still active?

If you're migrating to HubSpot, you can create free view-only users without needing to verify their email addresses. This is a great way to preserve historical associations without incurring additional costs.

Creating New User Accounts in the MigrateMyCRM Interface

You can create new user accounts in your target CRM directly through the MigrateMyCRM migration wizard, provided the following conditions are met:

1. Your target CRM supports user account creation via API (e.g., HubSpot).

2. You enable the "Migration" toggle for Users at Step 2: Select Objects.

If both conditions are met, the "Create New" checkboxes will be available at the user matching step.

Note: Even if the "Create New" option is selected, a new user account will not be created if the source user lacks an associated email address and the target CRM requires one.

Alternative Option:
You can manually create a new user account directly in your target CRM, then refresh the matching page in the wizard to include the newly added account in the selection list.

Still need help?

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