How to Use Alternate Keys in Microsoft Dataverse

Dynamics 365 and Dataverse come with several out-of-the-box tools to help manage duplicate data. You can set up duplicate detection rules, which prompt users with a pop-up message letting them know this may be a duplicate record. You can run duplicate detection jobs that comb through your existing data and identify those that may be duplicated, allowing you to manually merge them two at a time. And there are some great tools inside of the XrmToolBox that can help (like the Deduplicator).

But sometimes, there is a requirement to restrict the ability for users to add a line of data defined as a duplicate. In those cases, it’s time to add an alternate key.