User Help > Tracking Changes With Windchill RV&S Items > Finding Duplicate Items > Finding Potential Duplicates When Creating an Item
  
Finding Potential Duplicates When Creating an Item
Once duplicate detection is enabled for an item type, the search runs automatically when you are creating an item and after you edit the defined search field. The search runs in the background so that you can continue creating the item.
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Before completing your entry in the search field, you can also initiate a search for duplicates by clicking the Potential Duplicates link.
If duplicates are found for your entry, you can view the search results by clicking the Potential duplicates found link. Clicking the link opens the Potential Duplicates View, which displays a list of potential duplicate items.
If you find a true duplicate in the list, you can then add your notes to that item, instead of creating a new item. In this way, duplicate detection helps to reduce the number of new duplicate entries added to the Windchill RV&S database.
If duplicate detection is mandatory for the item type you are working with, a message displays if you try to save your new item without first viewing the list.
To search for potential duplicates when creating a new item