Troubleshooting: Duplicate Accounts — Causes, Prevention, and Merging

A duplicate account occurs when a learner has two separate Acorn profiles. This typically results in a split training history and causes confusion for both the learner and administrators.

Common causes of duplicate accounts

• SSO login with a different email — When a user logs in via Single Sign-On (SSO) for the first time using an email address that differs from the one already in Acorn, the system creates a new account rather than matching the existing one.
• HR feed email change — If a user’s email address changes in the HR system and the updated email does not match their existing Acorn account, the HR feed creates a second account for the new email address.
• Self-registration with a different email — A user self-registers using a personal email when their work email already has an account.
• Manual creation after name change — An admin creates a new account for a user after a name change instead of updating the existing one.

How to identify duplicate accounts

1. Go to Admin > User Management > Browse and Update Users and search for the user by name.
2. If two accounts appear (e.g. same name but different emails), this confirms a duplicate.
3. Check training history on each account to determine which is the primary (most complete) account.

How to resolve duplicate accounts

1. Identify the primary account (the one to keep) and the secondary account (the duplicate to be deactivated). See How to Request an Account Merge.
2. Raise a support ticket via Raise a Support Ticket and provide:
   • Primary account: full name and email
   • Secondary account: full name and email
   • Tenancy name and URL
   • Brief description of how the duplicate occurred

The merge transfers training history, completions, and certificates from the secondary to the primary account and deactivates the secondary. This action cannot be undone.

How to prevent duplicate accounts

• SSO: Ensure the email attribute sent by your identity provider matches the email address already stored in Acorn. Work with Acorn Support to confirm the correct matching attribute is configured.
• HR feed: When a user’s email changes in your HR system, update the corresponding Acorn account first (or notify Acorn Support) before the next HR feed sync runs.
• Admin processes: Always update an existing user profile rather than creating a new account when a staff member changes their name or email address. See How to Browse and Update Users.