---
title: "I can’t merge Profiles because they have different external customer ids."
slug: "i-cant-merge-profiles-because-they-have-different-external-customer-ids"
description: "Learn why this error may be appearing for your Agents, and see ways to fix this error within Gladly."
updated: 2026-05-27T18:25:09Z
published: 2026-05-27T18:25:09Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.gladly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# I can’t merge Profiles because they have different external customer ids.

The error "Customers could not be merged because they have different external customer IDs for the same source system. Please unlink one and try again" appears when you're trying to merge two Profiles that may exist in multiple external systems — like different Shopify instances — because the Customer may have used other email addresses in those systems compared to what's in Gladly.

![Error message indicating customers cannot be merged due to different external IDs.](https://cdn.us.document360.io/7047b671-c4f2-4df0-bb0a-b9b511fd2452/Images/Documentation/Group 2712.png)

Before [merging](https://help.gladly.com/docs/merge-profiles), try [unlinking](/product-docs/docs/link-customer-profile-to-an-external-integrated-system-2#unlink) the Customer Profile to the external systems(s) first. Once unlinked, attempt the merge again.