If you’ve been living with a cluttered HubSpot portal, you know the pain points: mysterious fields that no one remembers, clunky forms duplicating information, and reporting dashboards that raise more questions than answers. Over time, HubSpot properties tend to accumulate like digital dust bunnies—quietly sapping your team’s focus and undermining your CRM’s potential. At Your HS Expert, we’re obsessed with transforming this chaos into streamlined clarity, because we’ve seen firsthand how a clean CRM becomes the launchpad for scalable growth, smarter automation, and stress-free operations.

Why HubSpot Property Cleanup Is a Game-Changer

• Accelerates Your Team: No more hunting for the right fields or explaining funny-named properties to new hires. Clean properties = confident users.
• Improves Reporting Accuracy: Cleaner data fields ensure every chart, dashboard, and pipeline reflects reality, not CRM gremlins.
• Simplifies Automations: Standardized properties keep workflows running reliably, without breakages from duplicate or hidden fields.
• Makes Scaling Easy: The less clutter, the less risk when integrating new tools, onboarding departments, or migrating data.
• Saves You Money: Bloated property lists often lead to higher storage costs, manual cleanup hours, and rework down the line.

Our Battle-Tested HubSpot Property Cleanup Process

After working with over 100 businesses on HubSpot, we’ve honed a property cleanup method that surfaces the gold and jettisons the junk. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Export Your Property Inventory for True Transparency

Start by exporting all properties for each HubSpot object (Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets). In HubSpot, go to Settings > Properties and batch export so you can review in Excel or Google Sheets.

• Tag each property as Default (system fields) or Custom (created by your org).
• Check usage/last modified dates and descriptions. It’s alarming how many fields are simply labeled “Test” or “Do Not Use.”
• See which forms, workflows, or lists reference each property — you don’t want to break anything unintentionally!

2. Identify The Dead Weight

Sort the list by the “used in” column or usage count. These groups stand out:

• Duplicates: Variations like “Source,” “Lead Source,” and “Campaign Source.”
• Obsolete Properties: Created for a one-off campaign five years ago, now ignored.
• Misnamed or Misspelled: Fields whose purpose isn’t clear or contain typos.

Mark each as “essential,” “possible cleanup,” or “candidates for removal.”

3. Archive or Delete with Caution

• Archive properties that may be referenced in old reports or are needed for compliance/historic review. This removes them from forms and new records but doesn’t destroy the data.
• Delete only if you confirm a property isn’t used anywhere. Double-check dependent workflows, reports, and integrations. We always recommend archiving first—deletion is permanent and irreversible.
• We’ve seen companies lose historical lead source insights simply by deleting a field referenced in archived dashboards. When in doubt: archive, don’t delete.

4. Standardize Naming & Documentation

Sloppy or inconsistent naming is a silent killer in CRM productivity. We recommend:

• Adopting a clear convention—like Dept_Type_Description (e.g., Sales_Custom_ReferralSource).
• Adding descriptive field explanations. Don’t assume new team members know the story behind a custom field.
• Choosing data types wisely (dropdowns, dates, numbers) to prevent messy or inconsistent entries.
• Keeping a “Property Glossary” as part of your onboarding documentation for future clarity and audit trails.

5. Clean Up Data Entry Workflows

• Audit the forms connected to your HubSpot properties. Remove non-essential fields and merge duplicate requests for the same data (do we really need email address twice?).
• Simplify workflow automations so they update only the latest, most relevant properties—reducing accidental overwrites or data mismatches.
• For key properties (like Lifecycle Stage, Lead Source), enforce values with dropdowns and automate field updates where possible to minimize manual errors.

6. Document Every Change & Communicate Across Teams

• Keep a simple change log of archived, deleted, or merged properties. This avoids panic when reports break or forms stop populating expected fields.
• Send update notes to all CRM users—especially admins, sales, and marketing ops—before you hit “archive” or change a property’s purpose. Surprises in the CRM world rarely end well.

7. Make Property Cleanup a Habit, Not a Chore

The hard truth: clutter creeps back in if you’re not vigilant. Our experience shows a quick review once per quarter or at least twice a year keeps the junk from piling up.

• Assign a CRM admin (or someone in RevOps) as the “Property Czar.”
• Incorporate property reviews into your regular HubSpot audits—or, even better, as standard onboarding/offboarding steps when team roles change.
• If you’re scaling, schedule a cleanup post-major campaigns or migrations.

Extra Tips from Real-Life Successes

• Don’t hesitate to merge similar properties if you spot redundant fields. Clean mapping can halve the fields your team needs to manage.
• Consider building internal automation (like simple workflows) that clear out sensitive fields after a deal closes, reducing compliance risks.
• Leverage HubSpot reporting to track property fill rates and flag underused properties for review each cycle.
• “Preventative governance” always beats reactive cleanup—set property requests through a centralized form or process, so every new field is accounted for.

The Real-World Impact of Clean HubSpot Properties

• 98% reduction in duplicate records—not from a one-off effort, but from strong property governance (yes, we’ve done it!).
• 42% fewer workflows after consolidating and cleaning up property logic, which means faster automation and easier troubleshooting.
• 20+ hours/month saved on manual review, reporting fixes, and property explanation requests.
• Better sales-marketing alignment with clearly defined and documented lifecycle, lead source, and handoff properties.

Ready for the Next Step?

If you want your HubSpot portal to be less ‘junk drawer’ and more ‘revenue engine,’ routine property cleanup isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s essential. Want actionable recommendations tailored for your business? Book your free HubSpot Discovery Session with Your HS Expert to start streamlining your system today.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How often should I review my HubSpot properties?

We recommend at least a quarterly review. For high-growth or actively evolving teams, set a monthly check-in.

Is it safer to archive or delete properties?

Archive, unless you’re absolutely certain a property isn’t referenced anywhere. That way you retain legacy data without cluttering forms or records.

Can I recover a deleted property and its data?

No, deleting a property in HubSpot is permanent. Always double-check dependencies first and err on the side of archiving if in doubt.

How do I decide which properties matter?

Start with properties used in your core processes (lead handoffs, sales qualification, reporting). Anything not directly powering a workflow, dashboard, or integration is up for review.

Who should own property governance?

Ideally, your CRM admin or Revenue Operations leader should oversee property governance—coordinating requests across departments and performing regular audits.

What should I document after a cleanup?

Keep a change log, clear property definitions, naming conventions, and a record of archived/deleted properties to help onboarding and troubleshooting in the future.

Don’t let property sprawl hold your teams back. Take the first step towards an efficient, scalable HubSpot—and if you want expert guidance, let’s connect for a free HubSpot Discovery session. Your future self (and your dashboard) will thank you!