Shared vs Isolated CRM

PrimeTask's PrimeCRM has two storage modes: Shared CRM (the default) and Isolated CRM (per-project). Most users only ever need Shared CRM. Isolated CRM is a power feature for projects that need stricter confidentiality - client work under NDAs, sensitive sales prospects, private personal projects.

This article explains both modes, when to use each, how to switch a project into isolated mode, and the consequences for your data.

PrimeCRM is a Pro feature

Both CRM modes require a Pro license with CRM enabled. See License Settings.

The two modes at a glance

Aspect	Shared CRM	Isolated CRM
Scope	Per-Space	Per-project (within a Space)
Visibility	All projects in the Space see the same data	Only the one project sees its own data
Setup	On by default	Opt-in per project
Storage	One pool for the whole Space	A private storage area attached to one project
Sharing across projects	Yes - link a contact to many projects	No - isolated entities live in one project only
Used for	Personal contacts, general business contacts, anything you want available everywhere	Confidential client work, NDA prospects, private projects
Reversible	-	Yes - switch back to Shared at any time

Not mutually exclusive

A single Space can have some projects in Shared mode and other projects in Isolated mode at the same time. The two modes coexist - they're configured per-project, not per-Space.

What you can do

Keep all CRM data in one shared pool

(the default) so every project sees the same contacts and companies

Switch individual projects to Isolated CRM

for strict confidentiality

Use auto-sync

to optionally merge linked shared contacts into an isolated project's view

Create contacts and companies scoped to a project

so they're invisible outside it

See source indicators

on every entity in Isolated mode so you know what's shared and what's private

Rely on safe deletion

deleting from an isolated view unlinks shared data instead of destroying it

Switch a project back to Shared

at any time

When to use Shared CRM

Use Shared CRM (the default) for:

Personal contacts - friends, family, anyone you want available across every project
General business contacts - vendors, contractors, agency contacts you work with across multiple projects
Long-term professional relationships where the same person appears in multiple contexts
Most CRM use cases - if you're not sure, start with Shared

Shared CRM is the right choice for the vast majority of users.

When to use Isolated CRM

Use Isolated CRM for:

NDA-protected client projects where contact details cannot leak between accounts
Sales prospect work where leads from one campaign should not be visible from another
Private personal projects that should not share their contacts with your work projects
Projects with sensitive data that must remain compartmentalised

A common pattern: most projects in your Space stay Shared, but one or two specific projects are Isolated. You don't need to flip everything - that's almost always overkill.

Isolated mode has trade-offs

Contacts in Isolated CRM cannot be assigned to tasks or activities outside of that project. They can't be linked to other projects either. If you find yourself fighting these restrictions, the project should probably be Shared instead.

How to enable Isolated CRM for a project

Configure CRM mode per-project from Settings → PrimeCRM Settings → Per-Space Settings → CRM-Enabled Projects. Find your project and switch from Shared to Isolated. You can also reach CRM Settings from the command palette (⌘+K / Ctrl+K, type CRM settings).

When you switch a project to Isolated, PrimeTask explains what isolated mode means and asks you to confirm before proceeding. After confirming, the project switches immediately - a new private storage area is created for that project's contacts, companies, activities, and CRM tasks.

See CRM Settings for the full settings walkthrough.

You can switch back

You can return a project to Shared mode at any time. However, any project-only entities (contacts and companies you created with the Project Only scope) become orphaned and inaccessible when you switch back. Decide carefully - see the "switching back" scenario at the end of this article.

Things worth knowing

Auto-sync - merging shared data into an isolated view

When you turn on Auto-sync with Shared CRM for an isolated project, PrimeTask merges shared contacts and companies that are linked to the project into the isolated view at read time. Here's exactly what that means:

What auto-sync does:

Shows a merged view - when you open the isolated project's CRM, you see both the project's private data AND any shared entities that have been explicitly linked to this project
Shared entities display with a Shared source indicator so you know they're not private
Updates to a shared entity reflect everywhere (because there's still only one underlying record)

What auto-sync does NOT do:

It does not copy shared entities into the project's private storage - the shared data stays where it is
It does not make all shared entities visible - only the ones you've explicitly linked to the project
It does not override isolation rules for project-specific entities

Auto-sync is on by default

When you enable Isolated mode, auto-sync is enabled automatically. If you want strict isolation with no shared data visible at all, turn auto-sync off from the same settings area.

When you turn auto-sync off, PrimeTask asks you to confirm and explains exactly what will stop appearing in the project view, including how many shared contacts, companies, and templates will be hidden. Nothing is deleted from Shared CRM, and re-enabling auto-sync restores everything instantly.

Creating an entity - the scope choice

When you create a new contact, company, activity, or message template from inside an isolated project, the form asks where to save it:

Option	Stored in	Visibility
Project Only (Isolated)	The project's private storage	Only this project can see it
Shared (Link to Project)	The Space's shared CRM	All projects can see it; this project gets a link

The default is Project Only when you're working inside an isolated project, on the assumption that you opened that project to keep new entities private. Pick Shared instead if you'd rather the new entity be visible across all your projects with this one automatically linked.

Override to Shared when the entity is genuinely cross-project

A long-term vendor, a teammate, or a contact you'll use in many engagements is better as a Shared entity linked to this project. Reserve Project Only for things that genuinely shouldn't leak.

Source indicators - knowing what you're looking at

When viewing an isolated project's CRM, every contact and company shows a source indicator:

Source	Meaning
Shared	This entity lives in the shared CRM and is linked to this project. Edits are visible to every project that has it.
Project Only	This entity was created inside this project's isolated CRM. It's invisible to other projects. Deleting the project deletes this entity.

Source indicators only appear in Isolated CRM mode. In Shared CRM mode there's only one source, so no indicator is needed.

Knowing where a shared contact is being worked

Even in Shared CRM, you can see at a glance which projects are doing project-scoped work with a contact or company. On a shared contact's detail page, on a shared company's detail page, and on every card in the shared LinkedIn Pipeline, an Active in row lists every project where you've logged a project-scoped activity or set up a project-scoped task for that person or organisation. Each project name is clickable and jumps straight to that project's CRM view of the contact or company.

This is a one-way signal from project to shared. It tells you a shared contact is being engaged inside one or more isolated projects without exposing the activity content itself.

The Active in row only appears in Shared CRM view. In an isolated project view you're already inside the context, so this signal is hidden to avoid noise.

Track multi-project contacts

When a shared contact is being worked across several projects, the Active in row gives you a quick jump-list to each project's view. Useful when the same person plays different roles in different engagements.

Deletion - unlink vs delete

This is the most important rule to understand. Deletion behaves differently depending on the entity's source.

When you delete a contact or company from an isolated project:

Entity source	What happens
Project Only	Deleted permanently. Gone forever.
Shared (linked to this project)	Unlinked only. The entity stays in shared CRM and other projects, but is removed from this project's view.

This applies to single deletes from detail pages AND bulk deletes from list pages. The bulk delete confirmation shows a breakdown so you can see exactly how many will be deleted vs unlinked.

Deleting an isolated project deletes its private data

When you delete a project that has Isolated CRM enabled, PrimeTask permanently deletes everything in that project's private storage - contacts, companies, activities, CRM tasks. Shared entities that were merely linked are not affected; only project-only entities are destroyed. Back up from Data Management before deleting a project with isolated CRM.

Updates and overrides

For shared entities visible inside an isolated project (via auto-sync), edits behave one of two ways:

Sync to Shared = ON (default) - edits to a shared contact made from inside an isolated project propagate back to the shared CRM and are visible everywhere.
Sync to Shared = OFF - edits create a project-specific override stored in the project's private storage. The shared copy stays unchanged; this project sees its own modified version.

Overrides are useful when a single shared contact has slightly different details depending on which engagement you're in (e.g., different rate cards, different role descriptions per project). You can have a global truth in shared CRM and a project-specific variation overlaid on top.

The View Mode Selector

The View Mode Selector appears in the header of every CRM page: CRM Dashboard, Contacts, Companies, Activities, CRM Tasks, LinkedIn Outreach Dashboard, LinkedIn Pipeline, Message Templates, Sales Activity Dashboard, Call Tracker, Email Tracker, Meeting Tracker, Deal Pipeline, and the contact and company detail pages. It's the dropdown you use to switch between:

Shared CRM (Global) - the default, showing your Space's shared CRM
Any project with Isolated CRM enabled - switching filters the entire page to that project's data

Switching is instant. If no projects in your Space have Isolated mode enabled, the selector only offers Shared CRM.

Restrictions in Isolated mode

When viewing a project's Isolated CRM, certain operations are restricted:

Operation	Status	Why
Linking contacts/companies to other projects	Disabled	Isolated entities live in one project only - linking elsewhere would defeat the purpose
Bulk Link / Bulk Unlink	Disabled	Same reason
Manage button on Linked Projects (contact/company detail pages)	Disabled	Same reason
Contact/company picker in forms	Scoped	Only shows project-scoped entities (plus shared if auto-sync is on)
Seeing this entity from another project	Not possible	Project-only entities are invisible outside their project

These aren't bugs - they're guardrails to keep isolation strict.

Common questions

"I'm a freelancer with 5 client projects. Should I use Isolated for each?"

Probably not. If you're the only one working on these projects and you're not bound by NDAs requiring strict separation, use Shared CRM and link each contact to its respective project. You'll get a single view of everyone you work with. Use Isolated mode only if a specific client demands strict separation or you're juggling competing clients.

"I work at an agency with competing clients."

Yes, Isolated CRM is the right call. Set each competing client's project to Isolated mode so contact details and activity history stay strictly separated. Turn auto-sync OFF for the strictest separation; turn it ON if you want some agency-wide contacts (your account manager, billing) visible in both projects.

"I want my personal contacts separate from work."

Two options: use a separate Space entirely (Personal Space vs Work Space - see Spaces Overview), or create an isolated project within your main Space for the personal stuff. A separate Space is usually simpler.

"I switched a project to Isolated but my existing contacts are still visible."

That's auto-sync working correctly. Contacts that were already linked to the project via Linked Projects continue to appear in the isolated view with a Shared source indicator. They haven't been copied - they're still in the shared pool, just visible here too. To hide them, turn auto-sync off or unlink them from the project.

"I want to switch back from Isolated to Shared. Will I lose data?"

Switching to Shared does not delete anything, but project-only entities (those you created with the Project Only scope) become orphaned - they're no longer accessible from any view. The recommended workflow before switching back:

"I started in Shared mode and now want to make a project Isolated."

Safe to do. Switching from Shared to Isolated does not delete anything. The shared contacts already linked to the project continue to appear via auto-sync. You can create new project-only entities going forward. See CRM Settings to make the switch.

"How does Isolated CRM relate to Spaces?"

Spaces and Isolated CRM are different layers of separation. A Space isolates everything - tasks, projects, CRM, notes, all data. Isolated CRM isolates only CRM data within a single Space, at the project level. See CRM & Spaces for how the two layers interact.

Where to go next

If you want to…	Read this
Configure CRM modes for projects	CRM Settings
See how CRM integrates with projects	CRM & Projects
Manage project teams (manual + CRM)	Project Team & CRM
Manage contacts in Isolated mode	Contacts
Manage companies in Isolated mode	Companies
Log activities scoped to a project	Activities
Create CRM tasks scoped to a project	CRM Tasks
Understand how Spaces relate to CRM	CRM & Spaces
See how custom fields work in Isolated mode	Custom Fields for CRM
Understand Spaces themselves	Spaces Overview
Back up before deleting a project with Isolated CRM	Data Management
Return to the CRM hub	PrimeCRM Overview