After you've enabled automated recursive merge, you can set a default sync status instead of manually selecting it from the Recursive Merge Status dropdown menu.

  1. Go to Salesforce Setup.
  2. Search for Picklist Values, and select Picklist Value Sets.
  3. Under Global Value Sets, click on Recursive Merge Status.
  4. Under Values, click Edit for the value you want to select as a default.
  5. Check to Make this value default for the master picklist.

The selected value is now your Recursive Merge Status default.