How to delete duplicate contacts on iPhone?

iphone double contact delete
iphone double contact delete

Today, our cell phones are everywhere and we have more and more contacts that end up in our phones. The problem is that these contacts tend to be a bit scattered.

Indeed, on different applications, you will not always have the same contacts and this can be a real headache. But it also happens that another puzzle occurs, duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Whether via a manual error or via a problem following opening an application, this scenario is not that rare. But rest assured, there are plenty of ways to delete duplicate contacts on iPhone.  And that is precisely what we are going to see in this article.

Manually find and delete duplicate contacts

To put an end to duplicate contacts on iPhone, it is possible to simply do a manual search for these contacts. The process is slow, but ideal if you only have a few duplicate contacts.

To do this, follow these simple steps:

  • You will have to go to the contacts application. There, use the search bar and type the name you want to check.
  • If two files appear, check anyway that they are not two different people with the same first name.
  • Open the contact details and navigate to the Edit button in the top right corner.
  • Here you can delete this contact. If you delete one entry, the other will become the main one.

This technique is effective, but quite long and tedious.

Delete Duplicate Contacts on iPhone with iCloud

When we told you that duplicate contacts on iPhone are not always due to human error, we are thinking a lot about a problem that often occurs when you synchronize your contacts with iCloud.

Indeed often, you will have to deal with duplicate contacts on iPhone because of this and inevitably, Apple has put in place a system to avoid you having to touch everything and change manually.

To do this, follow these steps below:

  • First, open any browser on your PC and navigate to iCloud.com since this link.
  • Log in with your credentials and access the application " Contacts ».
  • At this stage, you can select each duplicate contact by holding the keys Order (Mac) et Control (Windows) pressed by clicking on it.
  • Push the button Remove from your keyboard once you have selected all the duplicates.

What we advise you is not to simply do this manipulation once because it happens that certain duplicates are not resolved. Repeat it until the analysis no longer reveals any duplicates on your phone.

Use Duplicate contact manager

So what you can do is go to the Store and download an app that will do everything for you like Duplicate contact manager which will allow you to quickly merge your contacts.

It's simple, directly from the main screen of the application, the latter will be able to tell you how many duplicate contacts you have and how many phone numbers. Simply click on it and you will be offered the merge.

Likewise, if you are ever afraid of losing your contact list, Duplicate contact manager simply allows you to make a backup of your address book which is very practical.

Unify your contacts to avoid duplicates

Here, we are not necessarily going to talk about duplicate contacts on iPhone, but rather how to have better readability on your application. Indeed, it is possible that sometimes you want to unify the contacts.

Let's take an example. You are a young person and your parents both still live at home. Well, you may want to create a “home” contact that will include not only the landline number, but also your father's number and your mother's number.

For this, you will be able to unify several contacts which groups the numbers, while displaying the names of the contacts in a row, but on the same line on your iPhone, which can be practical. To do this, the procedure is very simple:

  • Go to your contacts.
  • Choose the file that will become the reference file.
  • Click on it then go to Edit.
  • Scroll through the options until you reach the bottom.
  • Click Unify Contacts.
  • Simply choose the contact(s) to unify.

Conclusion

In summary, if you have duplicate contacts on your iPhone, there are several solutions available to you. You can either do everything manually, which is long and a bit tedious, or use a third-party application to save yourself hassle.

In the future, you will also be able to do a few little things to avoid all this hassle, such as always checking that you do not have a file before creating one or unifying your contacts for greater clarity. From then on, your worries about duplicate contacts should be a distant memory.

Finally, if you have a phone Android, and you have the same problem of duplicate contacts, then look at this article: Find and delete duplicate contacts on Android.