How To Remove Duplicate Contacts On iPhone | 5 Ways to Fix

Is your iPhone cluttered with duplicate contacts? Do you find it difficult to access contact information when needed? All you have to do is remove duplicate contacts on iPhone. We have made a complete guide for you to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

iPhones are one of the most updated smartphones available today. Users who use iPhones or any iOS devices prefer to use only them as they get easily accustomed to them. It keeps providing software updates and introduces new technologies, that let users be socially connected.

iOS devices being synced makes life easier not just for the user but for their entire family. But on the downside, linking or syncing of all the devices leads to duplication of apps, data, and sometimes contacts.

To remove duplicate contacts on iPhone go to contact apps > Locate the contact > Open It > Edit > Delete > Confirm.

You can remove duplicate contacts on your iPhone by deleting them manually or by merging them. You can use iCloud to delete multiple duplicate contacts at once. Various third-party apps are available to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

How to Remove Duplicate Contacts on iPhone?

Imagine that you want to contact a friend immediately. You open your iPhone contacts to find their name multiple times saved in different names and many numbers. You will be confused about what number to use in such emergency situations.

These duplicate contacts on iPhone are mainly because you syncing your iPhone to various devices and also saving contact information from social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. Even though syncing devices and mail accounts is usually handy, they might be a nuisance at times of need.

So, it is essential for you to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone, to avoid trouble during emergencies or simply to have easy access whenever necessary. We have made a complete guide for you to follow to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Fix 1 – Delete Contact Manually

If you have only a few duplicate contacts that you can remove easily, you can select to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone one by one.

Step 1 – Open the Contacts app.

Step 2 – Locate the duplicate contact that you want to delete.

Step 3 – Click to open it.

Step 4 – Click the Edit button on the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 5 – Click the Delete Contact option at the bottom of the screen.

Step 6 – Confirm to Delete the selected Contact.

Step 7 – In the pop-up, tap Delete Contact again to confirm.

Fix 2 – Merge Duplicate Contacts Manually

An alternative available instead of remove duplicate contacts on iPhone is to merge all the duplicate contacts together. If you notice that there are only a few duplicate contacts in your iPhone, you can merge them manually, with the following steps.

Step 1 – Open the Contacts app.

Step 2 – Locate the duplicate contact that you want to delete.

Step 3 – Click to open it.

Step 4 – Click the Edit button on the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 5 – Click the Link Contacts option at the bottom of the screen.

Step 6 – Select the duplicate contact the you wish to merge.

Step 7 – Click the Link button in the top right corner.

Keep repeating the above steps to merge and remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Fix 3 – Use Your Mac

The easiest way to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone, is to use the Contacts app on your Mac. This will automatically select all contacts that look identical and merge them. To make things even simpler, if you have synced your iPhone to your Mac, any changes you have made in Mac will automatically be made in your iPhone.

Step 1 – Open your Mac Contacts app.

Step 2 – Click the Menu bar.

Step 3 – Select Card > Look for Duplicates.

Step 4 – The Contacts app scans through all your contacts.

Step 5 – Click on Merge to combine them.

You will notice that all your duplicate contacts have been merged into one and the old duplicates are automatically deleted. The one downside of using this is, if you have two different persons with the same name saved to your contacts, their contact will be merged as one.

Related : How To Disconnect iPhone From Mac | Easy Step By Step Guide

Fix 4 – Use iCloud

You can use the online data storing service, iCloud to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone. If you have synced your iPhone to the iCloud account, you can remove duplicate contacts on iPhone, at once.

Step 1 – Open the iCloud website.

Step 2 – Sign in to your iCloud account with your Apple ID.

Step 3 – Click on Contacts button to open all your synced phone contacts.

Step 4 – You will see the list of synced All Contacts.

Step 5 – Press the Ctrl Key to select all the duplicate contacts.

Step 6 – Click the gear icon at the bottom left corner.

Step 7 – Click to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Step 8 – Confirm to delete by clicking Delete in the pop-up.

If your iPhone is synced to your iCloud, all changes made will made in your iPhone’s Contact list.

Fix 5 – Use Third-Party Apps

If you want to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone, you can get the help of various third-party apps that are available for you to delete or merge and backup your iPhone Contacts.

Deleting or merging your iPhone Contacts could be a very tedious job, depending on the number for contacts stored in your iPhone. If you have a large archive of contacts stored directly in your iPhone, or saved from your iCloud or through other social networking sites, it is going to be hell of a lot to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Various Contact Clean-up apps like Cleaner Pro are available for you to download from the App Store. Some of these third-party iOS apps are available to you for free. You can import all your iPhone’s contacts and back up the existing contacts. These apps will automatically scan all your contacts and filter them. You will be able to see the list of all duplicate contacts. You can then make your decision to merge or to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Wrap Up

The primary use of any phone is to contact others at times of needs. What is the use of having smartphones that have multiple duplicate contacts, making it difficult for you to access contact information, when necessary? That is why it is very essential to remove duplicate contacts on iPhone. You can follow the solution given by us to help remove duplicate contacts on iPhone.

Frequently Asked Question

Q1 Why Do I Have Duplicate Contacts On My Iphone?

Contacts app is built-in preinstalled to your iPhone. So it is one of the most used features in your iPhone. The reasons for duplicate contacts on iPhones can be due to

·       Multiple entries due to manual error.

·       One person saved under two different contact names.

·       Two persons with similar names.

·       Error due to iPhone’s suggestion to add an already saved contact.

·       Error due to combined saving of different address books.

·       Contact synced from multiple sources to your iPhone.

Q2 Can I Recover Deleted Contacts On My Iphone?

If you want to recover a deleted contact on an iPhone, it is difficult, but not impossible. You can restore the deleted contact information from an iPhone backup from iCloud or using your iTunes to recover deleted data. You will end up formatting you entire iPhone to a different timeline, for the sake of one deleted contact.