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TechGuide
Too many duplicate numbers in contacts? Here's how you can fix it
Do you really need your Mam’s number down three times already?
THE MORE SERVICES you use, the more contacts you’re going to have.
Many of us use apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts and others, but if you’re extracting numbers from them to your contacts, then you can end up with multiple entries of the same person.
Sometimes that can make a list too long, but there are a number of ways in which you can fix this problem.
1) Do it the old fashioned way
If you don’t have that many duplicate contacts in your list, you could go through them and merge them manually. This will naturally be the most time-consuming, but you can either delete the extra number or link them together.
On iOS, go into Contacts, find the duplicate numbers and go into one of them. Here tap edit and scroll down until you see ‘link contacts’. Choose the other number and merge them together.
On Android, go into the contacts app and select a person. There tap on ‘edit’ and then ‘settings’ where you will see the merge option. Choose the second number and it will be listed as one single contact in future.
2) Sort it out on desktop
It’s likely that your contacts list is connected to your iCloud or Google account, depending on the platform you’re using. By logging into your account, either iCloud or Google Contacts, you can delete duplicate contacts here in bulk.
Google Contacts has a ‘find duplicates’ option built in so you can quickly clean up.
3) Get an app to do all the hard work
If both those options sound like too much work, then you could just download an app to do it for you.
If you’re on iOS, you could go for something like Cleaner (Free, €2.99 for full version) which offers a clean interface and allows you to find and merge duplicates quickly.
Alternatively, you could go for Smart Merge Pro (€2.99) or Cleanup Duplicate Contacts (Free, €0.99 for full version), which offer the same basic functionality and will clean up your address book without fuss.
On Android, you could download Simpler Merge Duplicates (Free) which will do the same thing or go for Duplicate Contacts (Free), which despite the outdated look, allows you to delete any unnecessary duplicates quickly.
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