Duplicate contacts are bound to sneak into your address book no matter how carefully you manage it. And if removing duplicates on a frequent basis isn’t one of your virtues, chances are your contacts might already be cluttered. Unfortunately, managing iPhone/iPad contacts has always been like a pain in the back. But don’t worry, there is a workaround to nab all the redundant contact cards and wipe them out. As for macOS users, taking control of contacts is a bit convenient. So, if you have decided to clean up your address book, now is the perfect time to merge and remove duplicate contacts from iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
A little sneak-peek into the whole process so that you would already know what’s coming up:
On macOS, you can easily find out how many duplicate contacts you have. By duplicate I mean, the contacts which have either the same name but consist of different information or the same name and info. Once you have nabbed those unwanted contact cards, you can merge them all with just a click.
- On iOS/iPadOS: Settings app > Profile > iCloud > Contacts.
Open Contacts app on your Mac.
Open a web browser on your computer and go to icloud.com. Then, sign in using your Apple ID and password.
- Click on Delete in the menu that pops up.
Slightly buried inside the stock Contacts app for iPhone and iPad is an option to merge individual contacts. Though this native method would be rather tedious for merging hundreds of duplicates, it wouldn’t be too time-consuming for a few cards.
- Open Contacts app and then find the contact you want to merge.
Luckily, App Store has a ton of contact manager apps that can help you find and delete duplicate contacts on your iPhone or iPad. The apps that I have tried and found quite reliable are as follows:
It’s a pretty simple contact manager app that allows you to spot duplicate contacts with ease. Aside from allowing you to get rid of redundant contacts, it also lets you back up your address book and even restore it. Moreover, it supports iOS 8 or later, allowing you to manage your contacts even on older iPhone and iPad models.
Contact Cleanup is yet another contact manager that I have found up to the task. Whether it’s nabbing all the duplicate contacts instantly or eliminating multiple unnecessary contact cards at one go, it does a reliable job. Moreover, it also allows you to back up the entire address book so that all of your contacts will remain secure. While this contact manager is free, you will need to spend $1.99 to merge all of your duplicate contacts automatically.
Remove Duplicate Contacts from Your iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
So, that’s how you can merge and remove duplicate contacts from your iDevices. Though the above-explained methods work reliably, it would be better if Apple offered an easier native way to get rid of unwanted contact cards on the iPhone and iPad. As someone who has hundreds of contacts to manage, I wish to see this feature in iOS 14.
