It can be quite annoying and also difficult to find Contacts on your iPhone, in case your Contacts List is littered with multiple Duplicate Contacts. Luckily, it is easy to remove Duplicate Contacts on iPhone and you will find below the steps to delete duplicate Contacts on your iPhone.
Duplicate Contacts on iPhone
The main cause of Duplicate Contacts on iPhone is due to apps like Facebook, Gmail and Outlook syncing or importing the same contacts over and over again.
For example, if your Gmail or Outlook Contacts are on Facebook, your Contacts List will end up with a duplicate set of Contacts, one from Gmail/Outlook and a duplicate set imported from Facebook.
In case you only have a few Contacts, you can manually scan through your short list of Contacts and delete the duplicate ones.
However, removing duplicate Contacts from a long list of Contacts can be laborious and a time consuming affair and you will need to make use of apps like “Simpler Contacts” to find and remove duplicate Contacts from your iPhone.
Remove Duplicate Contacts On iPhone Manually
As mentioned above, it is easier to remove duplicate Contacts manually, in case you only have a few duplicate Contacts and a short Contacts List to go through.
1. Open the Contacts App on your iPhone
2. Browse through your list of Contacts, until you find a duplicate Contact.
3. Tap on the duplicate Contact
4. Next tap on Edit, located at the top right corner of your screen
5. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap on Delete Contact
6. From the pop-up, tap on Delete Contact to remove the duplicate contact from your iPhone
Remove Duplicate Contacts Using Simpler Contacts app
In case you have a long list of Contacts, you can make use of Apps like Simpler Contacts to remove Duplicate Contacts on your iPhone.
1. Open the App Store on your iPhone and search for Simpler Contacts
2. Next Download the Simpler Contacts app to your iPhone
3. Once Simpler Contacts has been downloaded, open the app on your iPhone
4. Start Setting up Simpler Contacts app by following the onscreen instructions, until you reach the Duplicate Contacts screen (See image in step#5 below)
Note: While setting up the app, you will be required to give Simpler Contacts permission to access your Contacts on iPhone.
5. Once you reach the Duplicate Contacts screen, the app will show you the number of Duplicate Contacts it has found on your iPhone (See image below)
6. Tap on Show Duplicates button to remove these Duplicate Contacts from your iPhone (See image above)
7. On the next screen tap on Merge to remove duplicate contacts on your iPhone
8. Next, you will be prompted to sign up to Simpler Contacts app using your Email address, Facebook or Google ID.
9. Once you have signed up, you will see a popup, tap on Merge to start the process of Merging your Contacts.
10. Once the process of Merging is complete, tap on Done on the Merge Completed Screen.
Now when you head back to the Contacts app you will notice that the duplicate Contacts have been removed.
Merge More than 10 Contacts
In its Free version, the Simpler Contacts app is limited to 10 merges. One way of bypassing this restriction is delete the Simpler Contacts App and reinstall it back on your iPhone.
When the app asks you to sign up, you can use a different Account (Email, Facebook, etc) to get 10 more free merges.
Alternatively, you can make use of other apps like Smart Merge or Cleaner Pro to remove duplicate Contacts on your iPhone.