How to Remove Duplicate Contacts on iPhone 7 and iPad

Question

Hello! My contacts list is out of control on my iPhone 7 and iPad. Is there a way to delete many contacts at once or do I have to do one at a time?

I want to remove the duplicate contacts that are shown on my iPhone 7 - they were imported from my iPad because I signed in with the same iCloud account.

Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

If you go to iCloud.com, you can delete any contacts that you don't want to save in the cloud anymore, but I caution about deleting all of them from iCloud, because then they are removed permanently. Its a little easier online, but you still have to do it one at a time. There are some apps from the app store that can help you delete them as a group or organize them better. Unfortunately, iPhone and iCloud don't let you delete multiple contacts, unless you erase the entire device.

Comments

I don't want any in the cloud. I only need one of each contact on my phone & iPad. I'll check out some of those apps. Thanks!

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Contacts get saved in the cloud if you have syncing of contacts turned on. It's how contacts can match across all devices. Otherwise you will have to turn off syncing on both devices and manage the lists independently of each other, which is your choice. iCloud saves all data that gets synced, but it's also useful for when you get new device since it brings your contacts with you.

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Thanks Heather! Whatever I delete from my iPad, I want it deleted from all my devices, so that's a good thing! Is it possible to save things to the Cloud that you delete from a device?