There’s a lot to be excited about when Apple finally releases the finished version of iOS 16. From the all-new Lock Screen design, complete with customization options and widgets, to the smaller features that you might not notice at first. And that brings us to the latest tutorial, as Apple has made it much easier to merge duplicate contacts on iPhone.
With previous iterations of iOS on the iPhone, merging contacts was not exactly the most seamless experience. Most of the time, you had to go through and try to copy and paste details in between the duplicated contacts. Or you could download a contact management app from the App Store, such as CardHop from the same company that made Fantastical.
While CardHop is still an incredible iPhone app, Apple has finally introduced an easier method if you want to merge duplicate contacts on iPhone with iOS 16. Here’s how you can do so:
Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
Tap < Lists in the top left corner.
Select All Contacts at the top of the list.
From the X Duplicates Found prompt, tap View Duplicates.
Select a contact that has duplicate entries in the app.
Review the contact’s information.
Tap the Merge button at the bottom.
You can also tap the Merge All button at the bottom if you want to merge all of your duplicate contact information at once.
When you are going through the process of reviewing your duplicate contacts, you are provided with a few pieces of information. This includes showing you where the contact appears (for example, different email accounts), along with what information will be merged into one.
If there is a contact, or multiple contacts, that you don’t want to merge the information for, you can just tap the Ignore button. Apple has also added an Ignore All button in the event that you don’t want to be prompted or reminded whenever you open the Contacts app.
Something else worth pointing out is that if you know that you have multiple or duplicate contacts, they will only appear in this new menu if the name or number is the same. Otherwise, the duplicate contact will not appear as such if the name is incorrect and the same phone number or email is not attached. In that case, you’ll need to manually copy over the contact information to the “main” contact card in the Contacts app on your iPhone. It’s not the most perfect solution, but it will get the job done and will help keep your list of contacts from getting too disorganized and out of hand.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
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