Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular email clients used by businesses and individuals alike. While Outlook is feature-rich and offers a great deal of flexibility, it can also be challenging to keep your contacts organized.
One issue you may run into is having Outlook duplicate contacts in your address book. This can happen for several reasons, such as importing contacts from multiple sources or manually adding the same contact information multiple times.
Fortunately, if you need to merge duplicate contacts, Outlook makes it easy. In this article, we’ll show you how to merge Outlook contacts step-by-step. So, find out how to combine duplicate contacts in Outlook from this post.
Why Duplicate Contacts Appear in Outlook
Outlook is a great tool for keeping track of your contacts, but you may have noticed that Outlook duplicate contacts sometimes appear in your list. There are a few possible reasons for this.
One is that you may have imported them from another program that did not deduplicate them automatically. Sometimes, you may also add the same information manually multiple times.
Another possibility is that you have multiple email accounts connected to Outlook, and each account has its own contacts list. This sometimes happens because people will set up both their work and personal email accounts in Outlook.
Adding or updating a contact in one account will not automatically sync with the other accounts. This is because Outlook treats each account as a separate entity. As a result, you may end up with Outlook duplicate contacts.
You can solve this problem by manually deduplicating your contacts list or using a third-party deduplication tool. Either way, eliminating Outlook contact duplicates will help keep your list clean and organized.
How to Merge Duplicate Contacts in Outlook Manually
For most Outlook merge contacts lists projects, there isn’t much manual work involved. You could use software, but the problem is often fixable.
And because the process is so straightforward, many Outlook users actually prefer to merge contacts that are duplicated on their own.
To merge contacts in Outlook manually, the process is relatively simple. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Create a New Contacts Folder
Your first step will be to create a new contacts folder, separate from your main folder. To do this, open Outlook and click on the “Contacts” tab.
Next, click the “New Folder” option.
After you’ve clicked it, name the contacts folder whatever you’d like. For example, you could name it:
- Outlook contacts remove duplicates
- Outlook contacts merge duplicates
- Outlook merge contacts
Or simple name it “Duplicates”
2. Move All Your Outlook Contacts to the New Folder
Once you’ve chosen your name, click the “OK” button. Your new folder will now appear in your list of contacts folders.
Next, you’ll need to move all your Outlook contacts into this new folder. To do this, select all the contacts in your main list by pressing Ctrl+A on your keyboard.
Once they’re all selected, drag and drop them into your new folder.
You can also right-click on the selected contacts and choose the “Move” option from the menu. Then, select your new contacts folder as the destination.
Now that all your contacts are in one place, it’s time to export them.
3. Export the Contacts From the New Folder to a .CSV File
To export your contacts, click on the “File” tab in Outlook and choose the “Open & Export” option.
Then, click on the “Import/Export” button.
This will open a new window where you’ll need to select the “Export to a file” option and click the “Next” button.
On the next screen, choose the “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” option and click “Next.”
Now, you’ll need to select the contacts folder that you want to export. Remember, this is the merge contacts’ dupes folder you created in Step #2.
Select it and click the “Next” button.
4. Import Contacts From the .CSV File to the Default Contacts Folders
Click “File,” then click “Open & Export.”
Click on the “Import/Export” button.
Select the “Import from another program or file” option and click “Next.”
On the next screen, choose the “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” option and click “Next.”
Click the “Browse” button and select your .CSV file.
Once you’ve selected it, click the “Next” button.
Be sure to click the “Do not import duplicate items” option and click “Finish.”
This will import all your contacts into the default contacts folder and deduplicate them automatically.
5. Merge the Dedupe Contacts With the Original Ones
Open your newly-created folder and your default contacts folders. Select all the contacts in the dedupe contacts folder by pressing Ctrl+A on your keyboard.
Then, drag and drop them into your default folder.
You can also right-click on the selected contacts and choose the “Move” option from the menu. Then, select your default contacts folder as the destination.
Now all your contacts will be in one place, and you won’t have any duplicates.
If you want to delete your dedupe folder, you can right-click on it and choose the “Delete” option from the menu.
How to Merge Duplicate Contacts With Outlook Merge Contacts Software
There’s another option if you don’t want to deduplicate your contacts manually.
You can use duplicate contacts Outlook software to merge contacts automatically.
These third-party tools are designed specifically for deduplicating Outlook contact folders, so they’re very easy to use.
Plus, it will save you a lot of time since it can deduplicate thousands of contacts in just a few minutes.
This software is made to merge PST files, so it can deduplicate contacts across multiple PST files.
Here is how you can use this software to merge contacts with PST files:
- First, you need to download the Outlook merge contacts software.
- Once you’ve downloaded it, install it on your computer and launch it.
- Click on the “Add PST Files” button and select all the PST files that you want to duplicate.
- Then, click on the “Merge” button.
- Choose “Merge in existing PST” and click “OK.”
- Configure the “Remove Duplicate” options to include every contact field.
- Now, all your duplicate contacts will be merged into a single PST file.
- You can then export this PST file to your main contacts folder. This will deduplicate all your contacts in just a few minutes.
It’s that easy! This software can delete duplicate contacts with PST files in just a few minutes.
How to Merge Contacts from Outlook Using Gmail
If you have a Gmail account, you can use it to consolidate Outlook contacts folders. This is how to merge Outlook contacts with Gmail:
First, you need to export your Outlook contacts to a .CSV file using the Google Takeout interface.
Then, you need to log into your Gmail account and click on the “Contacts” option from the sidebar.
Click on the “More” option and choose “Import.”
Click on the “Choose File” button and select your .CSV file.
Click on the “Import” button and wait for Gmail to import your contacts.
Once it’s finished, all your duplicate Outlook contacts will be in your Gmail account. You can then export them back to Outlook once you merge contacts that are duplicated.
To do this, click on the “More” option again and choose “Export.”
Choose the “Outlook CSV” option and click on the “Export” button.
Save the file to your computer and then import it into Outlook.
This will combine contacts in Outlook with your Gmail contacts.
Link Duplicate Contacts in Outlook 2016 & 2013
If you want to merge contacts in Outlook 2016 or 2013, you can use the “Link Duplicates” feature.
In Outlook 2019 and older versions, this option is available through the standard view called “People”.
To do this, open your Outlook contacts and click on the “View” tab. Then, click on the “Change View” option and choose “List.”
This will show all your contacts in a list view. Next, click on the “View” tab again and click on the “Arrange By” option.
Choose “Linked Contacts” from the menu.
This will show all your duplicate contacts side-by-side. To merge contacts, simply drag and drop one duplicate onto the other.
You can also right-click on duplicate contacts and choose the “Link Duplicates” option from the menu.
Then, select the duplicate contact that you want to merge contacts with and click on the “Link” button.
This will merge them into a single one.
You can also use this method for an Outlook 2010 or an Outlook 2007 contacts merge. The “Link Duplicates” feature is available in all versions of Outlook, so you can spot a duplicate contact no matter what software you are running.
How to Merge Outlook Contacts using Excel file
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- In Outlook click menu File > Open & Export.
- Select Export to a file and click Next
- Select > Comma Separated Values, click Next.
- Select Contacts folder, click Next.
- Specify file name and location and save the CSV file.
- Again click menu File > Open & Export.
- Select Import from another program or file and click Next.
- Select > Comma Separated Values, click Next.
- Specify CSV file to import (the same file you have exported in point #5)
- Choose what you want to do with duplicated items and import contacts.
How to Prevent Duplicate Contacts in Your Outlook
There are a few different ways to prevent Outlook duplicate contacts.
One way is to only add new contacts to your Outlook list.
To do this, open your Outlook contacts and click on the “File” tab. Then, click on the “New Entry” option and choose “Contact”.
Enter the information and click on the “Save & Close” button. This will add the contact to your Outlook list and prevent any duplicates from being added.
Another way to prevent duplicate contacts is to use the “Check Names” feature.
To do this, open your Outlook contacts and start creating a new Contact record.
Enter the information and click on the “Check Names” button. This will check your Outlook contacts for any duplicates and prevent them from being added.
A third way is to use the “Check for duplicates” feature in Outlook, which will scan your contact list and flag any potential duplicates.
Finally, you can install a third-party add-in that will help to prevent duplicates from being created in the first place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why all my contacts are duplicated?
There are a few different reasons why your contacts might have been duplicated. One possibility is that you accidentally imported them twice. Another possibility is that you have multiple contact lists in Outlook, and you’re seeing duplicates because of that. It’s also possible that your contacts have been syncing between multiple devices or services, and that’s caused duplicates to be created. And if you have another email account (such as Gmail) linked to your Outlook account, that can also cause duplicates. In this case, the reason they happen is that each time you add a new contact to either account, it gets added to the other one as well.
Why do my Outlook Contacts keep duplicating on my iPhone?
There are a few reasons your Outlook contacts might be duplicated on your iPhone. The most common reason is that they are syncing to your iPhone and another device, such as a computer or tablet. This can cause duplicates to be created. Another possibility is that you have multiple lists in Outlook, which are all synced to your iPhone. Finally, it’s also possible that you accidentally imported your contacts twice. You can use the methods described above to merge contacts that are duplicated in all of these cases.
How do I view all my Contacts in Outlook?
To see all your contacts in Outlook, open your contacts and click on the “View” tab. Then, click on the “Change View” option and choose “List”. This will show all your contacts in a list view. You can also use the “Arrange By” option to sort your contacts by name, company, or other criteria. You can also use the “Group By” option to group your contacts by category, such as family, friends, or business. Finally, you can use the “Search” option to find a specific contact in your Outlook contacts.
How do I find duplicate contacts in Outlook?
There are a few ways. One way is to use the “Check for duplicates” feature, which will scan your contact list and flag any potential duplicates. Another way is to use the “Link Duplicates” feature, which will show all your duplicates side-by-side. You can also sort your contacts by name, company, or other criteria to help spot duplicates. In doing this, look for contacts with the same name or company but different contact information. Finally, you can install a third-party add-in to help find and remove duplicates from your Outlook list.
