How to automatic delete duplicated contact and category ( Android )

Dear Kristian Hansson,

Thank you for posting your question to the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand how frustrating it is to be faced with over 2000 duplicate contacts and unremovable categories every time you sign into a new Android device, and I appreciate you reaching out for assistance.

From your descriptions, this incident could happen during the syncing process, specifically when you first set up the Outlook app on a new Android device and enable "Sync contacts." To fix this, you can try cleaning up your duplicate contacts and categories using the Outlook.com web interface on a computer, then adjust your phone settings to stop future duplication.

Here are the recommended steps:

Step 1: Export All Contacts (Create a Backup)

1. On your computer, log in to Outlook.com. In the navigation pane on the left, click the "People" icon.
2. At the top of the "People" page, click Manage > Export contacts.
3. Choose to export All contacts and click Export.
4. A .CSV file will be saved to your computer (likely in your "Downloads" folder). This file is your critical backup.

Step 2: Clean the Exported File

1. Open the .CSV file you just downloaded using Microsoft Excel.
2. In Excel, select the entire column of email addresses (or names, whichever is duplicated).
3. Go to the Data tab > Remove Duplicates
4. A pop-up will appear. Click OK to remove the duplicate entries.
5. Save this cleaned-up .CSV file with a new name, like "Contacts_Cleaned.csv".

Step 3: Delete All Contacts from Outlook.com

This is the most critical step. Please ensure you have your "Contacts_Cleaned.csv" file saved and ready.

1. Go back to the People page on Outlook.com.
2. In your main contact list, you can quickly select multiple contacts in bulk:
   • Click the checkbox next to one contact.
   • Hold the Shift key and click another contact further down the list to select the entire range.
   • Click the "Delete" button at the top.
3. Repeat this process until your entire contact list is empty.

Step 4: Import the Clean List

1. Once your contact list is empty, click Manage contacts > Import contacts.
2. Click Browse and select the "Contacts_Cleaned.csv" file you saved in Step 2.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to import the file.

After a few moments, your contact list will be repopulated with only the clean, non-duplicate contacts.

Step 5: Delete the Duplicate Categories

1. While still in the People hub on Outlook.com, look at the left-hand folder pane.
2. Under your contacts, you will see your list of categories.
3. Right-click on the duplicate categories you want to remove and select Delete category. You can only do this from the web interface, which is why you were unable to do it from your phone.

Step 6: Stop the Sync in the Outlook App on your Android phone

This is the most critical step to ensure this will not happens again.

1. On your Android device, open the Outlook app.
2. Tap your profile picture/initial in the top-left corner.
3. Tap the Settings gear icon (⚙️) in the bottom-left.
4. Tap on your email account.
5. Find the toggle switch for "Sync contacts" and TURN IT OFF.

Step 7: Clean the Phone's Local Contacts (Optional but Recommended)

1. Open your phone's native "Contacts" app (the Google or Samsung one).
2. Look in its settings for a "Merge & fix" or "Manage contacts" -> "Merge duplicates" option to clean up any remaining duplicates.

Tips: To avoid this incident in your future devices, you can use the Outlook app to access all your (now clean) contacts and email directly from the "People" tab and "Search" functions. This will not create any duplicates because it is reading directly from the server and not trying to sync with the Android contact list.

Please let me know how these suggestions work for you, or if you'd like assistance in navigating Microsoft's support channels.

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