iOS 17 iPhone doesn’t show me the option to merge duplicate contacts

Same problem, not able to see the "Duplicates Found" button.

Apple support, please advise a fix. Please DO NOT (so tired of seeing this in support threads) reply with an article telling us to use the "Duplicates Found/Merge Duplicates" button...because not being able to do that is the issue.

Has anyone found out how to get the Merge Duplicates option back on the screen? It is currently not showing up on my Contact list.

That doesn’t actually address the problem. The merge duplicates option has disappeared and I assume we’re all hoping to figure out how to get it back and not do it manually. Hope Apple Support will take another crack at it.

To justinb2603: Folks are saying there is no 'DUPLICATES FOUND' under our 'My Card' as this article instructs!!!! Therefore this article doesn't help. Thanks for the attempt, honestly, I know you're trying to help - - but PLEASE we should read all the comments on a thread before answering rather than jump to a conclusion of what's needed with a quick scan. It's clear this article doesn't help. Thanks.

I think someone here already mentioned the "problem"/solution but... For me, I had no Duplicates Found button option until I defeated the Bold Text feature found here: Settings > Accessibility > Display & TextSize > Bold Text (set to "off")...

That did the trick for me.

NO, that does not work; there is no <Duplicates found> button below my card. It used to be there but is no more.

Hi there can I ask if you got a fix for this as I have the same problem myself ?

thanks

John

Same problem with new large numbers of duplicates not recognised in 17

This article does not resolve our issues

Hello ZoranM78,

Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. We see you're looking to merge or remove duplicate contacts. We have a user guide that will help you through getting this sorted out. Follow the steps below and let us know if you have any questions.

Get rid of duplicate contacts on iPhone - Apple Support

"In the Contacts app , link contact cards for the same person in different accounts so they appear only once in your All Contacts list. When you have contacts from multiple sources, you might have multiple entries for the same person in Contacts. To keep redundant contacts from appearing in your All Contacts list, contacts from different sources with the same name are linked and displayed as a single unified contact.

Resolve duplicate contacts

If you have more than one contact card with the same first and last name, you can merge the duplicate contacts.

1. Below My Card, tap Duplicates Found.
2. Tap individual contacts to review and merge them, or tap Merge All to merge all duplicate contacts.

Link contacts manually

If two entries for the same person aren’t linked automatically, you can unify them manually.

1. Tap one of the contacts, tap Edit, then tap Link Contacts.
2. Choose the other contact entry to link to, then tap Link.

When you link contacts with different first or last names, the names on the individual cards don’t change, but only one name appears on the unified card. To choose which name appears on the unified card, tap one of the linked cards, tap the contact’s name on that card, then tap Use This Name For Unified Card.

Note: When you link contacts, those contacts aren’t merged. If you change or add information in a unified contact, the changes are copied to each source account where that information already exists."

We hope this helps.

Cheers!

I had 3 with identical information for the same contact, my husband. He has been in my contacts for years. All of a sudden he’s in my contacts with 3 separate entries. And all of a sudden I could not call him from the iMessage app. I’ve always been able to tap on his picture and bring up those options and the call option and the FaceTime option were gray, but email was still available from the iMessage app. it seems like every update contacts are missing or contacts are duplicated. In order to fix my husband‘s contact so I could call him from the iMessage app. I had to delete him, reboot my phone several times, add him again and reboot my phone again several more times before it was fixed.

Very frustrating.

Same problem here.

Any news on that?

You are absolutely right this article is completely worthless, and I can see that I will have a greater likelihood of successfully going through and manually clearing my massive contact list before Apple can properly resolve this ongoing problem. I see it’s been a persistent issue since 2019. Apple, really this is utterly ridiculous. I never had this problem whenever I used to own an Android!

Here's what worked for me. I opened the Contacts app on my MacBook, hit Card up top, then Look For Duplicates. I had to merge them five times because it kept finding new ones. I still have two of each contact in the Contacts app on my laptop, BUT it fixed it on my phone! My mom had 6 duplicates before, and now none. Hopefully, this works for someone!

This worked for me. It's been so frustrating. THANK YOU @reneethea.

I had HUNDREDS of duplicates in my iPhone Contacts, but "Merge Duplicates" option never appeared, despite unlinking all accounts except for my iCloud account and restarting my phone. Based on your advice, I did the "Look for Duplicates" on my Mac several times, and then when I opened Contacts on my phone, "Merge Duplicates" button appeared! I did that a couple of times and now my Contacts are not insane.

Thank you

[Edited by Moderator]