How to Merge Duplicate Contacts in Outlook 2021 & Below Versions

“I work as a Manager in an organization. I have too many contacts to deal with. But for the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that my Outlook has started to hang. After I examined the issue, I found that I have many duplicate contacts and emails in my mailbox. I am facing trouble working properly. Can you suggest any reliable solution to merge duplicate contacts and emails in Outlook?”

We often receive such queries from users. If you are also troubled by duplicate contacts, here is the solution. In this blog, we will discuss manual procedures to merge duplicate contacts in Outlook. Besides, you can also use PST Merge Tool to merge PST mailbox items. Before moving on to the methods, let us take an overview of why duplicate contacts are created.

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Overview

In the digital age, an organization must maintain and update data. And if your mailbox will be duplicating contacts, email, calendars, etc., that’s a big mess. Therefore, it is necessary to update your mailbox after regular intervals and eliminate duplicate items. But why are the duplicates created?

Why are duplicate contacts created?

There are various reasons why duplicate contacts are created. As if:

• Importing the same PST file in Outlook that you already have.
• Importing contacts from different improper sources.
• Multiple email accounts are being used in one Outlook client.
• Instead of updating the existing contact, added a new contact.

Let us move on to the solution part and find out how we can merge Outlook files without duplicates from different accounts.

Methods to Merge Duplicate Contacts in Outlook

You can combine contacts in Outlook either by manually deleting duplicate contacts or by Export/re-Import process. Apart from this, you can also use a professional tool. Let’s move step-by-step.

#Method 1: Manually Delete Duplicate Contacts

• Open Outlook.
• Click on People under the Home menu.
• Then, Click on the Phone icon in Current View.
• Press & Hold Ctrl Key and select all duplicate contacts you want to delete.
• After that, right-click to select Delete or press the Delete key from the keyboard.
• Confirm the process and delete all duplicate contacts.

This process is ideal for less number of duplicate contacts. For huge numbers, it may be a tedious task to perform.

#Method 2: Export Contacts to CSV and re-Import

This procedure includes a few major steps: first is to export all contacts to CSV format, merge the duplicate contacts, and re-import the contacts in Outlook. Let’s see how.

Step 1: Export contacts to CSV files

• Open MS Outlook and click on the People
• Right-click on Contacts and select the New Folders
• Provide a name to the new folder eg. ‘Delete Contacts’ and return to the primary Contacts.
• In the main contacts, press Ctrl+A to select all contacts. After that drag & drop to the Delete Contacts folders or right-click > Move > Delete Contacts.
• After contacts are moved to the Delete Contacts folder, Go to File and click on Open & Export.
• Click the Import/Export option. Import/Export Wizard opens.
• Select Export to a File >>
• Choose CSV(Common Separate Value) file format and hit Next.
• In the ‘Select folder to export from’ choose the ‘Delete Contacts’ folder and press Next.
• Browse the location to save the resultant CSV file and press Next and then Finish.

Step 2: Re-Import all Contacts to MS Outlook

To further combine contacts in Outlook you need to re-import all contacts to MS Outlook. Follow the steps mentioned below:

• Open File > Open & Export > click Import/Export.
• Further, from the list choose Import from another program or file and click Next.
• Select CSV(Comma Separated Values) > Next.
• Browse to select the exported CSV file and check the Do not import duplicate items Click Next.
• Select the primary Contacts folder, the Next, and Finish.
• After all the contacts are imported to the Contacts folder, you need to move contacts from Delete Contacts to the primary contact folder.
• Open the Delete Contacts folder and press Ctrl+A to select All.
• Right-Click > Move > Contacts.
• If there exist any duplicate contacts, you will get a prompt on the screen. Select the radio button before Update Information of…. Option and press Update or Update All.
• After contacts are moved, delete Delete Contacts.

#Method 3: Professional DRS PST Merge Tool

Users who want to merge duplicate contacts in Outlook without executing the lengthy manual process should know about DRS PST Merge Tool. It stands as the most reliable and trusted tool for merging PST files among IT users. It enables users to add multiple PST file into one and make it easy to handle. This tool is an all-in-one solution to merge duplicate Outlook contacts, emails, calendars, etc. It is equipped with innovative features and a simple user interface for better user experience. Some of its peculiar features make it an incomparable tool. Below are few prime features of the software:

• This tool is effective to merge multiple numbers of PST files into one without hampering the content inside.
• It shows a preview of the mailbox folder so that you can select only the necessary folders to merge,
• Apart from contacts, this tool can merge other mailbox items such as Calendars, Mails, Notes, Journals, etc.
• To add many files into one, it provides two different options: Join PST and Merge PST.
• While merging emails, this tool provides you the option to remove duplicates and exclude attachments.
• For better security purposes, allows password protection for the resultant PST file.
• You can add any size PST file to this tool for merging because it has no file size limitations.

How DRS PST Merge Tool Works

Here is the stepwise demonstration of how to work on the Tool:

• Install and Run DRS PST Merge Tool as an administrator in your system.
• Click on Add File(s) or Add Folder(s) option to add the PST file or folder you want to merge.
• Choose the desired PST file and proceed.
• In the preview of the mailbox folder, choose the folder you want to merge. Then, select either the Join PST option or Merge PST. Click Next.
• After that tick the mailbox items you want to merge out of Mail, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Journal, and Notes options. In the same window, check the Specific date range option and specify the date range. Hit Next.
• Further, choose Folder Path to Save files, check the required options, and proceed with the final steps. Click Join or Merge.

Conclusion

In the above write-up, we have discussed how to merge duplicate contacts in Outlook. We have mentioned different manual methods to do so and also suggested a professional PST Merge Tool that will ease the process of merging. This tool is efficient, when you are importing PST files. You can use it to remove duplicates and only necessary items will be imported.

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