How to Remove Duplicate Contacts in Outlook 2016, 2019

Introduction

Outlook is a prominent email client that offers numerous services to users. Along with emails, it allows you to manage contacts, calendars, journals, etc. Therefore, it is a complete email solution for both individuals and businesses.

Sometimes, you encounter issues with Outlook, like error messages, unable to load a message, or mailbox duplicates. These problems appear because of some technical misconfiguration. You can simply resolve them by adjusting the settings.

The most common problem of Outlook users is duplicate contacts. You can remove duplicate outlook contacts as there are many inbuilt features available. But before jumping directly to the methods, we first discuss why Outlook duplicate contacts have been created.

Why you need to Remove Duplicate Contacts in Outlook?

Most of the time, a user does not intentionally create duplicate contacts. They will get created automatically. Below we discuss some of the most common scenarios where you accidentally created duplicate contacts.

• The same person may have different email addresses. So, when you try to save these two contacts. It may be possible that you end up creating duplicate contacts in Outlook.
• If there are multiple address books on the Exchange server, it also leads to creating duplicate contacts.
• When you drag an email from your mailbox to the contact folder, it will create duplicate contacts.

Now, you have learned how duplicate contacts get created automatically. It is time to learn the procedure to remove them.

Also Read: How to Merge Duplicate Contacts in Outlook

How to Delete Duplicate Contacts in Outlook?

You can remove duplicate contacts in Outlook either manually or professionally. Both the approaches have pros and cons. First, we will discuss the manual techniques. After that, we will explain the most effective and reliable solution.

Follow the below steps to delete duplicate contacts from outlook 2019

#1. Delete Duplicate Contacts Manually

• Open MS Outlook and click on the People icon at the bottom left.

• Now, go to the Current View section and switch to Phone View. It will help you to easily identify duplicate contacts.

• Select the duplicate contact. Press and hold the Ctrl key and select all the desired items you want to delete.
• Right-click and choose the Delete option to remove the selected duplicate contacts.

#2. Use the Import/Export Feature

It is a multi-step procedure to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook. First, export the contacts to your system, then import the backup file of contacts without duplicates. It will remove the identical contacts. But you have to perform every step-in sequence for effective results.

Step 1: Export all contacts to the system

• Open MS Outlook and switch to Peoples.
• Now, right-click on the contacts. Select the New folder option.

• Name the folder and click on the OK button.

• After that, click on the File button and go to the Open & Export option.
• Click on the Import/Export It will open the Import and Export wizard.

• Choose the Export to a file option and press the Next button.

• After that, select the Comma Separated Value option and hit Next.

• Now, select the newly created folder and click on the Next button.

• Browse the destination location and click on the Next button.
• At last, click on the Finish button.

Step 2: Import Contacts to Outlook

• Now, click on the File button and choose the Open and Export option.
• Select the Import/Export option.
• Choose the Import from another program or file option and press Next.
• Select Comma Separated Values and hit Next.
• Now, tick the Do not import duplicate items and click on the Next button.

• Define the mailbox folder where you want to import contacts.
• At last, click on the Finish button.

Using the above method, you can also remove duplicate contacts in Outlook for Mac. There will only be slight variation in the steps. However, as you can see, the above methods are complicated and time-consuming. You need an advanced solution that helps you easily remove duplicate contacts.

Professional Solution to Delete Duplicate Contacts in Outlook

DRS Outlook Duplicate Remover is a fast, easy, and effective way to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook. It has all the advanced options that help you customize the process as per your requirement. Moreover, the application is built with an interactive interface for better results. You can download the Outlook duplicate contacts remover free version to evaluate the premium application.

Conclusion

After reading the article, it can be concluded that the manual methods to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook are only suitable for advanced users who have technical knowledge. Also, this approach is quite complicated and time-consuming. Therefore, we suggest you use the proficient Outlook duplicate remover because of its simplicity and fast performance.