New iPhone + Mobile Me = Duplicate Contacts

August 19th, 2009 § 12 comments

I just got the iPhone 3Gs and set everything up the way I thought it should be.

But I was wrong, I ended up with every single contact I have duplicated on the phone because MobileMe and iTunes were both pushing data.

What did I do wrong?  I set up MobileMe first.

The reason why this does not work, is that when you get all your contacts from your computer and THEN set up MobileMe it will ask whether you want to merge your contacts.  Setting up MobileMe first did not give me that option because there were no contacts on the phone.  Then I hooked it up to iTunes and everything was on there twice.

So, if you run into this issue where you already have duplicate contacts on your iPhone the solution is simple.  Go to your mobileMe account on the iPhone.  Turn of Contacts syncing and say yes to it removing all mobileMe pushed contacts.  Turn it back on.  Now it will ask you if you want to merge your current contact list with your mobileMe contact list.

Voila!

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  • Ellen

    Thanks– Your solution worked perfectly, but I have a question. Will this continue to happen with each sync? Do I have to set something up differently? Usually, I sync my contacts/calendars through Itunes and Entourage with no problem. I do have MobileMe too, but everything has been syncing fine until the latest software update. Can I still use the push technology and sync with my computer?

    • http://www.mkbernier.com Matt Bernier

      Now that you have it set up where it merged your contacts, your lists are exactly the same on both your iPhone and your computer, so it will not happen again.

    • http://www.mkbernier.com Matt Bernier

      Once you have done these steps above, you should be fine. I have not had any issues since I did that.

  • Ellen

    Does this also rectify duplicate calendars?

    • http://www.mkbernier.com Matt Bernier

      I believe that it *should* fix the multiple calendars issue, because it would be symptomatic of the same sort of situation. I hope that it does work for you!

  • Dan Rod

    Dude, you are a rockstar. This worked perfectly and stopped the insanity of dups.

    Thank you so much!

    • http://www.mkbernier.com Matt Bernier

      No worries! Glad I could help.

  • Tony

    Thanks a bunch. This was exactly my problem (and my wife’s), and you had exactly the solution. Thanks for posting it.

  • Spencer

    Brilliant! So glad I stumbled on this post. Thanks for posting!

  • Chris

    Worked Great! Thanks!

  • Reeds

    There is an app called Remove Duplicate Contacts in app store.

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remove-duplicate-contacts/id312352867?mt=8

  • http://www.scrubly.com Chris Smith

    I have experienced the same thing before; I suggest you can try using duplicate remover like Scrubly Duplicate Remover. This works well for me. I assure you this will end up you’re duplication’s problem.

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  • Author: Matt Bernier
  • Comments: 12 Comments
  • Categories: Hardware, iPhone