Duplicate contacts in Xiaomi: causes and ways to eliminate

You open a phone book on your Xiaomi to call a friend, but instead of one contact, you see two, three, or even five identical entries with different numbers? The problem of duplicate contacts is familiar to many owners of smartphones of this brand — especially after updating MIUI, syncing with accounts or transferring data. In this article, we will analyze why this happens, and what to do to restore order in the phone book.

Contact duplicates don't just clutter up the list, they interfere with quick search, they can lead to errors when calling or sending messages. In some cases, the problem is due to synchronization settings, in others, to the peculiarities of MIUI. We analyzed all possible causes and collected proven solutions, including hidden system functions that few people know about.

1. The main reasons for duplication of contacts

Before you manually delete duplicates, it's important to understand why they appear, and 90 percent of the time, it's automatic processes that the user doesn't even notice.

• 🔄 Sync with multiple accounts: if you use Google, Mi Account and SIM-The system can create separate records for each source.
• 📱 Transferring data from another phone: When migrating via Mi Mover or backups, conflicts often arise between old and new contacts.
• 🔄 Update MIUI: after major updates (for example, with MIUI 13 on MIUI 14) the system may incorrectly combine contacts from different sources.
• 📇 Import/export through VCF-files: If you ever saved contacts to a file and downloaded them back, copies may have appeared.

The problem is particularly common on the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 and Xiaomi 13 models due to aggressive synchronization policies in new firmware versions. For example, in MIUI 15, the contact pairing algorithm works differently than in MIUI 12, which can lead to chaos in the phone book.

2. How to check the sources of duplicates

Before you delete the contacts, you need to understand where they come from.

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → Contact management → Import/Export.
3. Select View Contacts by Account (the name may vary depending on the version of MIUI).

You will see a list of all sources: Google, Mi Account, SIM-If one of them has a much higher number of contacts than the others, it's likely that the duplicates are coming from there, for example, if you have 500 contacts on Google and 500 contacts on Mi Account, but you have 1,000 records in the phone book, the problem is the overlay.

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If there are Other contacts or Unidentified contacts in the list of sources, they can be safely deleted - these are usually garbage records left after import.

3. Methods of removing duplicate contacts

There are several ways to clean a phone book, and let's start with the simplest and safest one.

3.1 Automatic connection via MIUI

MIUI has a built-in tool for merging takes:

1. Open Contacts. → three-point → Contact management.
2. Choose to Combine Contacts (or Find and Combine Doubles).
3. The system will show you a list of possible takes. Click Combine all or select the recordings manually.

This method works if the duplicates are due to minor discrepancies (for example, different number formats: +79991234567 and 89991234567).

3.2 Manual removal via Google web interface

If the duplicates are linked to a Google account, it is easier to clean them through your computer:

1. Go to contacts.google.com and log in.
2. In the left menu, select Dubbles, and the system will automatically find all the repeated entries.
3. Click Combine for each group of takes or use the option to Combine All.

After cleaning, sync contacts on your phone: Settings → Accounts → Google → Sync.

Backup of contacts in VCF

Check the number of contacts in each account

Disable autosynchronization during cleaning

Use the computer for convenience-->

Resetting and re-synchronization

If the automatic methods didn’t help, try the radical method:

1. Open Settings → Accounts.
2. Select Google (or Mi Account) → Delete your account (don’t worry, your data will stay in the cloud).
3. Reboot the phone.
4. Add the account again and enable contact synchronization.

Before you do this, make sure your contacts are saved in the cloud, and you can check this out at Google Contacts or i.mi.com (for Mi Account).

⚠️ Note: If you use Mi Account to sync, some system applications (such as Themes or Browser) may reset after deleting your account.

4. How to prevent repeated duplication

To prevent the problem from returning, follow these rules:

• 🔗 Disable unnecessary sync sources: Leave only one primary account (like Google) and disable the rest in Settings → Accounts. → [Select an account] → Synchronization of contacts.
• 📱 Do not import contacts with SIM-maps: they often contain outdated data and create duplicates. manually transfer them once and don't use them again SIM source.
• 🔄 Check the doubles regularly: once a month, start automatic association in the MIUI or Google Contacts.
• 📇 Avoid backups through third-party apps: they may save contacts in the wrong format. MIUI.

A critical mistake many users make is to enable synchronization of contacts across multiple accounts (Google + Mi Account + SIM) without realizing that the system creates separate records for each source, which is the main reason for 80% of duplicates.

5. Hidden MIUI settings for contact management

There are little-known features in MIUI that help you control contacts at a deep level.

1. Open the Settings.
2. Go to the Apps → Application management.
3. Find the contact and tap him.
4. Select Storage → Clear data (this won’t delete contacts, it will only reset the app’s cache).
5. Go back and press Permissions → check which apps have access to contacts. Turn off access for unnecessary programs (such as games or social networks).

Another useful trick: if you want to completely reset your Contacts app settings (for example, after a crash), go to Settings → Apps → Contacts → Additional → Reset, which will return all display and sorting parameters to factory.

6. Frequent User Errors and How to Avoid Them

Many people try to solve the double problem, but they make it worse.

Apps like Clean Master or Duplicate Contacts Remover are especially dangerous, often deleting the wrong records or disrupting the communication between contacts and their accounts, and Xiaomi even issued a warning in 2023 about the risks of such programs on its official blog.

7. Features for different Xiaomi models

Contact algorithms may vary depending on the model and version of MIUI.

• 📱 Redmi Note 11/12, POCO X4/X5: These models often fail to sync with Mi Account, so the solution is to disable it and use Google only.
• 📱 Xiaomi 12/13/14: This is usually due to the automatic import of contacts from the SIM-I need to manually shut down this source.
• 📱 POCO F4/F5: In these smartphones, the bug with duplicates appears after updating to MIUI 14. Helps reset the settings of the application Contacts.
• 📱 Redmi 10A/10C: Because of a weak processor, it can inhibit automatic pairing of takes.

On models with MIUI 15 (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi Note 13), a new feature called Smart Sync has been introduced, which should prevent duplicates. However, while it is unstable, many users complain that it, on the contrary, creates copies. If you have this problem, turn it off in Settings → Accounts → Additional → Smart Sync.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions

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Never keep your contacts in Google, Mi Account and on the same page. SIM-Choose one primary source and stick to it.