Cleaning the phone book on Xiaomi: remove duplicates, garbage and unnecessary contacts

The phone book on Xiaomi smartphones eventually turns into chaos: duplicate contacts from different accounts, numbers with unreadable names like MTS 7912***4567, old working numbers of former colleagues and hundreds of randomly saved numbers from messengers. Even on new models like Redmi Note 13 Pro+ or POCO F6, this problem does not disappear — it only masquerades as “cloud synchronization.” As a result, finding the right contact takes minutes, and when you call, the system suggests choosing from 3-4 identical records.

In this article, we will discuss all the ways to clean a phone book on Xiaomi, from manual sorting to hidden MIUI features that the manufacturer does not advertise. You will learn how to remove duplicates in 2 clicks, filter junk contacts from WhatsApp and Telegram, and set up automatic synchronization so that the problem does not return.

Why is Xiaomi’s phone book getting clogged with trash?

The problem isn't your inattention -- the MIUI architecture is to blame.

• 📱 Local Memory (Hand-Save Numbers)
• ☁️ Mi Account (if synchronization is enabled)
• 🤖 Google account (if linked to device)
• 💬 Messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber – through the function “Contacts from chats”)
• 📧 Posts (if you used to save contacts from emails)
• 🔄 SIM- Cards (when transferring from an old phone)

As a result, the same person can be displayed 4-5 times under different names (for example, "Ivan Petrov", "Ivan", "+79123456789", "VK: Ivan Petrov"). The system does not know how to automatically combine such records - this must be done manually.

Another trap is chat contacts, and MIUI, by default, stores the numbers of everyone you've been chatting with on your messengers, even if you haven't added them to your phone book, and these records don't show up in the main list, but they take up space and can pop up when you search, and they need to be deleted separately.

⚠️ Warning: If you use Xiaomi with Chinese firmware (e.g., Redmi K70 Ultra for the domestic market), some cleaning features may be missing or may work differently, in which case you will have to use workarounds, as described in the section on alternative methods.

Method 1: Manual cleaning through the standard "Contact" application

The most obvious, but also the most time-consuming method, is if you have fewer 200 contacts and you're willing to spend 15-20 minutes sorting. Here's how to do it effectively:

1. Open the Contacts app (an icon with a person’s silhouette on a green background).
2. Slip on three dots in the top right corner → select Contact Management.
3. Go to Duplicate Contacts. The system will show all the matches found. Click Combine all (or choose one if you want to control the process).
4. Return to Contact Management → Contacts for display. You can turn off the display of unnecessary sources (for example, contacts from WhatsApp or SIM- cards).
5. To remove individual contacts: press your finger on the record → select the right ones → click Remove (basket icon).

Check the section "Duplicates of contacts"

Disable the display of contacts from messengers

Delete numbers with unreadable names (such as "MTS 7912...")

Combine records with the same phones, but different names

Export backup before mass deletion-->

One important thing is that when you manually delete contacts, they're only deleted from local memory, and if they're synced to Google or Mi Account, you'll have to clean them up there, and that's what we're going to do next.

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To quickly find junk contacts, enter the # or * symbol in the Contacts search bar. The system will show all records with non-standard names (numbers without names, technical records, etc.).

Method 2: Clean up your Google and Mi accounts

If you're using cloud synchronization, junk contacts can come back even after manual removal, and to avoid that, you need to clean up the data sources:

Cleaning up Google Contacts

1. Go to contacts.google.com (sign up with the same account as your phone).
2. On the left, select Duplicates → press Combine All.
3. For mass removal: tick off unnecessary contacts → click on the basket icon.
4. To remove contacts from messengers: in the left menu, select Other contacts → delete everything unnecessary.

Clearing contacts Mi Account

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
2. Slip on Contact Synchronization → turn it off (slider in off position).
3. Return to Contacts → Contact Management → Contact Sources → uncheck the Mi Account.
4. Remove unnecessary contacts from local memory (as in Method 1).
5. Turn on the sync back if you need it.

⚠️ Warning: If you are using Xiaomi with Chinese firmware (Redmi K60, Xiaomi 14 for the domestic market), the web version of Mi Account may not show contacts. In this case, clean only through your phone or export the list to a.vcf file for editing on your PC.

Method 3: Removing “contacts from chats” (hidden garbage)

This is the most insidious category: numbers that MIUI automatically saves from messengers but doesn't show up in the main list, they take up space and can pop up when searching to delete them:

1. Open Contacts → tap on three points → Settings.
2. Select Contacts to Display → uncheck the boxes from: 💬 WhatsApp Contacts 📱 Telegram Contacts 🔵 Facebook Contacts (if any) 🟢 Viber Contacts

Return to the main contact list → click on the magnifying glass (search) → type #. All hidden numbers from the chats will appear.

Press your finger on the unnecessary entry → select all → click Delete.

On some firmware (MIUI 14 and later), these contacts can be stored in a separate database to reach them:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Contacts app → Storage → Clear the data.
3. ⚠️ This will remove all unsynchronized contacts, so export backup first!

Method 4: Automatic cleaning with third-party applications

If you manually clean laziness, you can use specialized utilities.

• 🔍 Find duplicates by number, name and post
• 🗑️ Massively delete empty or incomplete records
• ☁️ Sync changes with clouds
• 📊 Sort contacts by group (work, friends, family)

The best apps for Xiaomi:

⚠️ Important: Before using third-party apps, turn off contact sync in the Google and Mi Account settings, otherwise the cleaned data can be recovered from the cloud.

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The best solution for most users is a combination of Contacts Optimizer (to clean) and Truecaller (to block spam), but remember: the more apps have access to contacts, the higher the risk of data leakage.

Method 5: Complete Reset and Recovery (Radical Method)

If the phone book has become an unreadable mess, and manual cleaning doesn't work, the last resort is factory reset and selective recovery, which is suitable for:

• 📱 Devices with highly fragmented phone book (1000+ contacts)
• 🔄 Phones after multiple synchronization with different accounts
• 🛠️ Apparatuses with errors in the contact database (e.g., after a failed update MIUI)

Step-by-step:

1. Backup your contacts: Open Contacts → Settings → Import/Export → Export to Storage. Select.vcf format and save the file to Google Drive or PC.
2. Go to Settings → About Phone → Resetting → Erase all data.
3. After resetting, set up your phone as new without restoring contacts from a backup!
4. Import contacts selectively: Open the.vcf file on your PC in a text editor (like Notepad++). Delete lines with unnecessary contacts (they start with BEGIN:VCARD). Save the file and import it back to your phone via Contacts → Import/Export.

⚠️ Warning: Devices with MIUI 13 and older may experience a Mi Account contact sync error after reset. To avoid this, unplug your account in Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account → Delete your account before reset.

How to prevent the phone book from getting clogged again?

Cleaning contacts is a one-off action, so that the problem does not return, set up preventive measures:

• 🔄 Turn off automatic sync with unnecessary sources: For Google: Settings → Accounts → Google → Account Sync → Disable Contacts. For Mi Account: Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account → Contact Sync.
• 🚫 Block saving contacts from messengers: On WhatsApp: Settings → Contacts → Save incoming numbers → turn off. On Telegram: Settings → Privacy → Contacts → Turn off sync.
• 📥 Use whitelist for import: When transferring contacts from a SIM- card or old phone, import them selectively, rather than all at once.
• 🔍 Regularly check duplicates: Once every 2-3 month, open Contacts → Management → Duplicates and combine found ones.

For advanced users, you can set up automatic cleaning with Tasker or MacroDroid, for example, create a rule that once a week will look for contacts with empty names and suggest that they be deleted, but it requires skills in automation.

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If you frequently exchange business cards using QR- code (Mi Share function on Xiaomi), turn off automatic saving of contacts received. To do this, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Mi Share → Settings → Save the contacts received → disable the slider.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning contacts on Xiaomi