How to remove duplicate contacts on Xiaomi: 7 working ways

Why Xiaomi has duplicate contacts and what is it dangerous

Duplicate contacts on Xiaomi smartphones is a common problem that arises from the peculiarities of MIUI and synchronization with cloud services. Most often, users experience the same contact being displayed 2-3 times, and sometimes more, This not only clutters the phone book, but also creates risks:

First, when you call or send a message, you can randomly select an irrelevant duplicate with outdated information (such as an old phone number); second, duplicates can cause applications that are integrated with contacts such as instant messengers, banking programs or taxi services to crash; and third, redundant data takes up space in the device’s memory and slows down the search on the phone book.

The main reasons for the appearance of doubles:

• 🔄 Multiple syncs with multiple accounts (Google, Mi Account, WhatsApp, etc.).
• 📱 Import of contacts from different sources (SIM-map, backups, third-party applications).
• 🔄 Update MIUI, After which the system backs up contacts.
• 📲 Errors in the Contacts app, especially on older firmware versions.

In this article, we’ll look at 7 proven ways to remove duplicate contacts on Xiaomi, from manual cleaning to automatic tools. All methods work on devices with MIUI 12, 13 and 14, including Redmi, POCO and Black Shark models.

Method 1: Manually combine duplicates through the Contacts app

The easiest method is to use the built-in unification function in the standard Contacts app, which is suitable if you have a few takes (up to 50) and want to control the process.

Instructions:

1. Open the Contacts app (a icon with a person's silhouette).
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Contact Management → Combine Contacts.
3. The system will automatically find possible duplicates, and there will be a "Unite" button opposite each contact.
4. Check the data and click Combine for each take.

⚠️ Note: If the duplicates have different information (e.g. different phone numbers or email addresses), the system will prompt you to choose which data to save.

Check the backup of contacts

Close all messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram)

Connect to a stable Wi-Fi

Allocate 10-15 minutes to the process-->

This is the safest method, but it is time-consuming. If you have hundreds of takes, you should use automatic methods (see the following sections).

Method 2: Clearing the cache and data of the Contacts application

Sometimes duplicates appear due to malfunctions in the Contacts app or its cache. Clearing temporary files can solve the problem without losing data.

How to clear the cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Contacts app (or Contacts and Calls on some models).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.
4. Reboot your smartphone.

If the cache doesn’t help, try clearing the app data (but it will remove all local contacts that aren’t synced to the cloud!):

1. In the same Warehouse menu, click Clear Data.
2. Confirm the action.
3. Once you reboot, sync your contacts again via Google or Mi Account.

💡

Before clearing the data, export the contacts to the VCF file: open Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Export to the file.

Method 3: Disabling synchronization with unnecessary accounts

One of the main reasons for duplicates is simultaneous synchronization with multiple accounts (Google, Mi Account, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.), each service can create its own copies of contacts, which leads to chaos in the phone book.

How to turn off the excess synchronization:

1. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync (or Passwords and Security on newer versions of MIUI).
2. Select an account (such as Google or Mi Account).
3. Turn off the switch opposite Contact.
4. Repeat for all accounts except one (we recommend leaving Google).

After the synchronization is disabled:

• 🔄 Reboot your smartphone.
• 📱 Open Contacts and check if there are any duplicates left.
• 🗑️ If the duplicates are gone, turn back on sync (but only for one account!).

Method 4: Using third-party applications to remove duplicates

If the built-in MIUI tools don't work, you can use third-party apps, which automatically find and remove duplicates, saving you time.

Top.-3 contact-cleaning:

⚠️ Note: Before using third-party applications, make sure to back up contacts. Some programs can delete data without recovery. Also check the permissions of the application - it should not request access to the data. SMS, Calls or geolocations without a reason.

Instructions for Contacts Optimizer:

1. Download and install the app from Google Play.
2. Start it and give access to the contacts.
3. Click Scan - the program will find all the takes.
4. Choose Autounion or check duplicates manually.
5. Confirm the changes and wait for the process to be completed.

Method 5: Reset the settings of the “Contacts” application to the factory

If previous methods didn’t work, you can return the Contacts app to factory settings, which will remove all user changes, but won’t affect the contacts themselves (if they’re synced to the cloud).

How to reset your settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Contacts and open its settings.
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Reset Settings (or Remove Updates if the button is not available).
4. Confirm the action and restart the smartphone.

After discharge:

• 🔄 Re-synchronize your contacts with Google or Mi Account.
• 📱 Check if the doubles have disappeared. If not, try a method to clean the cache (see Method 2).
• 🔧 Configure the display of contacts: open contacts → Settings → Display contacts and select only the appropriate accounts.

💡

Resetting the app doesn't delete the contacts, but it can return the old version of the interface. If you have duplicates left after reset, the problem lies in the account data, not in the application.

Method 6: Export and import contacts via VCF file

A radical but effective method is to export contacts to the file, clean them on the computer and import them back, which will help to get rid of even the “old” duplicates that can not be removed by other methods.

Step-by-step:

1. Export: Open Contacts → Settings → Import/Export → Export to file. Save the.vcf file to your device or to the cloud.
2. Clean up: Transfer the file to your computer and open it to Google Contacts (contacts.google.com) or Microsoft Outlook.Use built-in tools to find and remove duplicates.
3. Import: Delete all contacts on your phone (via Settings → Contact Management → Delete Everything). Then import the cleaned file back: Contacts → Import / Export → Import from the file.

⚠️ Warning: When you delete all contacts on your phone, don’t turn off sync with the cloud, otherwise the data will disappear there, you’d better untie your accounts (Google, Mi Account), then clean your phone, and then plug them back in and import a clean file.

Advantages of this method:

• 🧹 Complete cleaning of doubles, including hidden ones.
• 🔍 Ability to edit contacts on a large computer screen.
• 📂 The backup copy will remain in your hands (.vcf file).

Method 7: Update MIUI to the latest version

If the problem with duplicates appeared after the firmware update or has not disappeared for a long time, it may be the fault of the bug in MIUI. Xiaomi developers regularly fix such errors in new versions.

How to update firmware:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → System update.
2. Click Check for updates.
3. If a new version is available, download and install it.
4. After the update, restart your smartphone and check your contacts.

If the update didn’t work, try to roll back to the old version of MIUI (if the doubles came after the last update).

• 📱 Download the desired firmware version from the official Xiaomi website (for example, miuidownload.com).
• 🔄 Use Fastboot or Recovery to install (instructions are available on the forums) 4PDA or XDA Developers).
• ⚠️ Before rolling back, make a backup through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

Frequent questions about the duplicate contacts on Xiaomi