Share:
How can I delete a bunch of contacts from my iPhone at one time?
As convenient as the iPhone is, there are a few areas of the device that leave many people scratching their heads. Contacts, for example, is a major point of contention I hear about all the time. Whether it’s multiple email accounts with different contacts on each or lots of duplicates from who knows where, there has to be an easier way to manage your contacts at once, right?
Well, there are a couple of ways to tackle this problem. Deleting contacts en masse has been a longtime goal for many iPhone users. Apple doesn’t make the process easy or obvious, but for those who know how, deleting multiple contacts is easy to accomplish without taking an entire day to do!
Once you’ve managed to clean out your contacts, dialing calls or managing emails becomes easier than ever. If you’re ready to finally tidy up your address book, we’re breaking down the top tricks to get your contacts looking squeaky clean.
Method 1: Manage your contacts via iCloud.com
We’re big fans of using iCloud.com to manage your iPhone’s data. The interface is clean and easy to use — and gives you access to powerful tools like Find My iPhone and the iWork suite of programs. The Contacts app gets a cool, web-based version as well that makes managing (and deleting) multiple contacts much easier than the “hunt-and-peck” approach found on the iPhone.
To delete multiple contacts using iCloud.com, the first thing you’ll need to do is navigate to the website and log in with your AppleID and password.
Once inside the main menu, select the app labeled Contacts. When the program opens, the menu should look similar to the one you see on your device, with the contacts list appearing on the left side of the screen. To select multiple entries, simply hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click the names of the contacts you want to delete.
Once you’re ready, tap Delete or Backspace on your keyboard to remove the names for good. To avoid misclicking and losing your progress, I recommend doing this process in chunks of 5-10 names at a time. There isn’t a hard limit, but it makes it easier to keep track of what you’re doing and helps you to avoid mistakes.
Method 2: The app-based solution
Yes, of course, there’s an app for that — there’s an app for everything! Jokes aside, address book managers are an easy way to get the benefits of a clean contact list without needing to do any heavy lifting. Many apps are able to automatically detect and merge duplicate contacts right off the bat and can help you group them into appropriate categories for easy reference.
Out of the large pool of address book managers, we recommend the highly acclaimed CircleBack app.
Not only does this app manage your duplicate contacts without you needing to lift a finger, but it also lets you scan phone numbers using your phone’s camera and automatically adds them to your contact list! This means you can finally ditch all those business cards you’ve received and import them as digital entries that your phone can make use of.
CircleBack can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store. There are also a few other apps that we’ve previously reported on that are absolutely worth looking into if you want your address book as neat as possible.
Ultimately, the way you manage your contacts is a matter of personal style. I prefer to micromanage them for accuracy, but using an app can save you a good deal of time and energy. Plus, the scanning feature is hard to beat. How will you clean up your iPhone?
Tags: Apple, Apple iPhone, apps, book
Share: