# How to clean up contacts on iPhone after switching phones

**Short answer:** duplicate and messy contacts after a switch usually come from the same people being in **two accounts** (iCloud and Gmail, for example) or from an **extra import** (SIM, Move to iOS, a .vcf file). Pick one main account, make it the default, turn off contacts from the account you don't need, then merge what's left with **Contacts › Duplicates Found** and remove entries with no name or number.

## Steps
1. **See your sources:** **Settings › Apps › Contacts › Contacts Accounts** (on iOS 17 and earlier, **Settings › Contacts › Accounts**). Note which accounts have Contacts turned on.
2. **Pick one home:** for most iPhone users that's iCloud. Set **Settings › Apps › Contacts › Default Account** to it, so new contacts go there.
3. **Back up** before changing anything: on iCloud.com, export your contacts as a vCard, or let Spaceclear save a .vcf backup.
4. If the same contacts exist in both iCloud and Gmail, turn off **Contacts** for one account in Contacts Accounts. They disappear from the iPhone (not from that account), and most duplicates go with them.
5. Open **Contacts**. If iOS shows **Duplicates Found** under your own card, tap **View Duplicates › Merge All**.
6. Fix near-duplicates by hand: open a contact, tap **Edit**, scroll down and use **Link Contacts** to join two cards for the same person.
7. Delete empty and unreachable entries: no name, or no phone and email ([deleting several at once](/guides/delete-multiple-contacts-iphone)).

## Where duplicates come from
| Cause | What you see | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Same people in iCloud and Gmail | Every contact twice | Turn off Contacts for one account |
| SIM card imported | Short names, numbers only | Merge, or delete the SIM entries |
| Move to iOS plus Google sync | Double import of Android contacts | Keep Google or iCloud, not both |
| Old .vcf imported twice | Exact copies | Duplicates Found › Merge All |
| Work and personal cards for one person | Same person, different numbers | Link Contacts, or merge by phone or email |

## Clean contacts once, not on every device
If your contacts are in iCloud, clean them up on one device and the changes sync to your iPad and Mac. Cleaning while an old account is still syncing can bring duplicates right back, so settle the accounts first (steps 1–4).

## Why iOS misses some duplicates
iOS only suggests duplicates with matching names. "Mom", "Mum" and "Maria Lopez" with the same mobile number aren't flagged, and neither are cards that share an email address under different names.

## Doing it with Spaceclear
[Spaceclear's](/) **Contacts** cleanup matches duplicates by **name, phone number or email**, so it catches the ones iOS misses. Each merge combines every number, email and address into one card, and you see the merged result before anything changes. It also lists contacts with **no name** or **no way to reach them**. Before the first change, Spaceclear saves a **.vcf backup** of all your contacts on the iPhone and keeps the 10 most recent, so you can restore any time. Matching and backups happen on your iPhone; nothing is uploaded. More detail: [merge duplicate contacts](/guides/merge-duplicate-contacts-iphone).

## FAQ
### Why do I have duplicate contacts after switching to iPhone?
Most often your contacts were imported twice: once through Move to iOS or a SIM import, and again when you signed into Google, which syncs the same contacts. Keep one source and merge the rest.

### Should I keep my contacts in iCloud or Gmail?
Either works on iPhone. iCloud is simplest if all your devices are Apple; Gmail is better if you also use Android or a Chromebook. What matters is keeping one main account and setting it as the default.

### How do I import SIM contacts on iPhone?
Go to **Settings › Apps › Contacts › Import SIM Contacts** and choose the account to import into. Run it only once, and merge any duplicates it creates.