我的联系人在重复。我该怎么办？

A small percentage of Shared Contacts Manager users occasionally encounter the issue of duplicate contacts. This usually results from one or several factors acting together. Since these factors often originate on the user’s side, within their Google account or Workspace settings, they can be difficult for our team to detect or resolve directly. We don’t have access to user accounts or their specific configuration, so the root causes often remain hidden.

Over time, however, we’ve identified a set of proven practices that can help fix this issue and, more importantly, prevent it from happening again. Ideally, it’s best to apply these preventive measures in advance since it is always easier than cleaning up duplicates after the fact. If you’re already facing this problem, one or a combination of a few methods will help. This guide will explain the steps to restore proper account settings and, if necessary, clean up your shared contact database.

Remove Unnecessary Applications and Disconnect Them from Your Google Account

Shared Contacts Manager (SCM) works by integrating with your Google account and syncing your contacts. However, if other applications, especially older or unused ones, also have access to your contacts, they might interfere with this process. In many cases, users uninstall such apps but forget to fully disconnect them from their Google accounts. When that happens, these apps can still access contact data in the background and potentially cause sync issues or even duplicate entries.

To reduce the risk of conflicts and ensure SCM runs smoothly, it’s important to not only remove any unnecessary applications but also revoke their access to your Google account. 

To disconnect unnecessary apps from your Google account:

1. Sign in to your Google account and click Manage your Google Account.
   
2. In the left-hand menu, select 安全.
   
3. Scroll down to Your connections to third-party apps and services 并点击 See all connections.
   
4. Review the list of applications with access to Google Contacts. Decide which ones you actually use and still need.
5. For any apps you no longer need, select them, click Delete all connections, and confirm your choice.
   

Delete unnecessary apps

After disconnecting unnecessary applications from your Google account, it’s also a good idea to uninstall them entirely if they’re still installed.

To remove an app from Google Workspace Marketplace:

1. 转到 谷歌工作空间市场.
2. Click on the Settings icon and select Manage apps.
   
3. Select the application you want to uninstall, click on the Options icon (three dots), and click 卸载. 
   

By doing this, you remove unwanted software and clear your account of applications that could interfere with Shared Contacts Manager’s synchronization.

Organize Your Contact Database

A well-structured contact list makes teamwork faster, reduces errors, and keeps your data clean. Before sharing your contacts, review your labels (contact groups) and make sure they follow these best practices:

1. Merge Existing Duplicates

It’s best to merge duplicates before sharing contacts. In any case, even if your labels are already shared, follow these steps:

1. Temporarily stop sharing your contacts.
2. In Google Contacts, open the Merge & fix tool.
3. Ask your colleagues to do the same in their accounts. If duplicates are found, each team member should merge them.

When all team members have merged their contacts into a single, unique record, each account will contain a clean contact list. You can then re-enable sharing.

2. Delete Unnecessary Contacts

To keep your contact list efficient, delete any records you don’t need. Remember that when you delete a contact, Google Contacts stores it in the trash for 30 days before permanent removal.

Before sharing contacts, review the trash folder. Restore anything important, and remove the rest.

To review and clear the trash:

1. 开放 谷歌联系人.
2. In the left-hand menu, click 垃圾.
3. If you see contacts you want to keep, select them and click Recover.
4. To permanently remove unwanted contacts, click Empty Trash now.

3. Use Clear and Unique Label Names

When contacts are imported into Google Contacts, either manually or via CSV, they often end up in default labels like “Imported on…” or “myContacts”. Leaving these default names can cause confusion. For example, if you share a label called myContacts with someone who already has a label with that name, it becomes unclear which contacts belong to which group.

To avoid this, rename your labels based on your organization’s structure or activity. Each shared label should have a unique, descriptive name so everyone immediately knows what type of contacts it contains and how it should be used.

4. Thoughtful Contact Sharing

How you organize contact sharing plays a big role in preventing duplicates. Investing a little extra time in setting up your master contact list at the start will save you a lot of time later. Once sharing is properly organized, it will run smoothly and almost unnoticed by you and your colleagues.

1. Avoid Sharing “All Contacts”

While it’s technically possible to share all your contacts, we don’t recommend it for several reasons:

• Irrelevant data: your general list may contain contacts your colleagues don’t need for their work. Sharing them creates unnecessary clutter.
• Risk of duplicates: a recipient might already have some of the same contacts. If they receive them again from you, duplicates will appear.
• Label confusion: When “All Contacts” is shared, it appears to recipients as a group called Contacts. If they already have a label with this name, they may end up with two “Contacts” labels, which can be misleading. In some cases, depending on the permissions you give, they might not be able to rename the shared label.

2. Use a Clear Labeling System

Share only the contact groups that are truly needed for your organization’s workflow. There’s no need to give everyone access to every label.

• Create labels with clear, descriptive names.
• Fill them with the right contacts for their intended purpose.
• Share them only with the people who need them.

3. Assign Permissions Carefully

Shared Contacts Manager offers four permission levels:

• View – users can see contacts but not edit them.
• Editor – users can view and edit contacts.
• Reshare – users can view, edit, and share the label with others.
• Owner – full control, including permissions.

We recommend granting View access to most users, especially if you manage the shared contacts yourself. Assign broader permissions only to trusted colleagues who need to update or maintain contact information. Avoid using Reshare unless absolutely necessary.

Careful permission management reduces the risk of duplicates and speeds up regular automatic synchronization.

Complete Reload of the Contact Database

In rare cases, when none of the earlier methods work and duplicates keep reappearing, a complete reorganization of your organization’s contact database may be necessary.

This involves exporting the contacts of every team member, transferring them to a central account (usually managed by the Google Workspace or SCM administrator), merging duplicates in one place, and then re-sharing a clean database.

Step 1: Collect all contacts in a single admin account

Choose an experienced user, preferably your Workspace or SCM administrator, to manage the process. Each team member must export their contacts in CSV format and send the file to the administrator.

If you are a regular SCM user:

1. 开放 谷歌联系人.
2. 选择 所有联系人.
3. 点击 更多行动 menu (three vertical dots).
4. 选择 出口 and choose a location to save the CSV file.
   
5. Delete all contacts from your Google account and empty the trash.
6. Send the CSV file to your domain administrator.

If you are a domain or SCM administrator:

Once you have received CSV files from all team members and confirmed they have emptied their trash:

1. 开放 谷歌联系人 in your own account.
2. 在左侧边栏，点击 进口.
3. Import the CSV files one at a time.
4. After importing all files, open 合并和修复 to remove duplicate contacts.

Step 2: Restore Sharing

After merging, you will have one clean, consolidated contact database. You can now re-share the relevant labels with your colleagues, whose accounts will be empty and ready to receive the updated contacts.

By starting from a fresh, organized database and applying the best practices described earlier in this guide, you can prevent the duplication problem from returning.