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Help Best way to re-enter entire contact list?

steve6884

Member
Nov 20, 2010
50
1
My contact list got very messed up when the list was transfered over from my old flip phone. There are way too many problems to be able to go through it and make edits. I think the best thing I can do is completely start over clean. What would be the best way to do this?

I have a gmail account that was created when I got the phone a month ago but really have never used gmail before. Can I enter a new contact list in gmail on my computer and then somehow copy the list to my phone?

Would I be better off using another program that would sync with the phone? I really want to be able to enter the names and numbers on the computer first because obviously it is way easier then typing on the phone. Thanks for any help
 
In my opinion, you are better off entering your contacts into your Gmail account. Once you do that, you'll have an online repository for contacts that you won't lose when you switch phones, flash a new ROM on your phone, etc.

When you have all the contacts entered in Gmail, you need to setup that Gmail account on your phone (if not already done), and make sure under "Manage accounts" in Android, that "Sync Contacts" is checked.
 
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Once you enter your contacts into Gmail, not only can you use them with Gmail, not only can you use them with your phone, but you'll never ever again have to worry about how you're going to get your contacts onto your NEXT android device.

Suppose you end up with several android devices? A phone. A tablet.

It's nice that if you change your contact information in one place, it is automatically updated to your other places. If I change contact information in Gmail it has changed on my phone before I can even pick up the phone and check the contact list.

Similarly, if I change my Google calendar, add an appointment, etc, it is already in my phone before I can pick up the phone and touch the calendar icon.

Gmail, ditto.
Task list.

Try it. You'll like it.
 
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you can export all your contacts to an external sd card, and then import them directly back to your phone if you lose them. this is what i do, takes 20 seconds at most. it allows you to save them to the phone also so you can do the ringtones and such
So you keep your contacts on your phone, and export them to the SD card for safekeeping? That sounds good, provided you backup the SD card somewhere - my ideal solution would be to keep the contacts in Google and on the phone, with the option to ignore the Google contacts, so you don't get duplicates. I wish there was a method to manage them that way.
 
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But...have they solved the problem yet of Gmail automatically adding every goshforsaken person you ever e-mailed or received an e-mail from into your contacts?

Right now I have an issue with lots of duplicate or similar contacts and I think it's because I've got phone contacts imported from outlook AND some Gmail contacts, so they merge. I'd consider wiping out Gmail contacts and re-creating Gmail contacts with a backup of my Outlook contacts...but not if it's going to add back in a bunch of superfluous ones.
 
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So you keep your contacts on your phone, and export them to the SD card for safekeeping? That sounds good, provided you backup the SD card somewhere

The export just creates a VCF file. Copy that to your PC, or to Dropbox, and you have a convenient backup separate from the device without having to remove your SD card.

Click here to set up a Dropbox account and get extra free space. ;)
 
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But...have they solved the problem yet of Gmail automatically adding every goshforsaken person you ever e-mailed or received an e-mail from into your contacts?

Right now I have an issue with lots of duplicate or similar contacts and I think it's because I've got phone contacts imported from outlook AND some Gmail contacts, so they merge. I'd consider wiping out Gmail contacts and re-creating Gmail contacts with a backup of my Outlook contacts...but not if it's going to add back in a bunch of superfluous ones.
Under sync groups, only select "my contacts" and that should solve the problem.
 
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The export just creates a VCF file. Copy that to your PC, or to Dropbox, and you have a convenient backup separate from the device without having to remove your SD card.

Click here to set up a Dropbox account and get extra free space. ;)
An easier way is to export the contacts from Gmail directly. I export in .xls format, and .vcf format, and then import them to another gmail account for safe keeping. The second gmail is for back up purposes only.
 
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OK OK OK - now I am home and trying to mess with this - and it's not making sense.

I am looking at my Gmail account on my PC, and have my Samsung Captivate out.

Gmail has three categories: My Contacts, Most Contacted, and Other Contacts. NONE of these contacts are in any way related with the Contacts app on my Captivate.

On my Captivate: under the Contacts app I have ONLY the contacts I previously added to the phone by USB from Outlook using Kies. When I go into manage the Gmail account under Settings, I now have Sync Contacts, Sync Gmail, Sync Calendar ALL selected. Yet there is NO correlation between the contacts on Gmail and the contacts on my app.

Weirder still, if I got into Gmail on my Captivate and start typing a name, an e-mail address pops up on the list that is NOT in ANY of My Contacts, Most Contacted, and Other Contacts that are on my Gmail account on my PC.

Why do names and e-mail addresses pop up on my Captivate Gmail that are nowhere on my PC-based Gmail? Why do the Contacts in my Captivate Contacts-app bear no relation to the contacts on my PC-based Gmail?

Beyond confusing....
 
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OK, I'm making progress....

First, I deleted all my random contacts from Gmail. These include alot of junk. Next, I exported my Outlook contacts (which is the complete list I DO want and nothing I don't want) to my desktop. From my PC, I imported the .csv file to Gmail. NOW, my PC-based Gmail account has all the contacts I want and nothing I don't want.

Then, I went to my Captivate, opened up the Contacts app, menu, then Display Options. I then DE-selected Phone and SIM, and Selected only Google from 'Choose contacts to display.' NOW, in my contacts app I have the full list of contacts I want displayed, none I don't want, and they all appear, except now they are linked to Gmail (little 'G' icon).

The only step I am still trying to figure out is how to remove the original copies of each contact that are still on my phone (just not displayed) because each contact via Gmail is linked to the identical contact on my phone.
 
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...AND, I belive I accomplished this last step of removing duplicate linked contacts by going into Kies, opening my Contacts folder, and selecting/deleting ALL contacts, which if I'm not mistaken removed all the contacts that were stored on my phone, and which I now have on my Google account (but linked/access to my phone) instead.

Good night.
 
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An easier way is to export the contacts from Gmail directly. I export in .xls format, and .vcf format, and then import them to another gmail account for safe keeping. The second gmail is for back up purposes only.

That only works if you're already syncing your contacts with Google/Gmail. Many people (such as myself) don't do this and don't want to for various reasons.

The method I suggested works with your native phone contacts regardless of your Google/Gmail setup, and doesn't require using Google at all.
 
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I have now entered a big chunk of my contact list into Gmail. I know how to view only the gmail contacts on the phone but how can I delete all the duplicate entries that are already stored on the phone? Thanks again for any info

I couldn't figure out how to do it automatically, so I did it manually instead. Use the menu soft key
 
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