Android Contact List Hell

[Skiver Veteran]

I have an issue that I cannot for the life of me figure out, my contact list is a nightmare.

 

 

There are a number of contacts like this as well as contacts I just don't recognize at all. I've gone through and disabled every single app I know of with contact sync other than my "exchange" contacts but they still remain, are they there because of the sync and despite being disabled they will just remain? Is there a way to get rid of them? Even if it means wiping all contacts I think I can do that without any major headaches as all my contacts are stored as part of my exchange account.

[The Evil Overlord]

Although I would refrain from helping you, simply because I don't like you,

Have you tried a full factory reset?

(back up to whatever medium first)

Looks like the contact list from a Motorola device, so sd card slot may or may not be applicable.

The no name would suggest exchange sync didn't find the relevant field filled in, in a way the phone would recognise...

Manual method, if you have another phone or can back the contacts to any other device that can edit the contact, and re enter the relevant information.

[adrynalyne]

Although I would refrain from helping you, simply because I don't like you,

Have you tried a full factory reset?

(back up to whatever medium first)

The no name would suggest exchange sync didn't find the relevant field filled in, in a way the phone would recognise...

Manual method, if you have another phone or can back the contacts to any other device that can edit the contact, and re enter the relevant information.

Was first comment necessary?  All it did for me was make me want to dislike you.

 

@OP:  Do any of these contain any info at all?

[Skiver Veteran]

Although I would refrain from helping you, simply because I don't like you,

Have you tried a full factory reset?

(back up to whatever medium first)

The no name would suggest exchange sync didn't find the relevant field filled in, in a way the phone would recognise...

Manual method, if you have another phone or can back the contacts to any other device that can edit the contact, and re enter the relevant information.

 

A full factory reset seems a little excessive for a contact list issue does it not? As far as I can see, my exchange contacts are actually fine, its these random contacts that I seem to be the problem. Like I say, I think they are left over from apps like outlook.com and linked in, however turning off contact sync does not seem to remove them?

[The Evil Overlord]

Was first comment necessary?  All it did for me was make me want to dislike you.

 

You are free to like or dislike me, I have my reasons for not liking him, but as I had a similar problem using my wife's old moto g when my phone had to go in for repair, I offered a 'fix' for him

Hmmmm 'fix' the possibilities are endless..... :devil:

[Skiver Veteran]

Was first comment necessary?  All it did for me was make me want to dislike you.

 

@OP:  Do any of these contain any info at all?

Some do, some don't, sometimes its just a name or an email address.

 

I've just noticed that when you go into the contact and edit, it does show "exchange contact and my hotmail address details so at least I can see where they come from,  however going into the hotmail account details it shows contact sync is off. So it seems I just need a way to clear out the contact list from the phone.

 

EDIT: Ok, it seems I can manually delete them via the edit menu, I'm sure you used to be able to long select contacts to delete them but maybe I'm making that up. If anyone knows a mass delete way it would be appreciated though.

[The Evil Overlord]

A full factory reset seems a little excessive for a contact list issue does it not? As far as I can see, my exchange contacts are actually fine, its these random contacts that I seem to be the problem. Like I say, I think they are left over from apps like outlook.com and linked in, however turning off contact sync does not seem to remove them?

They may have become stored locally to your device, some applets do so by default, but I cannot say for sure about outlook or linked in as I don't use them.

I use the default email app built into my z1 compact, and had to select what to sync as I only want my phone to tell me I've got the email, other than coming here, I almost never use any of it's features...

[The Evil Overlord]

In response to your edit, make sure it's not deleting your contacts from your email account.. My S3 did that, I didn't realise I hadn't changed the settings

[Skiver Veteran]

They may have become stored locally to your device, some applets do so by default, but I cannot say for sure about outlook or linked in as I don't use them.

I use the default email app built into my z1 compact, and had to select what to sync as I only want my phone to tell me I've got the email, other than coming here, I almost never use any of it's features...

 

They do appear to have been saved locally. I would have sworn that it wasn't always like this but I generally call the same few people from a recently called list so don't go into contacts much to notice.

 

In response to your edit, make sure it's not deleting your contacts from your email account.. My S3 did that, I didn't realise I hadn't changed the settings

 

The few I've removed that say they were from Hotmail don't seem to have been removed from the account - I think now that I have disabled contact sync it's only working with the locally stored info however most of these are useless so I might actually re-connect to hotmail and delete from their as it seems an easier way to group delete.

[The Evil Overlord]

They do appear to have been saved locally. I would have sworn that it wasn't always like this but I generally call the same few people from a recently called list so don't go into contacts much to notice.

 

 

The few I've removed that say they were from Hotmail don't seem to have been removed from the account - I think now that I have disabled contact sync it's only working with the locally stored info however most of these are useless so I might actually re-connect to hotmail and delete from their as it seems an easier way to group delete.

Regarding the second paragraph, this is why I suggested the factory reset, it deletes almost everything stored locally to the device, it's a pain in the ass, but it's also guaranteed not to delete anything elsewhere, play store remembers what apps you had installed on your phone, and your google back up keeps your favourites and log ins, long winded, I know, but also the least problematic in the long run.

[Draconian Guppy]

Remember also, ANY contact that gets exported from exchange and sim, etc. Will also backup to the gmail account if you have the setting enabled (Don't remember exact location for it :P )

[techbeck]

Have any other accounts set to syncing contacts?  I would check the Settings/Accounts section and make sure to check every account to see what they are syncing up.

 

I have a few different email account setup on my phone...Yahoo, Exchange, Outlook, Gmail....and just a couple are synced.

[PGHammer]

A full factory reset seems a little excessive for a contact list issue does it not? As far as I can see, my exchange contacts are actually fine, its these random contacts that I seem to be the problem. Like I say, I think they are left over from apps like outlook.com and linked in, however turning off contact sync does not seem to remove them?

Check the phone number listing for those contacts and see if you recognize any of the numbers - if you do, simply edit them to include the apropos info, and cull the remainder.  (It's the equivalent of "filling in the blanks" for Outlook - or any other Contacts list.)  How/Why this happens: some phones (smart or otherwise) automatically put every number that calls into the Contacts list; it's not every smartphone (or even every phone) that does this - Mom's old LG VX840 did it, but her new (to her) Samsung Galaxy Nexus does not.

[The Evil Overlord]

Was first comment necessary?  All it did for me was make me want to dislike you.

 

@OP:  Do any of these contain any info at all?

I know it's been a while, and posting this will probably get this thread closed, but I just wanted to let you know, we've kissed and made up

[adrynalyne]

I know it's been a while, and posting this will probably get this thread closed, but I just wanted to let you know, we've kissed and made up

Awww.