The other day I noticed that my contacts where duplicated by Waze (on Android). This describes how to fix it and easily remove the duplicates.
It turned out that Waze adds an account under Android Settings→Accounts and turns on synchronization and that this is what causes this. In order to remove all “Waze contacts” from the address book, go to Settings→Accounts→Waze and turn off synchronization. Also choose delete account. Resync Google contacts and voila, your address book should be in order again.
N.B. you will still be logged in to your account in Waze, so no need to worry about that.
Thanks to the Waze forum for clearing this out.
P.S. While you’re here, take a look at Resurrecting the MacBook Air on why putting computer parts in the kitchen oven sometimes actually can do good.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. How do you ever figure out half this stuff, and why would Waze ever do that in the first place. My wife had 3 contacts for each person.
I’m glad you found it useful!
Bless you for having found this easy fix! I was going CRAZY trying to clean up the mess in my address book with all the duplicate Waze addresses created.
Thank you so much!
Thank you very much. i owe you one.
If you need anything – just ask me
Thanks. I am not sure why Waze does this. I had 6 entries for each contact after installing Waze. I am not sure why there were so many duplicates. Waze is a pretty popular app to have this happen.
Thanks for the concise instructions for fixing the Waze problem. I like using Waze, but geez – what is it with these application developer teams who all seem to think THEY are the center of the universe, and it’s just fine to take over a phone like this? It’s very very close to malware IMHO. Watch yourself Waze.
The instructions seem to have worked. Thanks so much!
I couldn’t agree more with Bob Newman. Waze is a great application, but I don’t like it when applications mess with my contacts. When they ask you to sync they should explain what could happen, especially if you have multiple phone numbers for individual contacts that virtually explode with Waze contacts. It even attached itself to contacts in Germany and England. Even though eliminated, my guess is they are still there, lurking somewhere within the software of my phone.
It has been about a month and this came back. If this keeps on happening, I love waze, but if this keeps happening, it has got to go.
THANK YOU!! I was trying to delete these one by one and decided to see if there was a better (quicker) way. You saved me countless hours of aggravation!
Glad to hear!
You’ve saved my sanity…. literally!
I thought it was the boogie man replicating my existing contacts 😉
@ 57 years old technology though so useful can be frustrating to use at my age. I enjoy waze because I am on the road a lot. I will probably not use it to it’s full capability the way the younger ones do but it is still a great app.
Thanks for a easy fix to the contacts duplication.
Phjr
The best tip I’ve had in a long time..A normal contacts file again.. Thanks you.
great tip, short accurate and usefull
Million thanks. Works great. This has been driving me nuts. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Thank you!!! This was killing me everyday!
Ty very much . It became unbearable.
Works great
Thanks a lot for this fix.
Big thanks for the quick assist, Robert!
Thank you sooooooo much for this info. It was driving me crazy.
THANKS , love and hate smart phone .. ugg
Thank you so much. That worked and I really feel relieved.
That worked although now when adding friends it can’t see my contacts. Should I re sync ?
Did you add through the Google web or on the phone?
THANKS for sharing your discovery. It works! And I agree totally with Bob Newman.