Finding and Merging Duplicate Addresses

Over time, an address book can end up with more than one address for the same person, for example after importing addresses or syncing with Google. Choose File/Find Duplicates... from the menu to find addresses that have the same name and merge them into a single address.

Addresses are matched on their last, first and middle names. Capitalization, extra spaces and trailing periods are ignored, so "Smith, John" matches "smith, john" and "Jr." matches "Jr". Addresses with no first or last name are matched on their Company instead. Private addresses are only included when private addresses are being shown.

Ignore middle names when matching	Check this to treat addresses as duplicates even when their middle names are different, for example "John Smith" and "John Q. Smith".
Groups of addresses with the same name	Each line is a group of addresses with the same name. The Differences column shows Identical when the addresses in the group have the same information, or which kinds of information differ. Only the checked groups are merged. Use Check All, Check Identical (just the groups with identical addresses) or Uncheck All to quickly change which groups are checked.
Records in the selected group	Shows each address in the selected group. The one marked Keep is the address that remains after merging; the others are removed. By default the address with the most information is kept. To keep a different one, double-click it, or select it and choose Keep This One.
Merge Checked	Merges every checked group. You are asked to confirm first, and a backup of your address book is made before anything is changed.

How addresses are merged

Nothing from a removed address is lost. For each removed address:

Any information that fits into an empty field of the kept address is copied there. Phone numbers and street addresses stay in the same field (Home, Business, etc.), and e-mail addresses go into the first empty e-mail field.
Information that is already the same in the kept address is skipped. Phone numbers are compared by their digits only, so (480) 555-1212 matches 480.555.1212.
Information that is different, where the kept address's field is already filled in, is added to the kept address's Notes, under a line like --- Merged from duplicate address (last modified 3/14/2024 9:01 AM) ---. The removed address's own notes are added there too, unless the kept address already has the same notes.
Categories are combined. If any of the addresses is marked Private, the kept address is marked Private.
A photo is copied only if the kept address doesn't already have one.

If you sync with Google, the merged address is updated and the removed addresses are deleted the next time you sync.

Backup and log

Before merging, a backup of your address book is saved in your backup folder with a name like My Book_BeforeMerge_20261019-104512.abk. This backup is separate from the automatic backups, so it is never overwritten, and it is made even if automatic backups are turned off. To undo a merge, or to see the addresses as they were before merging, open this backup file.

A record of every merge is added to the file Find Duplicates Log.txt in your %APPDATA%\Handy Address Book folder. For each group it lists the name, which addresses were kept and removed (with their last modified date and an e-mail address, phone number or street address to tell them apart), and what was copied or added to Notes. The ID numbers in the log are internal reference numbers, which you only need if you contact technical support. For an encrypted address book, names and other details are never written to the log; open the backup file to see the addresses as they were before merging.

See Also