How to Organize your Contact List in Google for your Android Phone, iPhone and iPad

For anyone who has been around a while, you know that it is essential to keep your personal contacts, vendors and business contacts handy in a database. Way back then we used a rolodex, or daytimer book. In more modern times Palm Desktop and similar PC based programs reminded us of birthdays and kept track of phone numbers and addresses.

One tool we all have now is Google. If you own an Android phone, then you are required to have a Google Account to manage the phone. Most iPhone users also use Google. We often think of Google as an Email system and Calendar, and it is easy to forget that Google has a pretty nice Contact List capability.

If you organize your contacts in Google, you can remove Duplicates, set Categories (tags) and manage customer data easily. This data will sync automatically to your Android and iPhone to keep them up to date, and you can make changes on your phone.

Finding your Contacts in Google

Google offers a Web based list of your contacts. Here you can manage your Contacts list a little more easily than on the Mobile. To find the Contacts in Google:

Open a browser and do a Search for "Google Contacts". The top result should take you directly to the Contacts list. You can also navigate to this page and bookmark it directly: https://contacts.google.com/

Note: Be sure you are logged into the right Google Account to see your Contacts.

Using the Google Contacts List

Merge and Fix Duplicates:
If you notice some duplicate contacts, in the top left of the Google Contacts Page, you will find an option to "Merge and Fix". Select this and then "Merge All" on the right to combine duplicate contacts. You can also compare record by record instead of Merging All.

Labels:
On the left side of your Contacts list in Google you can create "Labels". This is a quick way of filtering your Contacts in Google and on the Mobile device. Once you have created a Label you can assign contacts to it. These labels will appear on the Mobile with the same contacts assigned in the Google Contacts list.

Restoring Deletes:
Google stores Deleted contacts for 30 days before emptying its deleted items folder. To restore a contact, open the Google contacts list, in the bottom left below the labels list, select "Trash". Here you can restore any deleted contacts up to 30 days ago.

Tips for using Google Contacts

If you spend 30 minutes organizing your contacts then your phone will be more useful, your will feel more secure knowing you can reach people, and you will save tons of time in the future looking for lost contact information. It is well worth the effort to do it, the next time you have a quiet time at your PC.

Cleanup Old Contacts:
One step in organizing your Contact List is to clean out old people. Ask yourself; would this person ever call or email me in the future. An investment advisor who has retired, a heating service company that is out of business, a neighbor who moved away – these are all people who will not contact you in the future. Be brave and delete them. You will be amazed how clean your list will become.

Add in What you Know:
Now is time to add in what has change or what you know from other sources. Has a family member had a Baby – add in those details. Have your Nephews grown up and moved out? Better get them their own Contact record so you can easily reach them as they move into the adult world. Do you keep your birthday list on another source? You can add birthdays and anniversaries into the Google Contact list and Google will track these for you.

Desktop Tool

Did you know there is an easy Windows Based Desktop Contact Manager to organize your Google Contacts?

DejaOffice PC CRM for Google will let you handle all the above tasks easily from your Desktop PC. You download it, connect it to your Google Account and you will be able to quickly organize your Contact, Calendar, Tasks and Notes.

DejaOffice has a lot of features common to Windows based organizer and missing from Google. Like being able to print Mailing labels, and making a secure offline backup of your Contact data.

For more information on DejaOffice PC CRM for Google Click Here