Video: removing duplicate emails using a special utility. Where do duplicates appear in Outlook?

Over time, Outlook can accumulate a large number of unnecessary elements, loading the interface and computer memory. You can delete them individually or erase them all at once, getting rid of account or the program itself.

Uninstalling a program

You can remove the program using standard Windows tools. Please note that for complete uninstall Outlook it will be necessary to separately disable the account, otherwise if reinstallation all data will be restored. Disabling an account is described in the next paragraph of this article.

Launch the Computer Control Panel from the Start menu.
Opening the control panel
Go to the "Uninstall programs" section.
Go to “Uninstall programs”
Find it in Outlook list and click on the “Delete” button. Wait until the uninstallation wizard erases information about the program from your computer.
Click the “Delete” button

Disabling an account

Disabling an account can be useful in two cases: when you need to create new account in Outlook, resetting all information about the old one, or to completely remove the program from the computer. Also, disabling the account will reset some program settings, which can correct errors that occur in it.

Close Outlook before proceeding with the uninstallation.
Close Outlook
While in your computer control panel, find through search bar item related to Outlook mail, and open it.
Open the Outlook section in the Control Panel
In the window that opens, click on the “Show” button, which is located in the “Configuration” block.
Click the “Show” button
In another window that appears, select the account you want to erase and use the “Delete” button. Done, save all changes made and proceed to setting up a new account or deleting the program.
Select the account and click the “Delete” button

Account deactivation

Disable one of those linked to Outlook mail boxes can be found in the program itself. The steps will be described for the program released in 2010 and its newer versions.

Expand the File menu. It contains all the functions for setting up accounts and accounts.
Open the menu “File” – “Information”
Without moving anywhere from the “Information” block, click on the “Account Settings” button.
Click the “Account Settings” button
In the "Email" tab, select the account you want to disable and use the "Delete" button. Done, the mailbox is disconnected from Outlook.
Select the mailbox and click the “Delete” button

Removing items

Deleting items in Outlook such as a calendar, folder, task, etc. is done using context menu, called by the right mouse button. Having opened such a menu, select the “Delete” item in it and confirm the action.

Click on the “Delete” button

You can also delete elements using the Delete key on the keyboard, after selecting them. For quick selection all elements, use the combination Ctrl+A, which will mark all elements inside active partition.

Deleting emails and their duplicates

Any letter can be deleted using the context menu by selecting the “Delete” item in it. To erase all letters inside the active section at once, select them using the Ctrl+A key combination, and then press Delete key on the keyboard. Deleted messages are moved to the Deleted Items folder.

Select the letter and click the “Delete” button

Remove duplicate emails, that is, duplicate messages, standard means Outlook is not possible, since the program does not have such a function. You'll have to use a third party Outlook application Duplicate Items Remove. Download it from the official website of the developer and install it, first closing Outlook. After installation is complete, launch Outlook, it will show new button ODIR, press it. A window will open in which you must mark the folders containing duplicate letters and click the Remove duplicate items button. Done, all duplicates from the selected folder are erased.

Removing duplicates using Outlook Duplicate Items Remover

Video: Clean Outlook

Over time, the folder may become full of letters; the fastest way to delete its contents is to right-click on it and select “Empty folder”. This method is suitable for all folders. If you empty the Deleted Items folder, the messages and other items in it will be completely erased, but for some time you will still be able to recover them using the Recover function deleted elements from servers."

Click the “Clear folder” button

Duplicate deleted emails

An error where deleted letters are duplicated in the “Deleted Items” folder, occurs due to a bug, the appearance of which is associated with the use of mail from mail with IMAP protocol. To get rid of it, check if you entered it correctly IMAP settings, comparing them with the data provided on the official website of the mail company. If the information matches, but the letters are still duplicated, then delete the mail and add it again using the POP protocol.

Recovering a deleted folder

Restoring elements deleted from the program

To exit public correspondence created for simultaneous communication between several people, just go to the right group and, expanding the “Participants” block, click the “Cancel subscription” button. After this, you will be excluded from the group and will no longer receive emails sent to users who are members of it.

Click the “Cancel subscription” button

Cleaning up Outlook makes it easier to use the program. Erased items can be restored from the Deleted Items folder or from the server. To reset the settings, log out of your account and mailbox. When you delete the program itself, some references to it remain in the computer’s memory, so when you delete it again Outlook installation they can be partially restored.

Remove duplicate messages email in folders Microsoft Outlook, mailboxes Exchange and Office 365, shared folders Exchange Server. Free up space in your inbox and remove clutter that gets in the way. Get rid of duplicates quickly and without errors. Move the duplicates to the specified folder so that you can return them to their original places if necessary.

Three ways to remove duplicate messages:

Add-in for Outlook. Removes duplicate messages directly from Outlook. You can remove duplicates among selected messages, as well as from the context menu of folders. For frequent use add the utility to your Outlook ribbon and remove duplicates by clicking one button.
Separate application. Removes duplicates without starting Outlook. Allows you to connect and disconnect PST files without creating new Outlook profiles.
Command line. Removes duplicate emails in scripts, batch files and on schedule. Convenient to use during migrations and transfer of email between computers and servers.

Remove duplicate messages...

From any Microsoft Outlook folder, including search folders. Removes duplicates from one or several folders at once. When removing duplicates, you can use any Outlook filters, just create a suitable search folder and remove duplicates in it.
From files PST data. IN separate application You can connect additional PST files when selecting folders. You can remove duplicate messages from a list of PST files using the command line capabilities.
From postal Exchange mailboxes Server and Office 365. Cached mode and online mode. To remove duplicate messages from other users' mailboxes, use the Command Prompt or connect additional mailboxes in Outlook.
From Exchange and Office 365 public folders. Using folder priorities, you can keep messages in some folders and remove duplicates from others. If necessary, delete duplicate messages permanently instead of moving them to a selected folder.
From selected messages or folders. When using the add-in, you can remove duplicates of selected Outlook messages or folders.

5 good reasons to delete duplicate Outlook messages:

Identical messages lead to chaos in correspondence. You don't know whether the message was answered or not. Replying to the same email several times will result in serious problems with clients.
Copied messages are junk that clog up your inbox. As a result, the entire mail system begins to work slower, and your productivity drops. You spend more time writing and sending messages. If your mailbox is limited in size, then to free up space you will need to think carefully about what to delete first.
A large number of duplicates in folders slows down Outlook search. Sometimes you may feel like Outlook is frozen. In fact, indexing occurs large files and mailboxes - duplicates interfere with search necessary messages email.
Duplicates in Exchange and Office 365 public folders slow down your workflow. Some groups of people see replies to messages, others may miss them. As a result, many tasks require more time to solve, and work efficiency decreases.
If there are duplicates, more space is needed to create backup copies. At some point, a copy of the mailbox no longer fits on your disk or network resource. When using cloud systems storage this requires constant additional costs that can be avoided.

How can I determine if messages are duplicates?

The answer to this question is not as obvious as it might seem at first glance. To understand which messages are duplicates and which are not, you need to compare their significant fields and properties. For example, you can select the following fields to compare: subject, body, sender, recipients, and attachments. If all these fields are the same for several messages, we can conclude that such messages are duplicates. Please note that dates are rarely used to identify duplicates, since duplicates are often multiple identical messages sent at different times.

Search for duplicates for a certain period

In cases where you know for sure that duplicates have appeared, for example, in the last few days, use date selection. Removing duplicate messages from the last week will work much faster than deleting duplicates from your entire mailbox or data file. When periodically deleting duplicate messages from public folders, it is enough to do complete removal duplicates once. In the future, it is better to use deletion with limited dates, for example, only for the last month.

Save your time and don't make mistakes!

Remove duplicates Outlook messages You can do it manually, but it is hard and time-consuming work. You will need to compare many messages based on several criteria. Perhaps comparing a couple of dozen messages in one folder will not be a problem. But if there are many duplicates or they are in different folders, this will be very difficult to do. Most likely you will miss something or, on the contrary, remove unnecessary things. Using our program will save you time and eliminate errors.

What can you do about duplicate Outlook messages?

Move duplicates to the specified folder. By default, this is the Deleted Items folder. Duplicate messages will be moved to the selected folder, maintaining the original structure. In this case, you can recover deleted Outlook duplicates using the Folder Merge utility.
Remove duplicates permanently. At the same time, duplicates are not moved anywhere, but simply deleted. This option is also suitable if you don't have a Deleted Items folder in your Outlook storage. For example, when removing duplicates from shared folders. Before using this duplicate removal mode, it is useful to check that the settings are correct using the Outlook Duplicate Items Report.
Assign duplicates to specified Outlook categories, flag them, or set an expiration date. To do this, use the Find Duplicate Messages utility.

Remove duplicates from one or more folders

If duplicate messages are in different folders, use the “Search for duplicates without folders” mode. In this case, the utility first searches for duplicates in all selected folders, and only then deletes them. To keep original messages in their place, set folder priorities. For example, when using Outlook/Exchange rules to sort messages you receive into different folders, it is useful to add the Inbox folder to the low priority list. In this case, messages that have already been moved by the rules to the selected folders will be considered original, and duplicates in the “Inbox” will be deleted.

When searching for duplicates in several folders at once, messages will remain in some places, and duplicates in other places will be deleted. Set folder priorities to determine which folders messages should be left in. You can specify which folders have high priority and which have low priority. The utility will leave identical messages in those folders that have highest priority. If the duplicate is located in a folder with the lowest priority, then it will be deleted. If you do not use folder priorities, the utility will delete those messages that were created recently, leaving those that are older.

Removing duplicates in email migrations

Transferring mailboxes from others postal systems or email programs - this is a complex process, fraught with errors and failures. In some cases, user mailboxes or public folders are moved to new system along with unnecessary duplicates. To solve similar problems, often unique to an organization, provides the ability to remove duplicates from the command line. Using command line parameters, you can specify lists of mailboxes, public folders, or PST files that require bulk deletion of duplicate messages. Command line programs can be used in your PowerShell scripts, batch files and other scenarios.

If you import contacts from multiple sources or inherit someone else's contact list, there may be duplicate contacts that are stored in Outlook. When importing contacts from external sources such as iCloud or Gmail, Outlook checks for duplicates and lets you choose whether to create new entry contact (duplicate) or merging duplicate contacts. Unfortunately, working with duplicate contacts in contacts folders, no no automated process to remove them. However, you can export all your contacts to a file, then re-import them into Outlook and take advantage of the built-in duplicate checker. If you have only a few duplicate contacts, you can sort your contact list and remove them manually.

Remove duplicate contacts one at a time

Removing a large number of duplicate contacts using export and import

Subject to availability large quantity duplicate contacts removing duplicates one by one can be tedious and time-consuming. Fast way removing a large number of duplicate contacts is to export them to a file, import them to new folder. To use the Find duplicate data feature during the import process in Outlook: next steps

Import contacts into Outlook

Copy contacts from the duplicates folder back to the contacts folder

More information

Options for resolving duplicate contacts

You have two solutions in the dialog box Duplicate contacts detected duplicate contacts:

Adding a duplicate as a new contact New contact will be added to the folder Contacts. For example, if a contact with the same name is already in the folder Contacts Creating a contact with the name Elena Kupkova, there are two contacts with the name Elena Kupkova. To differentiate between them, you can add one middle initial.

Advice: Displaying contacts as electronic business cards Suitable for views where you want to see enough information to differentiate between contacts with the same name.

Update data from duplicate contacts to an existing new one Outlook will compare all fields that contain data in the duplicate and existing contacts and copy the data from the duplicate contact to all fields in the existing contact that have conflicting data. For example, if you have a contact with the name Elena Kupkova with the phone number 555-0112 and get duplicate contacts with new number phone number, Outlook will copy the new number into the appropriate field in the existing contact and leave all fields the same.

The color categories you assign to a new contact and the text in the message box from the new contact will not be copied to the existing contact. If you want to copy information, you must do it manually. Certificates and links for contacts on the "tab" actions" will be copied from duplicate contacts and added to existing contact without replacing the original data. However, the links on the "tab" actions" for items other than contacts, such as tasks and appointments, will not be copied.

Every time Outlook updates the data in a contact, copies original contact are stored in folders " Deleted"If you need to return to the original contact's information, you can use this copy.

Removing duplicate contacts

If you imported contacts into Outlook using same names or email addresses already entered in the folder Contacts, and the checkbox is checked Allow creation of duplicates When you use the Import and Export Wizard, unwanted duplicates of some or all of the contacts that you imported may occur.

Removing unwanted duplicate contacts is a manual process, and below is an easy way to do it.

In the section Contacts Select the contacts folder that contains duplicate contacts.

IN Navigation area in section Current view select Phones. This viewing convenience allows you to view your contacts and duplicate contacts. You can now sort the list by date modified and group duplicates.

On the menu View hover over element Current view and select Setting the current view.

Click the button fields, select from the list Available fieldschanged and press the button Add.

Click the button Up until it happens changed at the top of the list Show these fields in the order shown.

Press the button twice OK.

In the contact list, hold CTRL key, select all duplicate contacts.

After selecting all duplicate contacts, press the DELETE key.

Note: If you don't want duplicate contacts when you import contacts into Outlook, select the option do not import duplicates or in the Import and Export Wizard.

Don't import duplicates Existing data will be preserved, and duplicate data in the Personal Folders (.pst) file will not be copied to the folder Contacts.

Replace duplicates on import Existing data in the folder " Contacts» replaces the information in the PST file being imported.

Disable Duplicate Finder

When saving a group of contacts in Outlook, the process may be faster if you don't use the Find Duplicate Data feature. To disable this feature, follow the steps below.

On the menu Service select team Options.

Click the button Contact options and then uncheck automatically check for duplicate contacts.

Duplicates Remover for Outlook is a powerful and convenient add-in for finding and processing duplicate items in Microsoft Outlook folders. The program works with contacts, notes, tasks, magazine And calendar entries in Microsoft Outlook folders.

Duplicate Remover for Outlook can be used to find duplicates in both different folders. Found duplicates can be flagged, deleted, copied or moved to any folder of your choice.

The priority system implemented in the program can be used when searching for duplicates in several folders. Using this system, you can, for example, determine that one of two identical items is stored in the folder " Important contacts”, and the other in the “Temporary” folder, the latter must be identified as a duplicate and deleted (marked, moved).

Duplicates Remover for Outlook is fully compatible with:

Microsoft Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002/XP;
Microsoft Office 365 with classic version Outlook;
Microsoft Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, 2003, XP.

Possible actions with duplicate elements

Mark with a flag - found duplicates will be marked with a flag;
Remove the flag - the flag will be removed;
Move to a folder... - duplicates will be moved to the specified folder;
Copy to folder... - found duplicates will be copied to separate folder;
Copy to folder and mark with a flag... - duplicates will be copied to a separate folder and marked with a flag in their original location;
Delete (move to the Deleted Items folder) - duplicates will be moved to the Deleted Items folder.
Delete permanently - duplicates will be deleted forever (bypassing the “Deleted Items” folder).

Duplicates Remover for Outlook is fully compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server and can be used to process items in public folders on the server. Additionally, if you have access rights to other users' folders, you can treat messages in them the same way as in your own.

Download demo version

You can download a demo version of Duplicates Remover for Outlook (6853 KB) and test it before purchasing:

Program registration

If you want to use Duplicates Remover for Outlook after the 30-day demo period ends, you will need to register the program. You can register Duplicates Remover for Outlook online by choosing a payment method that is convenient for you.

In this article, you will learn where duplicate messages, contacts, and other Outlook items come from. We'll talk about how to prevent duplicates from appearing. And most importantly, we will describe the methods automatic search and removing Outlook duplicates.

If you use Microsoft Outlook, you will definitely encounter duplicates. The presence of duplicates leads to confusion and loss of time when reading and sending mail. A large number of duplicates increases the size of your mailbox and takes up extra space on your work computer and server. In addition, a lot of duplicates significantly increases the search time in Outlook, and the search results will consist of a large number of unnecessary elements that are difficult to understand. Read the article and find out where duplicate emails, contacts, tasks, reminders and Outlook calendar items come from. Remove duplicates and make sure they don't appear again.

Where do duplicates appear in Outlook?

There are many situations where messages are duplicated in Outlook folders. This may be due to incorrect settings, technical failures or user errors. Duplicate messages can appear both when receiving and sending messages. Duplicate contacts appear when copying and importing contacts, and duplicate tasks, appointments and meetings appear when several users or several users work simultaneously Outlook windows with the same Outlook elements.

Here are the most common reasons appearance of duplicates in Outlook:

Errors or synchronization breaks mobile devices with the desktop version of Outlook. Repeated synchronization attempts may create duplicates.
Frequent receiving and sending of mail. In this case, failures may occur in synchronizing data with the server, which will lead to the appearance of duplicates.
Incorrectly configured Outlook rules. Different rules, working with incoming or outgoing mail, can copy the same message to different folders.
There are interruptions in receiving mail from POP3 mailboxes. If the "Leave messages on the server" setting is enabled, then already received messages are downloaded again.
Import messages and other Outlook items from files or combine multiple PST files into one. Repeatedly copying the same data will create duplicates.
Restoring mail from backups. Backups messages are duplicated with existing ones.
Simultaneous launch multiple copies of Outlook on one computer. When working in this mode, tasks, calendars, and sent messages may be duplicated.
Work with one mailbox on several devices. Messages are duplicated when received, sent, or synchronized.
Several POP3 boxes configured for using one PST data file.
Usage antivirus programs with email checking function. Such antiviruses can create copies of messages while editing or after sending a message.

What to do to stop duplicates from appearing in Outlook

Before deleting duplicates, it is necessary to find out the reasons that led to their appearance. After eliminating these reasons, you can find and remove all duplicates in your Outlook.

Here is a list for mandatory checking:

How to Find and Remove Outlook Duplicates

There are several ways to find duplicates in Outlook. The simplest one is to switch the viewing of the selected Outlook folder to table view and delete those items that you consider to be duplicates. Such the method will work, if there is a small number of messages in the folder. If there are a lot of duplicates, then sooner or later you will make a mistake and delete important data. And if duplicates are located in different folders, it is almost impossible to delete them manually. Therefore, if there are a lot of duplicates, use special utilities to automatic deletion duplicates of various Outlook items.

Here are a few automatic methods search and remove duplicates:

You can immediately remove duplicate emails by running the Remove Duplicate Messages utility. In addition, each type of duplicate has its own separate utility, which does it as correctly as possible. For example, Remove Duplicate Contacts, Remove Duplicate Calendar Events and other utilities to remove duplicate Outlook items. Found duplicates can be deleted permanently or moved to a selected Outlook folder. When you move it to a folder (for example, Deleted Items), the exact original subfolder structure is created. This allows you to view deleted duplicates and return them back to their folders if necessary. The Merge Folders utility can do this automatically.
Instead of deleting duplicates, you can tag them with a category or flag. As with deletion, each type of duplicate has its own utility: Find Duplicate Messages, Find Duplicate Contacts and other utilities for finding Outlook duplicates. This ensures that only required types Outlook elements. To automatically remove checkboxes or categories from items in different Outlook folders, you can use the Outlook Categorize Items utility.
If you just want to see how many Outlook duplicates are and where they are, run the Outlook Duplicate Items Report. In addition to the main function, this report will help you find out why some almost identical messages are not duplicates. These may be minor differences in the addresses of the sender and recipients, a stamp indicating an antivirus scan at the end of the message text, different names in the names and contents of attachments and other subtle differences. After reviewing the situation with duplicates in your Outlook folders, run one of the utilities to find or remove duplicates.

Please note that not only messages, contacts, appointments, meetings and others may be duplicated in your mailboxes Outlook elements. Often, during intensive correspondence and forwarding of messages, duplicate attachments appear, which are unnecessary and take up a lot of space. Be sure to check out the article on How to Find and Remove Duplicate Outlook Attachments.

Please note that there are many free utilities and add-ons for Outlook available on our website, already 154. All of them were created at the request of our users. With these utilities you can speed up Outlook work, increase your efficiency and solve many emerging problems.