1. Find the database software that you are most comfortable with (could be Excel indeed, but just as well it's FileMaker or SQL Server Express or MS Access) and start working. With 1 minute per contact it's only 28.000 minutes or some 500 hours if you do it fully manually. So it might be better to do some smart programming.
2. It might help to format the column as text in Excel. Or even the cell by preceding the contents with a quote. But it's far from sure. Details like this show that Excel basically is a number cruncher. You might need a 'real' database program to be able to do it.
3. Sorry, I don't use any of the sites you mention. So I can't tell about that.
Kees
What is the best way to intelligently clean up contacts stored in Outlook 2007?
Through various merges and syncs I have ended up many thousands of contacts. I have exported the contacts from my phone, work and home computers and combined them into a single excel file, [.xls, not.csv] which has 28,000 entries in it.
Many are identical duplicates. Others are where I have several entries for the same person, one with just the email address, and another just for the phone number for example.
QUESTION - 1
What is the best way to remove creating a clean contacts file? Can this be done in Excel? If software is better, which is the best? I am happy to pay, though obviously free is always better.
I have heard that many items of software are actually rather dangerous and remove things that you want to keep. Can anyone recommend something that really works?
QUESTION ? 2
How can I stop excel or csv files removing the zeros at the front of mobile phone numbers when importing into outlook?
I think it treats the phone numbers as simple numbers, and therefore removes the zeros.
QUESTION ? 3
When I have a clean contacts list, what is the best software to sync contacts with facebook, twitter and linked in friends?
I already have the linked in outlook toolbar which is great. Wondered if there are other pieces of software like this too. It would be great to have something which would update my contacts in outlook automatically.
[Using windows 7 on a dell laptop, with outlook 2007, syncing to an iphone 3G 16 GB.]
Very grateful for everybody's help.
Thank you
John

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