More google contacts on my phone and tablet than I do on my desktop? Why? How do I sync?

[Android Central Question]

I have recently started using google contacts. I've added the google app to my Huwaie p9 lite phone and synced it google - that appears to be auto syncing fine. I have removed all contacts from my SIM and actual devise However, my desktop has less contacts than my phone and tablet (these both match). I have found some numbers missing from desktop, but can work out which are missing. I don't understand as in theory, all three should be exactly the same. Any ideas as to what has gone wrong and how to fix it please?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Just to be sure, select one of the contacts on the phone or tablet that is not on your desktop and look at its associated account information. Is it associated with your Google account or the local Device account?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Ed_B]

Thanks for the swift reply. I have registered now.

I currently have 3366 contacts on my phone/tablet and 3052 on my desktop, so I am not easily able to identify where or what the 314 differences are. However, I have established there are no contacts on my SIM and whilst I did have around 1,200 contacts saved to my device, I exported them, imported them into google and then merged google to get rid of duplicates and finally deleted them off my devise. In theory there should be the same number on both now, but there are not. I have just checked my devise and it says that there are 3366 contacts associated with my google account (3329 after a smart merge).

 

[B. Diddy]

Does Huawei also allow you to enter contacts into a Huawei account (like how Samsung has a Samsung account that's separate from the Phone account)?

It's also possible the phone's Contacts app counts a merged contact as still being multiple rather than one, while the web interface counts it as one.

 

[Ed_B]

I am not aware Huawei does that.

If you suggestion that the web interface counts contacts differently, how come my phone and tablet show the same information, but the desktop is different?

I know that certain random were missing from my google desktop, but there on my phone, before I went through the procedure of exporting, adding to google and deleting from the phone. It is possible that all the numbers are in fact there and merged contacts are recorded differently, but I won't know for certain til I find a number which is missing - and as I use the phone to make calls, rather than the desktop, so it is going to be hard to find out.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you suggestion that the web interface counts contacts differently, how come my phone and tablet show the same information, but the desktop is different?

The tablet is presumably using the same or similar Contacts app, so it would still be consistent with my hypothesis.

I still think it'd be helpful to find a contact on your device that isn't on your desktop. Try filtering contacts by first letter of last name, and use a letter that's not very common, like Y. Do you see a discrepancy there?

 

[Ed_B]

Thank you! I did the Y filtering as you suggested, found one missing email address and was able to identify a further 325, all of which were located one on Contacts label. Somehow all the contacts are on my desktop in the label, but not actually added to my contacts. That means that I am now only 11 unidentified contacts adrift between the phone and desktop. With your help I am making progress.