Selecting “All Contacts” in Contacts Shows Duplicate Records

Symptom

You have set up your Contacts application to display contacts from iCloud, CardDAV, etc. When you select "All Contacts" in the Contacts application, you see multiple entries for the same record.

Why is this problem occurring

This is how Address Book handles multiple accounts.

Solution

The All Contacts view in your Contacts application displays all records that exist in your iCloud, CardDAV, and other accounts where the sync with Contacts application exists. Due to this, you will see the same record more than once when you select "All Contacts"; however, these are not duplicates.

If you have duplicate contact cards for someone in various accounts of the Contacts application on your Mac, you can link the cards, so you see only one card with all of the person's contact information. If the duplicate contact cards have the same name, the contact cards are linked automatically. When cards are linked, the original cards are retained so that you can see them at any time. If you have linked cards in an account that you remove from Contacts, the cards are unlinked, and you're left with the cards in the remaining accounts.

For more information, visit Apple's knowledge base.