How to preview and leave the new Google Contacts

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 5, 2015
Updated • Apr 10, 2019
Companies, Google
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42

If you have a Google account then you also have access to the company's Contacts tool that is available as a standalone service but also integrated in web applications such as Gmail.

Google is about to release an update to Google Contacts with the aim to consolidate various contacts databases.

Probably the biggest change in this regard is that the company mixes Google+ contacts in the contacts manager now. While that is not a problem for users who don't use Google+, those who are active on the company's social messaging site may notice an increase in contacts as a consequence of the move.

Update: Google removed the old Google Contacts interface in the meantime. There is no way to go back to it anymore.

If you want to check out the new Google Contacts you can open a preview of it right now in your web browser of choice.

A few pages are displayed to you that highlight several of the new features that the new Google Contacts offers.

Once you have clicked your way through those, you are taken to the main contacts listing. There you notice a sidebar that you use to filter contacts, and that the contacts listing itself has been divided into frequently contacted at the top and all contacts below that.

google contacts new

If you check out the old contacts listing, you will notice that all contacts are lumped together in a single listing.

Each contact is listed with the same information as before. It is possible to hover the mouse over a contact to favorite it, add, modify or remove the Google+ group you have filed the contact in, to delete it completely, to call or email the contact directly, or to check it to display additional options.

One useful option that Google integrated into the new Contacts manager is a duplicate finder and eliminator. Chance is that a list of duplicate contacts is displayed to you on first start automatically.

You can let Google handle the merging or go through each contact individually to make sure the contacts are indeed duplicates.

Another interesting feature integrated into the new manager is that it adds Google profile information automatically to contact information if provided.

This works best if a contact is active on Google and modifies the profile whenever information change.

It is still possible to edit contacts manually to add, edit or remove information.

edit contact

One thing you may notice is that Google+ pages may also be listed under frequently contacted.

Go back to the old Google Contacts

It is possible to go back to the old Google Contacts. Chance is that this is a temporary option that Google will remove eventually.

To go back do the following:

  1. Click on the more link in the Contacts sidebar.
  2. There you find "leave the contacts preview". Click on that option.

Doing so loads the old contacts page for now.

Workaround for Google+ circles in the new Google Contacts

There is no option to block Google+ contacts from appearing in the new Google Contacts interface. The only option for now is to modify the "your circles" option on Google+ to uncheck all groups there. Doing so removes them from the new Contacts manager.

Additional information about that are provided on the Google operating system blog.

Additional information about the new Google Contacts are available on the official Gmail blog.

Now You: What's your impression of the new Google Contacts?

Summary
How to preview and leave the new Google Contacts
Article Name
How to preview and leave the new Google Contacts
Description
Google published a preview of the new Contacts manager that it plans to release in the near future to replace the old Google Contacts.
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Comments

  1. The Dark Lady said on July 9, 2023 at 11:19 am
    Reply

    Martin, I would appreciate that you do not censor this post, as it’s informative writing.

    Onur, there is a misleading statement “[…] GIFs are animated images …”. No, obviously you don’t seem to have take much notice of what you were told back in March regarding; Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).

    For example, https://www.ghacks.net/2023/03/31/whats-gif-explanation-and-how-to-use-it/#comment-4562919 (if you had read my replies within that thread, you might have learnt something useful). I even mentioned, “GIF intrinsically supports animated images (GIF89a)”.

    You linked to said article, [Related: …] within this article, but have somehow failed to take onboard what support you were given by several more knowledgeable people.

    If you used AI to help write this article, it has failed miserably.

    1. E. Fromme said on September 29, 2023 at 1:32 pm
      Reply

      EMRE ÇITAK posts are useless because they are fraught with inaccuracies and are irrelevant.

  2. KeZa said on August 17, 2023 at 5:58 pm
    Reply

    AI is stupid, and it will not get any better if we really know how this all works. Prove me wrong.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYl1sTIOHI

  3. Database failure said on August 18, 2023 at 5:21 pm
    Reply

    Martin, [#comment-4569908] is only meant to be in: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/09/how-to-send-gifs-on-iphone-two-different-ways/]. Whereas it appears duplicated in several recent random low-quality non relevant articles.

    Obviously it [#comment-4569908] was posted: 9 July 2023. Long before this thread even existed… your database is falling over. Those comments are supposed to have unique ID values. It shouldn’t be possible to duplicate the post ID, if the database had referential integrity.

  4. Howard Pearce said on August 25, 2023 at 12:24 pm
    Reply

    Don’t tell me!

    Ghacks wants the state to step in for STATE-MANDATED associations to save jobs!!!

    Bring in the dictatorship!!!

    And screw Rreedom of Association – too radical for Ghacks maybe

  5. Howard Allan Pearce said on September 7, 2023 at 9:13 am
    Reply

    GateKeeper ?

    That’s called “appointing” businesses to do the state’s dirty work!!!!!

    But the article says itself that those appointed were not happy – implying they had not choice!!!!!!

    1. Howard Allan Pearce Jones said on October 1, 2023 at 4:28 am
      Reply

      Rreedom of Association is one of our most important rights. Some people think it’s Freedom, but no, I say Rreedom is far more important. There are many STATE-MANDATED associations that save jobs, that’s right MANDATED. I can’t name any of them, but rest assured they are bad, because saving jobs are bad, and people having jobs leads to dictatorship!!! Anyone who disagrees is too radical for Ghacks maybe, because I’m not sure.

  6. owl said on September 7, 2023 at 9:50 am
    Reply

    @The Dark Lady,
    @KeZa,
    @Database failure,
    @Howard Pearce,
    @Howard Allan Pearce,

    Note: I replaced the quoted URI scheme: https:// with “>>” and posted.

    The current ghacks.net is owned by “Softonic International S.A.” (sold by Martin in October 2019), and due to the fate of M&A, ghacks.net has changed in quality.
    >> ghacks.net/2023/09/02/microsoft-is-removing-wordpad-from-windows/#comment-4573130
    Many Authors of bloggers and advertisers certified by Softonic have joined the site, and the site is full of articles aimed at advertising and clickbait.
    >> ghacks.net/2023/08/31/in-windows-11-the-line-between-legitimate-and-adware-becomes-increasingly-blurred/#comment-4573117
    As it stands, except for articles by Martin Brinkmann, Mike Turcotte, and Ashwin, they are low quality, unhelpful, and even vicious. It is better not to read those articles.
    How to display only articles by a specific author:
    Added line to My filters in uBlock Origin: ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
    >> ghacks.net/2023/09/01/windows-11-development-overview-of-the-august-2023-changes/#comment-4573033

    By the way, if you use an RSS reader, you can track exactly where your comments are (I’m an iPad user, so I use “Feedly Classic”, but for Windows I prefer the desktop app “RSS Guard”).
    RSS Guard: Feed reader which supports RSS/ATOM/JSON and many web-based feed services.
    >> github.com/martinrotter/rssguard#readme

  7. Anonymous said on September 14, 2023 at 6:41 pm
    Reply

    We all live in digital surveillance glass houses under scrutiny of evil people because of people like Musk. It’s only fair that he takes his turn.

  8. Anonymous said on September 18, 2023 at 1:31 pm
    Reply

    “Operating systems will be required to let the user choose the browser, virtual assistant and search engine of their choice. Microsoft cannot force users to use Bing or Edge. Apple will have to open up its iOS operating system to allow third-party app stores, aka allow sideloading of apps. Google, on the other hand, will need to provide users with the ability to uninstall preloaded apps (bloatware) from Android devices. Online services will need to allow users to unsubscribe from their platform easily. Gatekeepers need to provide interoperability with third-parties that offer similar services.”

    Wonderful ! Let’s hope they’ll comply with that law more than they are doing with the GDPR.

  9. sean conner said on September 27, 2023 at 6:21 am
    Reply
  10. Sherry Grant said on September 29, 2023 at 7:47 pm
    Reply

    What does this article about Musk/Tesla have to do with computing, devices, phones?
    More irelevant filler.

  11. Anonymous said on September 29, 2023 at 8:47 pm
    Reply

    yeah sure… they are always the victims and it is only against them ????

    Believe them 100% and never question anything. This lawsuit sounds like the type you heard when people were eating batteries.

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