Top ten tips and tricks for managing your BlackBerry 10 contacts

For anyone who uses the Contacts Application on a daily basis, it is a powerful tool for connecting with not only colleagues and co-workers, but friends, family and social acquaintances as well. While the application is not without fault, it has come a long way since BlackBerry 10 first came on the scene.

That is why I decided to compile the top ten tips and tricks that I use on a daily basis to make sure things runs smoothly.

Link / Merge Contacts

While the BlackBerry 10 OS should link most contacts automatically, there are times you might see the same name in your address book but under various sources or social networks. To consolidate your contacts into one you can do the following:

• Go into the contacts application and long press on a contact
• From the side context menu tap on Select More
• Tap on all of the contacts / names you wish to merge (i.e. Local contacts, SIM contacts, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• From the side context menu tap Link Contacts

Customize ring tones and notifications by contact

When it comes to receiving notifications I prefer setting a specific ringtone for each of my friends and family so I know who is trying to reach me without picking up my device.

• Go into the Contacts Application
• Select a contact and tap Edit
• Go into Ringtone and Notifications at the bottom
• For each option listed (phone calls, email messages, BBM, text, other) you may modify the tone, LED, adjust the vibration, and set the instant preview for that particular contact
• When all settings have been adjusted tap Save

How to filter, hide, and add contacts to specific accounts

When opening the contacts application and swiping to the right you will notice that not only can you view all of your contacts but quickly access those populating each individual account.

To view or filter a specific account simply tap on the one you wish to access. Only contacts that belong to that particular account will be displayed (this includes linked accounts).

If you do not wish to see contacts from a particular account (i.e. You follow too many people on Twitter or do not wish to see your Facebook friends), follow these simple steps.

• Swipe down from the top and tap on settings
• Under the Show Account in the contact list heading toggle the switch from On/Off next to each account you wish to hide.

When you are viewing all of your contacts and go to add a new one, by default it saves to Local, SIM, and your synced account(s). While you can always uncheck the options, it might be easier to save directly to the account itself. To accomplish this simply go into the desired account from the contact list and then tap on Add Account and follow the normal steps from there.

Delete all local contacts

When I switched to the Z30, I imported all of my local contacts into my Gmail account. However, I neglected to remove the local address book and wound up with duplicates.

• To wipe contacts stored on your device without affecting those synced is easy.
• Swipe down from the top of the home screen and tap on Settings
• Tap on Accounts
• Tap on the three dots (menu) and choose "Clear Local Contacts"
• Depending on how many you have it might take a few minutes. Once completed, all contacts stored in the local address book should be deleted

Change the sort order

Contacts are sorted alphabetically by name but it is also possible to sort by last name and company. To change this feature users can go into settings and use the sort contacts by dropdown to pick their choice.

Share contacts

Don't have a business card? The contacts application allows you to share contact details with other people electronically in VCF file format.

• Launch the contacts application
• Tap and hold on a specific contact
• From the side context menu tap Share Contact
• From the next screen select the method you wish to send by (i.e. Email, Text, NFC, BBM, Bluetooth, etc.)

Mark a contact as favorite

If you are frequently connecting with the same individuals, there is an option to add them as a favorite. Not only do they appear as a thumbnail at the top but under the favorites section of the contact list when you view each account. There are two ways you do this.

• Open the contacts application
• Select a contact and tap and hold
• Tap on "Add to favorites" from the side menu, or,
• When in the contact details tap on the star icon that appears underneath the name and to the right of the avatar.

Copy contacts to and from the SIM

Before BlackBerry Desktop Manager or BlackBerry Link, there was the SIM card and the ability to save and transfer contacts from one device to another. While the card itself only holds a limited number of contacts, the process is still easy to perform.

• Go into the contacts application
• Swipe down from the top and go into Settings
• Scroll to the bottom and choose from among the following options
• Import contacts from SIM card - copies all of the contacts from the SIM to your device
• Copy contacts from Device to SIM Card - copies contacts (locally stored) on the device to the SIM card
• Manage SIM card contacts - allows you to view, copy, or selectively delete contacts stored on the SIM

Copy contacts to other accounts

Dear Berry said it best by going over the basic steps for copying contacts off your device and to your synced accounts. As I always transferred them from one device to another this helped bring them over to my Gmail account without having to export a file or type them all in again.

• Go into the contacts application
• Navigate to a contact that is saved locally and tap on it
• At the bottom, tap on the three dots (more) icon and select the Copy to option from the side action menu
• From the next screen place a check mark next to each location you wish to save the contact to (i.e. Local, Gmail, or SIM)
• Tap on Done to complete the action

Set Up Groups

Whether for work or personal, there are times we all need to send out a message multiple people. Since it is all about communication there is a quick way to set them up.

• Open the Contacts application
• From the bottom menu, tap on New Group
• Enter in a name for your new group
• To add members, tap on the Add Contacts icon at the bottom
• The contacts list displays next and allows you to select multiple contacts at once
• You may also search and select members individually
• When all of your desired contacts have been selected, tap on Done in the upper right

More BlackBerry 10 How-To and Tips

If we left anything out on this list, feel free to share what may have been missed in the comments.

Looking for more tricks and how-to articles? Check out our BlackBerry 10 Help section.