Contact Merge Not Working - IOS 16.2
I have IOS 16.2 on an iPhone XR. I was thrilled to see the contact merge feature, because some glitch in the syncing between Apple and Microsoft caused my entire address book to be duplicated, with some entries in the address book 6 or more times. The phone says I have 1757 duplicate contacts. When I view the duplicates, then tap "Merge All" and then confirm "Merge Duplicates" I see a note just below "My Card" that says "Merging Duplicates" with the little spinning circle to the right of it. Sometimes it will stay that way for an extended time, other times if I look again after the screen goes dark, I am back to the Contacts screen telling me I have 1757 duplicate contacts. The bottom line is that the contacts never merge. It is like Groundhog Day. I have done numerous searches, but cannot find anything to tell me what to do if the merge feature does not work as advertised. I would appreciate any help or suggestions.
iPhone XR, iOS 16