1) is there a way to have a hard back-up copy of all my contacts to import to my non-apple devices and accounts;
2) is there a way to merge and eliminate duplicate contacts on iPhone contacts?
thank you
iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 16
If you are using iCloud to store your contacts, start here for information on how to export them to a format that can be used by other platforms:
Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support
If you're using some other type of account such as Gmail or Yahoo, you can look at their help documents for the procedure.
You may have stored the same contacts in multiple email accounts.
Either remove the contacts from the rarely used email account or disable contacts from the rarely used mail account in the iOS Mail app.
Unlike some Android devices, contacts are neither stored locally on an iPhone nor in SIM. They are synced to an email account that you had Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other
If you have more than one contact card with the same first and last name, you can merge the duplicate contacts.
Get rid of duplicate contacts on iPhone – Apple Support (UK)
Hard back-up copy or merge and eliminate duplicate contacts
