How to recover deleted contacts

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Several simple and effective ways for Android and iOS gadgets.

How to Recover Deleted Contacts on Android Smartphone

Google periodically backs up contacts on the server and stores each of them for up to 30 days. This is due to the synchronization of the device with a Google account.

If, before deleting contacts, synchronization was configured on your device and the system managed to create one or several copies, then you can try to restore one of the previous versions of the phone book with their help.

To do this, you need the "Contacts" service. The recovery function is available both in its web version and in the application of the same name. Use whichever option is more convenient for you.

To restore contacts using the web version, open Contacts in your desktop browser, click More → Undo Changes. After that, select a backup copy that is suitable by the date of creation and follow the further prompts.

To recover deleted data in the Contacts application, launch it and sign in to your Google account. Then open the settings and click "Restore". Choose a suitable copy and follow the program prompts.

How to Recover Deleted Contacts on iPhone

1. From an archived copy of contacts on the iCloud website

This option should help if you have previously set up syncing iPhone contacts with iCloud. In this case, the server must have copies of the phone book created on different days. With their help, you can restore your contact list to one of the previous states.

To check for backups, log in to the iCloud website using your desktop browser. Then go to "Settings" and in the "Additional" section select "Restore contacts".

If you're lucky, you'll see a list of available copies along with their dates of creation. Select the copy you want and click "Recover". iCloud will replace all current contacts with the data from the online archive. This will happen on all devices connected to this account. If there are no copies, try other methods.

2. By manually exporting contacts from iCloud

If you can't find backup copies, but deleted contacts appear in the "Contacts" section in the web version of iCloud, try exporting them to iPhone.

To do this, select on the site all the phonebook entries that have been deleted from the smartphone. Then click on the gear in the lower left corner and select "Export vCard".

A VCF file with the contacts you need will be downloaded to your computer. Email it to a mailbox accessible from your iPhone and open the attachment using the standard iOS Mail app. In the next menu, click "Add all N contacts" - after that they should appear in the phone book.

If it doesn't work, open the Contacts app and refresh the list by swiping down from the top of the screen. If the situation does not change, go to the next method.

3. From iPhone Full Backup to iTunes

Count on this option only if you backed up your iPhone to your computer using iTunes before losing your contacts. In this case, you can restore the device to its previous state. In this case, not only contacts, but also all current settings and files will be deleted from the iPhone, and the contents of the copy will take their place.

Connect your smartphone to your computer via USB and launch iTunes. If required, enter your username and password. Then click on the iPhone icon, then click "Restore from a copy". Select the most recent copy, the date of which precedes the loss of contacts, and click "Recover".

After restoring and syncing with the computer, the deleted contacts should appear on the iPhone.

If you don't have backup copies of your contacts

Even if there are no backup copies of your contact list on the device or server, there is still a chance to restore it. For this, there are special programs like PhoneRescue and dr.fone. As a rule, they are paid and cost a lot. But if you have deleted really important data, it may make sense to pay.