How To Recover Disappeared Contacts On iPhone In 2023? | 8 Effective Ways
Losing your contacts can be a scary experience. Many iPhone users have reported that they lost their contacts but fortunately several methods and techniques can help to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone. This is very frustrating especially when you have some vital contacts on your iphone like your colleagues or some important client.
There are several possible reasons for your contacts to disappear mysteriously such as when you deleted your Email account when you updated your device, or maybe after jailbreaking your iPhone. The list is long. But fortunately, this problem can be fixed using some strategies.
The best way to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone is to toggle the contacts in iCloud off and then turn it on. This can be done by going to Settings>User Name>iCloud. This is a prime method to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone. To learn more about how to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone, keep reading this article.
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Here’s How To Recover Disappeared Contacts On iPhone In 2022
There might be two conditions when you lose contacts, one is all your contacts are lost and the second one is only a few contacts are missing. This might be caused by an iOS update, Wi-Fi connectivity issues, Email deletion, etc.
This mostly happens when your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi connection. If this ever happened to you then don’t worry as in this post your doubt will be cleared regarding how to recover disappeared contacts on your iPhone.
How to Recover Disappeared Contacts on iPhone?
In this post, I have gathered several ways from easy to advanced. Use these tactics to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone. Let’s see them one by one.
Method 1: Check Contacts Group Settings
Many times your contacts may get missing from the contacts group settings. It might be possible that the contacts are selected to be hidden or be viewed on iCloud. In this case, it is easy to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone.
Follow the steps given below:
Step 1: Open the Contacts and click on the Groups at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Now select All on My iPhone, not All iCloud.
Step 3: Check if missing contacts are recovered or not.
If it doesn’t work, then move on to the next option to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone.
Also, See: How To Add Messages App Back to iPhone Home Screen Now!
Method 2: Change Default Account in Settings Back to iCloud
If your default account is Gmail, then you can change this to iCloud. This can bring back your lost contacts in your contacts app. To do this follow the steps given below:
Step 1: Open your iPhone’s Settings.
Step 2: Now click on Mail, Contacts, and Calendars.
Step 3: Select Default Account under contacts.
Step 4: Now select iCloud instead of selecting On my iPhone.
Note: This method doesn’t work for iOS 11 as Apple canceled this function.
Method 3: Find Contacts With Other Names
Try to find your contacts with their surname or family name. It might be possible that you saved the contact with their surname or maybe the setting is set to show the surnames only.
Method 4: Restart your iPhone
Turn off your iPhone and then turn it on. Sometimes contacts are lost due to data errors which can be fixed by restarting your iPhone. Try out this method to recover disappeared contacts on your iPhone.
Also, See: How To Block No Caller ID Calls On iPhone With iOS 16?
Method 5: Turn on Wi-Fi
Turn on the Wi-Fi if you think your phone’s cellular network is weak. This can cause your contacts not to sync. But turning on the Wi-Fi will make your files install faster and allow your contacts to sync.
Method 6: Check your Sync Settings
Make sure your iPhone data is set to sync data every time it is connected to Wi-Fi. Sometimes due to server errors during data sync, your contacts may get lost. Therefore, to avoid this follow the steps given below:
Step 1: Go to your phone’s Settings.
Step 2: Tap the Passwords & Accounts option.
Step 3: Now click on Fetch New Data.
Step 4: Enable Push.
Step 5: Now press the Automatically button to set the Fetch schedule.
Also, See: 10 Ways To Fix An IPhone That Keeps Turning Off And On
Method 7: Reset your Network Settings
This method is said to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone. But resetting your network settings will erase all your Wi-Fi settings. If you are fine with this then to reset your network settings go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings.
Method 8: Perform an iTunes Restore
In case you have made a backup of your data and contacts to iTunes on your Mac or PC, check the backup files to see if your lost contacts are there or not. If you find your missing contacts there you can restore them to your iPhone.
Also, See: How To Unblock Numbers On iPhone Devices?
How to Recover Disappeared Contacts on iPhone After Update?
Several users stated that their contacts got mysteriously missing after they updated their phones. Strange, right? It becomes very frustrating when you lose your important contacts and you are left with no means to call them. It is totally fine to get exasperated by this problem but you can calm down as I have solutions to this problem.
Above discussed methods are generally used methods that can help recover disappeared contacts on iPhone but in case these methods don’t work, I will tell you about a tool that will definitely recover disappeared contacts on iPhone.
How to Recover Disappeared Contacts on iPhone After Update Using iMyFone D-Back?
This tool is compatible with iOS 16 and iOS 15. This tool has a high success rate of recovery as it scans your device and brings back your disappeared contacts. It is safe to use as it doesn’t keep any of your personal data. And the most interesting thing is it is free to use and enables you to preview the contacts before recovering them.
Let’s see how to use iMyFone D-Back:
Step 1: Install iMyFone on your Mac or PC and then choose the recovery mode according to your wish and press the Start button.
Step 2: Now connect your phone to your PC using a USB and then press the Next button.
Step 3: You can select the files that you want to recover like photos, messages, and contacts. After selecting your contacts press the Scan button. Now, this tool will start scanning your lost contacts.
Step 4: Once this process is done you can preview the contacts and then press the Recover button.
Also, See: My iPhone Battery Turned Yellow?
How to Recover Disappeared Contacts on iPhone After Deleting Email Account?
Have you ever lost contacts after deleting an Email Account? Well, this has happened to many users. This may happen because you might have saved the contacts on the email instead of your phone. This might be breathtaking and you may think that there is no possible way to bring back the lost contacts after deleting the email account.
But this is not the case. You can actually bring back your lost contacts with some very easy steps. Let’s what can be done to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone:
1. Re-add your Email Account
This is the first thing you should do if you have lost your contacts after deleting the email account. But this can be done on one condition. You must remember your email password. If you meet this condition then you are good to go. Below are the steps to re-add your email account:
Step 1: Go to iPhone’s Settings and then click on Contacts.
Step 2: Now click on Accounts>Add Accounts.
Step 3: You will see a list of options. You have to select one option according to your old email account type.
Step 4: Now re-add the account by entering the email details.
Your lost contacts will be recovered and you can find the in your contacts app.
Also, See: 10 Ways To Fix An IPhone That Keeps Turning Off And On
2. Bring Back Lost Contacts from iTunes Backup After Deleting the Email Account
If the above method didn’t work you can opt for this option. We all have iTunes backup and it is very easy to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone from iTunes.
Follow the steps to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone after deleting the email account with iTunes:
Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable and open iTunes.
Step 2: On the top left corner you will see the iPhone icon. Click on it.
Step 3: Select Summary and then click on Restore Backup.
Step 4: Now select the latest iTunes backup and press the Hit button.
Note: Do not disable Find my iPhone before recovering lost contacts with iTunes.
Wrap up!
Don’t panic if you have lost your contacts. There are several ways to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone as discussed in this post. You should also be prepared for not getting back your contact because usually once deleted never gets recovered as there is no 100% guarantee that these methods will work.
But you can definitely try these methods as you have nothing to lose. I hope these solutions were helpful to you. Thanks for visiting!
Also, See: 6 Ways To Unlock iPhone Without Passcode That 101% Works
Frequently Asked Questions-
Q.1 Why did my contacts disappear?
Ans. There is no one exact reason as to why your contacts disappeared. It could happen due to some software bug, or poor connection. It is also possible that there might be sluggish syncing that caused your contacts to get missing.
Q.2 Can be deleted contacts recovered?
Ans. It is possible to recover disappeared contacts on iPhone. In this post, I mentioned some methods that are said to recover lost contacts. You can use them to bring back your missing contacts.
