Contacts are a fundamental aspect of modern communication and organization, playing a crucial role in both personal and professional life. Losing important contacts on your iPhone can be a distressing experience, whether it’s due to accidental deletion, syncing errors, or device damage. This raises the question: “Can I recover deleted contacts on my iPhone?”

Fortunately, with the right approach and tools, it is often possible to retrieve deleted iPhone contacts. In this article, we will explain where iPhone recently deleted contacts go, as well as outline various methods to help you restore any lost contacts.

Table of contents
  1. Are Contacts Permanently Deleted on iPhone?
  2. How to Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone
  3. Related Questions About Recovering Contacts on iPhone

Are Contacts Permanently Deleted on iPhone?

Unlike Photos or Messages, when contacts are deleted from an iPhone, they are typically removed immediately from the device without being moved to a separate “Recently Deleted” folder. This means that once a contact is deleted from the Contacts app on an iPhone, it is unrecoverable within the app itself. In addition, iPhone also do not have a specifically designated hidden folder for contacts.

However, all is not lost. There are still some ways to potentially recover deleted contacts on an iPhone, such as using iCloud / iTunes backup or some third-party data recovery software. Keep reading to find more details.

How to Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone

In the following sections, we will show 5 approaches to retrieve deleted contacts on iPhone. Some require a complete reset of your iPhone data, while others do not. Please read the notes accompanying each method carefully so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

2.1 Retrieve Contacts on iPhone by Syncing iCloud Data Again

Need to Replace Current Contacts: No | Recover Specific Contacts: No

Generally, your contacts are set to sync with iCloud by default. If your contacts are stored in iCloud and not exclusively on your iPhone due to some errors, syncing iCloud data again can help retrieve those contacts. Moreover, if you deleted a contact on iPhone by mistake, but the action has not yet been reflected in iCloud, you can get it back through this way.

How to recover iPhone contacts by syncing iCloud data again

Step 1: Go to Settings on your iPhone, tap on your name at the top, then select “iCloud.”

Step 2: Tap Show All under the section “APPS USING ICLOUD,” then locate “Contacts.”

Step 3: Toggle off Contacts and select Keep on my iPhone. Then turn Contacts on and select Merge.

recover iPhone contacts by syncing iCloud data

After a short while, your device will update its contacts with the latest data from your iCloud account, while preserving your existing contacts. Verify if the lost contacts have been successfully recovered.

Note: If the contacts were deleted a while ago and they are not present in your iCloud account, this method may not be successful. Try other ways below to restore your deleted contacts.

2.2 Restore Contacts on iPhone Using iCloud.com

Need to Replace Current Contacts: Yes | Recover Specific Contacts: No

Actually, if you have have Contacts enabled in iCloud settings, not only any changes you make will be reflected to your iCloud account, but also an older version of a contact will be automatically archived in iCloud, allowing you to restore it if you’ve accidentally deleted contacts from your iPhone. Since any changes you make will not be saved during the restoration process, please don’t edit your contacts until the process is complete.

How to restore iPhone contacts from iCloud.com

Step 1: Open a browser on your iPhone and go to iCloud.com, then sign in with your Apple ID and password.

Step 2: Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Data Recovery.

Step 3: Find and tap Restore Contacts, then the available versions will be listed by archive date and time.

Step 4: Choose the version you want, tap Restore next to it, then confirm. Afterward, the restoration will start.

restore iPhone contacts from iCloud.com

Note: With this method, you don’t need to restore your full device to recover contacts, but your entire contact data will be replaced with the backup version you choose. Additionally, remember that before the restore process starts, iCloud will automatically back up your current contacts as the latest archive, which will take some time.

2.3 Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone Without Backup🔥

Need to Replace Current Contacts: No | Recover Specific Contacts: Yes

If you fail to recover deleted contacts through the methods mentioned above, and you don’t have any data backup either, it is necessary to consider using a more advanced tool to try to get them back.

Here, I recommend SoftTooler ReData, a professional iPhone data recovery tool that allows you to retrieve contacts without backup. It is designed to perform deep scans of the device’s storage to locate and restore deleted data that may still be present but not accessible through standard means. Moreover, the most advanced technology guarantees a high success rate.

🌟 Key Features of ReData:

  • Support Various Data Types: Quickly retrieve permanently deleted photos, missing videos, lost messages, contacts, WhatsApp chat and more data types from iPhone/iPad.
  • No Data Loss: No need to restore your iPhone and the recovered contacts will be saved to your computer.
  • Free Trial: Free preview details of the recoverable data by category before recovery, so you don’t need to worry about wasting your money.
  • Selectively Recover: Choose and extract the specific contacts you need from your devices or iTunes backup just with a few clicks.
  • Up-to-Date Compatibility: Fully support all iPhones and iOS versions, including the latest iPhone 16 and iOS 18.
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How to use ReData to recover deleted contacts on iphone without backup

Step 1: Click the botton above to download and install this software on your computer. Then open it and choose “Recover From Device.”

ReData Recover From Device

Step 2: Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable. After it is recognized, select “Contacts” from the data types to scan.

ReData select the data type to recoverStep 3: Preview the information of the recoverable contacts and find the deleted ones you need. Select them and click “Recover to Computer”, now the recovery process will start.

ReData preview and select contacts

After a few minutes, you can get back and view your lost contacts on your PC.

2.4 Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone via iTunes Backup

Need to Replace Current Contacts: Yes | Recover Specific Contacts: No

If you have synced your iPhone with iTunes on computer and created a backup before deleting the contacts, you can restore your device from that backup to recover the deleted contacts. Unlike iCloud backups, which require an internet connection for restoration, iTunes backups are stored locally on your computer and you can retrieve from them offline.

How to recover iPhone contacts from iTunes backup

Step 1: Use the USB cable to connect your iPhone to the computer where you have the iTunes backup stored.

Step 2: On macOS Mojave or earlier / Windows PC, launch iTunes. On macOS Catalina or later, launch Finder.

Step 3: Locate and select your iPhone from the interface of iTunes / Finder.

locate and select your iPhone in iTunes

Step 4: Select the Restore Backup option and choose the backup you want to restore from.

Step 5: Click Restore and enter password if needed to begin the video recovery process.

restore backup in iTunes

Typically, Larger backup files containing a lot of data may take longer time. Please wait patiently.

Note: The device will be reverted to the state it was in at the time the backup was created. This means that any data added to the device after the backup was made will be replaced by the data stored in the backup. If you are not sure which is the correct backup and don’t want data loss, we recommend using the data recovery tool mentioned earlier to scan and preview the content of your iTunes backup first.

2.5 Restore Contacts on iPhone from SIM Card

Need to Replace Current Contacts: No | Recover Specific Contacts: No

The final method to recover deleted iPhone contacts is by transferring them from a SIM card. Surely, you need to confirm that the SIM card contains the deleted contacts you wish to retrieve and that it is compatible with your iPhone. While it’s less common nowadays to save contacts to SIM cards, some devices still support this feature. The process is straightforward, so we recommend giving it a try.

How to import contacts from your SIM card to your iPhone

Step 1: Use a SIM card ejector tool to open the SIM card tray on your iPhone and insert the SIM card.

Step 2: Go to the “Contacts” app. In some cases, the contacts stored on the SIM card will be automatically imported into the iPhone’s contact list. If this does not, follow the next steps to manually import them.

Step 3: Tap Settings > Contacts > Import SIM Contacts. If asked, choose where you want to import your SIM card contacts.

import contacts from SIM card to iPhone

Wait for the import to complete and you will find your deleted contacts back to your iPhone.

Note: It is important to note that iPhone does not store contacts on the SIM card. Thus, this method will only work when you have previously saved the deleted contacts to the SIM card using other phone models.

Related Questions About Recovering Contacts on iPhone

Q1. How far back can I restore Contacts on my iPhone?

The ability to restore contacts on your iPhone depends on several factors. If you have regular backups of your iPhone stored in iCloud or on your computer via iTunes, you can typically restore contacts from the most recent backup available. Additionally, some third-party tools may have the capability to recover lost contacts from iPhone, but they will fail if your deleted contacts have been overwritten by new data after a few days.

Q2. Why did my Contacts get deleted automatically on my iPhone?

If you have contacts synced with iCloud, Gmail, or another service, syncing problems or account settings changes could lead to contacts seemingly disappearing from your iPhone. Occasionally, software glitches like major iOS updates errors can also lead to unexpected loss issues with contacts or other data.

Q3. Are iPhone Contacts automatically backed up?

If you have enabled Contacts in iCloud settings, they will be archived in iCloud automatically and you can use iCloud.com to restore them after deletion. Besides, when you have iCloud Backup turned on, your device will automatically back up your data, including contacts to iCloud when it is connected to Wi-Fi, locked, and charging.

Conclusion

Whether you accidentally deleted contacts, encountered a software issue, or experienced a syncing problem, there are steps you can take to retrieve your valuable contact information, such as utilizing the built-in features of iCloud / iTunes backup. Also, it is necessary to regularly back up your iPhone to prevent loss of contacts on your iPhone in the future.

Besides, through recovering lost contacts without backup would be a little challenging, reliable iPhone data recovery tools SoftTooler ReData can do you a favor. With its high success rate and convenient features like free preview and selective restoration, we strongly recommend obtaining it below and giving it a try now!

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