7 Easy Tips to Fix iPhone Contacts Missing/Disappeared in 2024

iPhone is really a great device, however, you may still come across various issues that will leave you frustrated. The most common one is contacts disappeared from iPhone suddenly.

Recently, a lot of iPhone users have reported this error and said they were unable to make calls or send messages due to iPhone contacts missing.

Various factors can cause the lose of iPhone contacts:

• iOS Upgrade: When you upgrade your iPhone to the newest version, you will be asked to sync iPhone contacts, calendars or notes using iCloud. Users who have not synced contacts to iCloud may find that their contacts are missing from address book.
• Virus Attack: More and more viruses are found to attack not only your iPhone but also result in data loss.
• iPhone Jailbreak: It may not be a direct cause, but it could lead to situations that causes data loss. To avoid data loss, you’d better back up your iPhone data and ensure that the device is fully charged.

If you encountered the same issue, don’t worry, this article will prove very helpful to you. In this tutorial, we are going to share 7 effective tips to solve your iPhone contacts disappeared problem.

Part 1. Recover Lost Contacts from iPhone Directly

1.1 Sign Out of iCloud and Sign In Back

It may seem simple, but this is one of those solutions that will often prove successful for some reason. Follow these simple steps to do it correctly:

• Step 1: Open the Settings on your iPhone and then tap [your name] > iCloud.
• Step 2: Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and then tap on “Sign Out”.
• Step 3: Wait a few seconds and then sign in back to your iCloud account. Make sure that “Contacts” is turned on in iCloud.

Now check if the missing contacts are back on your iPhone. If they are not, try the next solution.

1.2 Disable Contacts in iCloud and Turn On Again

If you have enabled Contacts in iCloud, then your missing contacts may be stored in iCloud. Follow these simple steps to disable Contacts in iCloud and then turn it back on again. This is another simple solution but often works.

Step 1: On your iPhone, go to Settings again and tap on [your name] > iCloud.

Step 2: Locate “Contacts” and then turn off the toggle. When you see a message prompting you to remove previously synced messages, choose “Delete from My iPhone”. This will only remove the contacts from the iPhone but not iCloud, so don’t worry about losing the contacts.

Step 3: Now force restart the iPhone using the following procedures.

• iPhone 6s and earlier - Press and hold both the home and the power buttons until you see the Apple Logo on the screen.
• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus - Press and hold down both the power and the volume down buttons until the Apple logo appears.
• iPhone 8 or later - Press and quickly release the Volume Up button and do the same with the volume down button. Then, press and hold the power button until the Apple Logo appears on the screen.

Step 4: When the device restarts, go back to Settings > [your name] > iCloud to turn on Contacts again.

1.3 Change Contact Group Settings

You might also be able to get the missing contacts back by changing the contact group settings. Here’s how to do that:

• Open the Phone app on your iPhone and then tap on the “Contacts” tab.
• Tap on “Groups” in the top left corner of the resultant interface.
• Deselect the “All iCloud” option and then tap on “All [iPhone Name]” to select this option.
• Tap “Done” and the contact group settings will be changed.

The contacts list will now show all the contacts on your iPhone. Find the ones that are missing and add them to your contacts list. This will also sync contacts to your iCloud account.

1.4 Restart Your iPhone

Sometimes the iPhone contacts missing problem can be caused by a simple bug in the iOS system. In such case, restarting the iPhone can eliminate the system bug and restore thee contacts back on to your device.

To restart the iPhone, press and hold the power button until the “Slide to Power Off” slider shows up. Slide to turn off the device, wait a few seconds, then press and hold the power button again to turn on the iPhone.

1.5 Reset Network Settings on iPhone

Since your iPhone needs to be connected to the internet to sync contacts with iCloud, resetting the network settings on your device and get it to reconnect to the internet might be a good solution. Here’s how to do it:

• Open Settings on your iPhone.
• Tap on General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
• Enter your passcode when prompted and then sign back in to your networks to see if the problem has been fixed.

Part 2. Restore iPhone Contacts from iTunes Backup

If you suspect that the contacts may have been accidentally deleted from the device, you can get them back by restoring an iTunes or Finder backup. Of course, This is assuming that you had backed up your iPhone with iTunes/Finder before the contacts went missing. If you had, follow these simple steps to restore the backup and get your contacts back:

• Connect the iPhone to computer using your lightning cable and then open iTunes or Finder.
• Open the summary/general page by clicking on the iPhone icon.
• Click on “Restore iPhone” and then choose the most recent backup to restore to the device. Click “Restore” to complete the process.

Part 3. Fix iPhone Contacts Missing without Backup

If you don’t have a backup of the missing contacts on iTunes or iCloud, your only option to get them back is using an iOS data recovery tool. Here we recommend you try FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery. This tool’s biggest advantage is that it ensures the highest recovery rate in the market. Also, it is very easy to use, allowing even the beginner to recover missing data on iPhone or iPad. Now let’s first take a look at some of the program’s features:

• It can be used to recover any type of data that you’ve lost on your iPhone including contacts, messages, photos, videos, WhatsApp, Viber, Kik, notes, Safari history, voicemail, voice memos, and much more.
• It will also recover data regardless of how you lost it, such as, accidental deletion, iOS update, jailbreaking, system crash, virus attack, device damaged, or even iPhone is lost or stolen, etc.
• It can recover data from the iOS device directly or selectively extract data from an iTunes or iCloud backup, meaning you don’t have to restore the whole backup to get the lost data back.
• It supports all iOS devices including the iPhone 13 and all versions of the iOS firmware including iOS 16/15.

Follow these simple steps to recover missing contacts from iPhone:

Step 1: Download the iPhone Contacts Recovery and install it on to your computer. Connect the iPhone to the computer using USB cable and then open the program. Click on 'Recover Data from iOS Devices' to begin the process.

Step 2: The program will automatically detect the iPhone and display all the different types of data that can be recovered. In this case, select “Contacts” and click “Start Scan”.

Step 3: The program will begin scanning the device for all contacts, both existing and deleted. You can click “Pause” to stop the scan if you see the missing contacts.

Step 4: Finally, preview and select the contacts you would like to recover and click on either “Recover to Device” to save them directly to the iPhone or “Recover to Computer.”

Conclusion

Here are the 7 solutions you can try to fix iPhone contacts missing problem. Let us know in the comments section below if you are able to get the disappeared contacts back on to your iPhone. To avoid future contacts or other data loss, we strongly recommend you to take a regular backup of your iPhone in iTunes, iCloud, or using third-party FoneGeek iOS Data Backup & Restore tool. Using it, you can backup data including contacts on your iPhone to your computer in one click. Any feedback or question are welcome. Just use the comments section below and we’ll do our best to help.