5 Full Ways to Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone With/Without Backup

Updated to iPhone Data Recovery Tips by Robert on Dec 13, 2023 | Approved by Christian Cawley

With the Contacts app on your iPhone, you can keep all the important people in your life just a tap away. This app allows you to save information like phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. However, like any other app, it is not perfect. Sometimes contacts can be lost due to accidental deletions or software glitches. If you find yourself in this situation, do not despair. There are many solutions to recover permanently deleted contacts on iPhone without/with Backup, and we share them with you in this article.

Quick Navigation
Part 1. How to Retrieve Contacts Deleted/Disappeared from iPhone With/Without Backup and Computer
Part 2. Tips for Preventing Contacts Lost on iPhone
Part 3. Frequently Asked Questions for iPhone Contact Recovery

How to Retrieve Contacts Deleted/Disappeared from iPhone With/Without Backup and Computer

It can be incredibly frustrating to lose important contacts on your iPhone. Whether you accidentally remove a contact or you lose all your contacts after transferring to a new phone, it can be a real pain to track down all the information you need. Don't worry; we will show different ways to restore lost contacts on iPhone even if you don't have a backup or computer.

Ways 1. Sync Contacts from iCloud to iPhone

Whether you've just gotten a new iPhone or have had to reset your old phone to factory settings, one of the first things you'll need to do is transfer your contacts over. Apple makes it easy to do this by allowing users to save their contacts on the cloud. So this way, you can restore deleted contacts on iPhone and other devices with the Contacts option enabled under the iCloud settings. To perform the restoration process, follow these steps:

  1. Please login to your iCloud Account on your computer and open Account Settings.
  2. Click on the Restore Contacts option given under the Advanced header.
  3. You will see a popup showing all the versions available for restoration along with their saving time.
  4. Each option will have a button saying Restore next to it. Find the version you need to restore and click on the button next to it.

As soon as you click the text, the contacts will start syncing to all the Apple devices where you have Contacts enabled under the iCloud settings. Note that when getting back lost contacts on your iPhone, do not make any modifications, as iCloud will restore any changes made in the meantime.

Ways 2. Restore Deleted Contacts from iPhone Without Computer by iCloud Backup File

Have you accidentally deleted some important contacts from your iPhone, and now you're trying to figure out how to get them back? If you have an iCloud backup of your device, you can use it to restore your contacts. Here's how:

Before starting this process, please make a backup of your iPhone; it will erase all photos, videos, messages, etc.

  1. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings to confirm the erasing.
  2. Select the "Restore from iCloud Backup" option when your iPhone restart.
  3. Sign into your iCloud Account.
  4. Among the iCloud backup list, select the one that has the contact you need (most likely the latest one for maximum data).
  5. The phone will start downloading your iCloud backup to your phone now. Wait for the process to finish.

To be sure, you can go to your Contacts app and double-check if you have all the information you expect to find after restoring your contacts on an iPhone. Prerequisite knowledge of the backups is a crucial part of the process, so make sure you know what you select.

Ways 3. Get Deleted Contacts on iPhone With iTunes Backup

There is no doubt that iCloud backup is the easiest method for storing your iPhone data online, especially for contacts. However, it is still not the only option Apple provides because many prefer not to use it. One of the most common reasons is Apple's limited backup storage for free (5GB). To stay on the safe side, they use iTunes to create a backup of their phones. Of course, this is only one of the reasons for making that backup, as each person can have their reason. Regardless of that, if you are someone who has iTunes backups available and wants to recover deleted iPhone contacts from backup, then you can easily do so using the following steps:

  1. Open the iTunes application and ensure it is up to date to avoid potential issues.
  2. Connect your iPhone to the PC via a USB cable. You may be asked to enter the password. You can select the "Trust This Computer" option given in the popup if you are using your personal computer to restore contacts deleted on an iPhone.
  3. Click the "Restore Backup" option and follow the wizard to select a recent iTunes backup to start the restore process.
  4. After the process is done, you can check the Contacts app on your phone to see if you were able to retrieve permanently deleted contacts on iPhone successfully.

Ensure your iOS device stays connected to your computer while it syncs the data. You can see the progress bar on top of the iTunes window. After finishing, you can check the Contacts app on your phone to see if you were able to retrieve permanently deleted contacts on iPhone successfully.

Ways 4. Recover Permanently Deleted Contacts on iPhone without Backup

It can be incredibly frustrating to lose important contacts on your iPhone, especially if you didn't back them up beforehand. However, all is not lost! Thanks to the way electronic memory works, there is still a chance that you can restore contacts from an iPhone. While they seem to be gone forever, you can try the software to help you see your contacts again.

While plenty of third-party recovery tool offers this service, the iBeesoft iPhone data recovery software is one of the most reliable. This powerful app makes it easy to recover deleted text messages, photos, contacts, etc., and even allows you to save the found items to your computer for future use. To use it to restore deleted contacts from iPhone without backup, follow these steps:

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  1. Install iBeesoft iPhone contact recovery software on your computer and ensure it runs.
  2. Connect the phone to the system via a USB cable, and make sure you have the "Recover from iOS Device" option selected on top.
  3. When you connect the iPhone, your device will appear on the screen with a Scan button. Click on it to start the scanning process.
  4. The software will look for all the data available on your iPhone and display them for you. Please select all the contacts you need to get and click on the Recover button on the bottom right. It will automatically save them to your computer.

This method is handy for people with an iPhone that is readable on the computer but not turning on. You can use this tool to find deleted contacts on iPhone and any other data you may need instead of being forced to restore your iPhone to a backed-up version causing other data to disappear.

Ways 5. Resume Deleted iPhone Contacts by Extracting Data in iTunes Backup

An iTunes backup is excellent for easily recovering deleted contacts on an iPhone, but it usually resets everything. What if I only want to get contacts? In this case, you can use iBeesoft Data Recovery to extract the required information. Here are the steps for how to retrieve deleted contacts on iPhone.

  1. Please run the iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery on your PC.
  2. From the top bar, click on the tab "Recover from iTunes." Switching to this tab will automatically trigger a search from the app, as it will look for all the iTunes backups available on your computer.
  3. Once you have a list of options, extract the deleted iPhone contacts by clicking the "Scan" button.
  4. At this point, the software will start showing all the data available on your backup file and present it to you in an organized manner. You can go to the Contacts tab in the left sidebar to check them, select you need ones, and then click the Recover button to save them.

The preview option on iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery makes the process much easier. You can selectively recover contacts from an iPhone if you have duplicates in your Backup.

Tips for Preventing Contacts Lost on iPhone

iPhones are convenient because they allow users to have all their contacts in one place. However, this convenience can quickly become frustrating if contacts are lost or deleted. Here, you can take some simple ways to prevent contacts from being lost on your iPhone.

By taking these precautions, you can avoid the headache of losing important contacts on your iPhone.

Frequently Asked Questions for iPhone Contact Recovery

When it comes to recovering contacts from an iPhone, there are a few frequently asked questions that come up time and again. Here are some questions and answers for getting back lost iPhone contacts: