Have you ever accidentally deleted some important contacts? Here you will learn a few different methods that you can use to retrieve those contacts. There are many different reasons why you may need to know how to retrieve your contacts and there are a couple of different ways to do so. Some of the methods are fairly easy and you can do them straight from your phone but there are some other methods that will require a computer and are a bit more tedious. I’ll start off by showing you the simplest methods that anyone can use and then move on to the harder methods one by one.
- How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts on iPhone Without Computer
- How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts on iPhone Without Backup
How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts on iPhone Without Computer
These first two methods that I will be introducing are the simplest to follow. They will not require the use of a computer or any third-party software, therefore they can be done directly from your iPhone.
#1 How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts from iCloud.com
The first and easiest method would be to use iCloud. The good thing about iCloud is that even if you delete any phone numbers from your Contacts app, you can always get them back later.
- First thing you have to do is go to the iCloud website on your iPhone’s browser app.
- When you’ve reached the website, you will need to log in using your iCloud account by putting in your email and password.
- Once you’ve logged in, you will need to click on the “Account Settings” icon.
- A new page will pop up and you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Advanced Settings”.
- A little menu will open up and you will then select the “Restore Contacts” option.
- Now another menu will open and display different dates that you can choose to restore from. Select the date that you wish to restore from and then click the “Restore” button.
Make sure that you choose the correct date. This should be a date from before you deleted whatever contacts that you need. Once you have clicked the restore button, your phone will restart. When your phone turns back on, all your missing contacts will have been restored back into your “Contacts” list.
#2 How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts Through iCloud Backup
This way of retrieving your deleted contacts will require you to completely reset your phone, which will delete all content, and then restore your iPhone from an iCloud backup which was made before you deleted the contacts. This is another fairly easy technique to use, but you will lose the data that is not backed up to iCloud. Think about it twice before you try this method.
- The first thing you have to do is go into your iPhone’s “Settings”.
- Next, you will have to scroll down to the “General” tab and select it.
- A new page will open up and you then have to scroll down to the bottom of that page to select the “Reset” option.
- After selecting “Reset”, a new page will open with a few different reset options. You will have to select the “Erase All Content and Settings” option.
- Your phone will then prompt you to enter your password to confirm the reset. Once you have entered in your password and confirmed that you want to reset, your phone will begin resetting.
At this point, you’ll have to wait a few minutes while your phone completes its reset. Once the reset is finally complete, you will basically have a new iPhone. This means when your phone turns back on, it will bring you to the “Hello” screen like it did when you first bought it. Follow the next steps to set up your phone with a backup from iCloud.
- Your phone has completed resetting and is now on the “Hello” welcome screen.
- Complete the setup steps on your screen until you reach the “Apps & Data” page.
- Once you’re on the “Apps & Data” page, you will see an option that says “Restore from iCloud Backup”, and you will select that option.
- You will then be prompted to enter your Apple ID, email and password to sign in to your iCloud account.
- Once signed in, you will see all the available backups that you can choose from. Look at the date and the size of each and select the one that is most relevant to your needs. After you choose the backup file you want to restore your device from, the transfer from iCloud will begin.
- When asked, sign in with your Apple ID to restore your apps and purchases.
- A progress bar will appear and depending on your network speed and the size of your backup, it will take anywhere from a few minutes, up to an hour to complete the backup. Make sure to stay connected to Wi-Fi at all times, if you lose connection for whatever reason, the restore will pause until you reconnect.
When the backup process is completed, you will finish the setup process as usual and will then be able to enjoy your iPhone. All your apps will continue updating in the background for the next couple of minutes but your phone will be ready to use. Any previously lost contacts will have been fully restored.
How to Retrieve Deleted Contacts on iPhone Without Backup
If you don’t have a backup saved in your iCloud then there is a final way for you to retrieve your deleted contacts — using data recovery tools. Keep in mind that you will need a computer in order to use the tools.
Do iPhone data recovery tools really work?
You can use third-party tools to retrieve your data without backups. You’re probably asking yourself, will a third-party tool even work?
Yes, it will work. Some special third-party software is made to gain access to the memory of your device through your PC. When your iPhone is plugged into a computer and connected to third-party software, it will be able to read and write data on your device. This works because inside of your iPhone there is a memory chip that works very similar to a USB drive. Just like you can plug a USB drive into your computer and put data into it or take data off of it, you can do the same with your iPhone as long as you have third-party software. Even though you have deleted your contacts from your “Contacts” app, they will still be stored as files on your iPhone’s internal memory unit. Using third-party software, you’ll be able to gain access to those deleted files.
Using Wondershare Dr.Fone for free
Dr.Fone has some of the worlds leading data recovery technology. With the software, you can recover all types of data from your iPhone such as contacts, photos, messages, etc. Any data that you have lost will be able to recover with Dr.Fone. This software can be used in any scenario from accidental deletion of data to a damaged device and everything in between. The recovery process is fairly simple and should not take very long. Let’s get started.
Before you can use Dr.Fone you must have the latest version of iTunes downloaded. You will have to stop iTunes from automatically syncing when your iPhone is plugged in. To do this you will open up iTunes and click on “Preferences” then “Devices”. You will then see an option that says “Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically” and you will select this option. You can then get started with the recovery.
- First, you will have to download Wondershare Dr.Fone’s free trial version.
- Once downloaded, you will connect your iPhone to your PC.
- Next, you will launch the downloaded software, Wondershare Dr.Fone.
- When the program opens up, you will then choose the “Data Recovery” option.
- After the program detects your iPhone, it will open up a window showing you all the different data that can be recovered and will have a “Start Scan” button on the bottom right. You need to choose “Contacts” and press the “Start Scan” button.
- The scanning process will begin and the time needed depends on the data on your device.
- At the completion of the scan you will be taken to a new page showing all the results of the data that was found, both deleted and current data will be displayed.
- To show only the deleted data that was recovered you will have to turn “ON” the “Only display the deleted items” option. On the left side, you will see a list of different data that was recovered to choose from. Select the “Contacts” option to see all the recovered contacts, then select each one that you want to retrieve.
- When you have selected an item a “Recover” button will appear. Once all the contacts you need have been selected, press the “Recover” button.
- A small notice will then pop up asking if you want to “Recover to Computer” or “Recover to Device”. If you want the recovered data to go directly into your iPhone then you will select the “Recover to Device” option.
Conclusion
There are a couple of different ways to retrieve your deleted contacts. Some ways are quicker than others. Some ways are more tedious than others. Though, they do all offer the same result, in their own different ways. The easiest methods would obviously be the ones in the beginning that you would be able to do directly on your iPhone but that might not work for everybody. If you have never backed up your device then those options are not available to you and you will have to go with the more tedious method of using third-party software to recover your lost data. Either way, this guide has shown you step by step how to retrieve your lost contacts so they will not be lost forever.
