Birthday won't save in Contacts

Do you have other "Contacts" defined, e.g. Gmail?

If you contacts are coming from Gmail they will not be updated. Only iPad Contacts are saved correctly.

Go to "Contacts" and open „Groups" (the folder icon top left), if you have other than iPad , switch them off and see if the contact you want to save is still there (I.e. in your iPad Contacts).

So the answer is, update the contact in the source "Contacts " app/software.

Currently on iPhone XR with up to date software. When updating birthdays they will not save unless there is a year populated. After hitting blue done with only month and day it will show for a second and then erase. I have had this issue for over a year and asking for birth year is not always feasible. And it seems many have this issue! Please fix !!!!!

I had the same issue and having people’s birthdays in my calendar is my only means of survival so it was pretty rough. But then randomly discovered that adding a specific year to the birthday stopped them from being deleted! Hope that’s helpful for you!

When I added birth year, the birthday saved correctly in iPhone contacts and calendar.

I’ve had this issue since my iPhone 8!!!! I’ve tried all kinds of back door fixes and apparently adding the year is the only one that works. I just learned that today 😒 after being frustrated for years.

oddly anniversary saves just fine so I was just about to start saving people as anniversary when I discovered this thread. So thank you! No thanks to Apple which I e responded on this topic in at least 3 other official Apple forums and with each update I e not seen the bug fixed.

im so annoyed that I pay over $1000 for this 11plus, which I thought upgrading would’ve fixed the problem....

oh well I guess everyone will be born the year I add their bday. Maybe I’ll use it as a way to denote the year I met someone.

Hello  jordisan10,

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. It sounds as though you're having an issue with Contacts on your iPhone. You mentioned that the birthday information goes missing, shortly after it's been added.

Have you noticed if other information, such as an address or note, when newly added, goes missing as well?

Are you storing your contacts in iCloud or is that information linked to a different account, such a Gmail or Yahoo? If you're not sure, you can check this in Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Accounts.

We noticed that you listed iOS 13.6 as the iOS version currently installed on your iPhone. Recently iOS 13.6.1 was released, so updating your software is a good troubleshooting action to perform to help with this issue.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Best wishes.

Thank you “yoyomot”, I added a year and all new birthdays seem to save, Yeah.

Same here. Just been chatting with a rep for 90 minutes and the last thing they had me do was add birth year and it stayed

This is the only thing that fixed it -- Thanks. I gave everyone a 2020 birth year so at least their birthdays are saved now, but soon everyone is going to be turning 1...

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Agree, it needs to be fixed but, in the mean time, stick in a past year of your choice if not the true year.

I also have this issue and have for some time. There was an update a year ago that wiped out years of vital notes and info in my contacts. I stopped backing up to the icloud because of this and it was creating duplicates. I only back up to my gmail. I have checked my default and this is also set. When I make updates to my notes or birthdays the info will not save on my phone. Only if I go I to Gmail contacts directly will it save. Is there a fix?

Not an ideal solution, I couldn't find a way to edit contacts on the Gmail app. Went onto Google Contacts on my laptop and noticed the birthday is already saved on the contact in my Google Contacts, which means that my iPhone must not be pulling in that information from Google contacts?

Part of the reason there is so much confusion is that Apple is misusing the word 'birthday'. In normal everyday usage (in the US, at least), 'birthday' means month and day. If month, day, and year of birth is being asked, such as for your driver's license or IRS returns, the proper terminology is 'date of birth' (DOB).

That said, it would be nice if Contacts accepts birthdays as well as date of birth because it's really impolite to ask people to reveal their age.

I have also had this issue for almost a year now. I have no idea why it happens but my iPhone will not save birthdays when I populate that field under a contact’s profile. It’s incredibly annoying.

I am using a XR with the latest update and have the same issue. I can save email id and notes but not birthday if the year was not included. Adding a birthday without the year was working before, why is not working now? Please fix.

Thanks