iPhone not showing Contact names on iOS 14

Question

Level 1

22 points

iPhone not showing Contact names on iOS 14

All of a sudden when receiving calls and looking at call history only the number is showing up even though I have the number in my contacts. Also, all of my messages just show the numbers not the contact names. Ive googled the issue and I have tried the following fixes with no results -

restarted Iphone
Signed out and then back in to iCloud
Toggled contacts off and then on under iCloud

Contact names are showing fine on my iPad and MacBook no problem. Issue is isolated to my iPhone all of a sudden. Extremely frustrating... Any ideas?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Nov 2, 2020 1:36 PM

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Answer 1

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JClary07 Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 1, 2020 5:55 AM in response to green500

I updated with the recent iOS update and I checked if my carrier had an update and they do not currently. Initially it seemed to be doing better at first. Then out of the blue yesterday it started showing numbers only instead of contacts, where as the day before it was doing fine with certain contacts. After dealing with this for close to a month I have noticed a couple of things...

I have two sets of contacts in my phone - Google and iCloud. Some are duplicates, but this has never been a problem before.
how the phone number is listed may determine whether the my phone shows the contact name. Example, at first the phone didnt show the contact name if the phone number was listed as XXXXXXXXXX or (XXX) XXX-XXXX it had to be listed in the contact as +1 (XXX) XXX-XXXX, but the only way to get the number to be formatted that way is if I ADDED the number to the contact. I couldn't simply edit the contact number to that format. But once I started working on updating my contacts to this format a couple of days latter it reverted back to where the phone seemed to want the number in another format with no area code parenthesis.
Most recent new things is what user below mentioned about showing in group messages where I reply it shows my reply and then shows it as received as well. So I see it twice. Also, now on some contacts it may show the contact name in my call list but that same person and number it only shows the number in messages.

For the last month, it has been really screwy and seems to change from every other day how it was going to handle the contacts. And again, I only have this issue on my phone. No issues on my iPad or Mac (iPad updated using 14.2 and Mac on current Big Sur)

The only thing that I know that I can do, but not sure the best way to do it, would be to merge my contacts from Google to iCloud and only use iCloud contacts. I really dont think that will help because the issues are not regulated to just one contact source or the other but it would take one element out of the situation. It will take a lot of work as I have a ton of contacts.

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Answer 2

Nov 29, 2020 2:23 PM in response to green500

I have the latest software and am having the same issues still. It didn’t start until I purchased the 12 pro. I’m also receiving text messages in the form of a group chat where is sends my message twice. It’s incredibly frustrating and I’m tempted to return the phone and switch to Samsung.

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Answer 3

green500

Community Specialist

Nov 6, 2020 3:29 PM in response to JClary07

Hello JClary07.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand that contacts names aren’t showing in Messages or in your call history. We are happy to help.

We have recently released an iPhone update. Please use the steps here to back up and update: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Then check for and install any carrier updates:

Update your carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Let us know the results.

Take care.

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Answer 4

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Dec 1, 2020 11:23 AM in response to JClary07

Hello JClary07.

You can use the steps here to manage contacts, but the contact will be added to the default account shown in the section titled “Choose a default account to add new contacts” here: Manage and delete contacts on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support In the Contacts app when you tap the “+” in the upper right-hand corner, the new contact will add to the default account.

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

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Answer 5

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Dec 1, 2020 1:45 PM in response to JClary07

Hi JClary07.

We’re glad to hear that you can see the contact name in the notification. You have mentioned importing your Google Contacts to iCloud. You can do this by following the steps in the section titled “Add Contacts from third-party accounts” here: Set up and use iCloud Contacts - Apple Support You can also export your Goggle Contacts as a vCard and import them to iCloud using the steps here: Import a contact on iCloud.com - Apple Support

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

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Answer 6

JClary07 Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 1, 2020 11:52 AM in response to Joseph_S.

Thank you Josheph_S. Im blind! I felt sure that default was somewhere but I just didnt see it when looking for it again this time.

Ok, so here is what I did and the results of this test -

Deleted my daughters contact from phone and made sure it was gone from both iCloud and Google
Made iCloud contact account default
Added daughter contact info (First, Last name, telephone # and email) to iCloud account from phone
Went to google contacts via web accessed via laptop and added her contact info the same as in iCloud
On phone I turned off and on both the iCloud and Google accounts to make sure that the contact was in there twice under both contacts
Sent SMS message to myself to see if contact name would appear (it went through as a SMS message as intended, NOT as an iMessage)
Called myself from her phone

Results: Contact name appeared on text message. It even loaded all old messages under her contact. When I called myself, the contact name appeared but.... it showed up as "First Name or First and Last Name". Like it was referencing both contacts within iCloud and Google.

So yes this worked, but I dont have a lot of faith that this will continue working. Previous experience over the past month has shown me that it could be working one moment and not the next. For now Im going to proceed to figure out a way to export out my Google contact list and import into iCloud and then turn off google contacts and then give it some time to see what results I have. I will update this thread with results when I have them.

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Answer 7

JClary07 Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 1, 2020 5:59 AM in response to Amamstadt29

Unfortunately, I have been experiencing this as well that I wasnt before. It is really frustrating, not sure if you are a new iPhone user or not but after having Apple for years after switching from Samsung I will say that this is a rarity with Apple and they seem to work more consistently then what I experienced with Samsung. Hopefully someone will help with a resolution very soon!

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Answer 8

karina184

Community Specialist

Dec 1, 2020 8:46 AM in response to JClary07

Hello JClary07.

Let’s try adding a new contact to your iCloud and Google Contacts to test if the contact name appears as expected. If this contact still doesn’t show as expected, we recommend contacting Apple Support here: Get Support

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

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Answer 9

JClary07 Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 1, 2020 9:08 AM in response to karina184

Hi Karina 184,

Thank you for your suggestion. Do you have any suggestion on the best way to add a new contact to test with? I tried to look under the settings both within Contacts app and under Settings>Contacts>accounts to see which was the "default" account and I didnt see anything. So I am not sure if I just add a new contact which account the new contact would be listed with or if it would automatically be listed with both. Would this be a good procedure to test with or is there another way that I can add the new contact both in iCloud and Google separately to test with?

Thanks!

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Answer 10

Gavisgon

Level 1

18 points

Dec 23, 2020 12:45 AM in response to Joseph_S.

This happened to me and each time i would have to reset the phone. The last time I actually got to the root cause of the issue by looking at each contact in detail.

if you go into the message and tap under the number it gives you 3 options; Audio, FaceTime, Info.

Assuming you know who this number belongs to you can then select the “Info” option and select add to contact.

once this number has been added to the contact you can go back into the contact and tidy up the numbers. What worked for me was storing each number using the country dealing code i.e +44 7890123456 for the uk.

since doing this 3 months ago I’ve had no further issues.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 11

Jan 13, 2021 4:04 PM in response to green500

This problem has happened several times for me. Seems like it happens once or twice a year. I fixed it by turning on and off some thing but I don’t remember… Contacts, messages? Each time I have to re-google the solution. I’m surprised that some of the Apple people are making such far off recommendations. Seems like the Apple staff support should truly provide an official response to fix this once and for all.

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Answer 12

jaskets

Level 1

12 points

Jan 26, 2021 3:08 PM in response to Amamstadt29

I starting having the same issue a couple weeks after upgrading to my iPhone 12 Pro. I only seem to be having issues with group chats that include both iPhone and android users. Old text threads are now split into two, but only on my iPhone. On my iPad there is still a single thread. Also my iCloud contacts continually have to be reset otherwise 1/3rd of my texts display only a phone number. Even after relinking my contacts incoming calls still display with a number only.

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Answer 13

smshick

Level 1

12 points

Jan 27, 2021 12:01 PM in response to jaskets

I am having similar issues. When I type a message, either to a single person or a group message, I see a circle with the initials of my contact, but a phone number shows up where it didn't before. Ans when I scroll through past messages, a phone number shows up instead of the contacts name, so it's a little hard to know who the message is from unless I click on it. To remove the phone number, I have to add that "new number" to my contacts, and I end up getting duplicates of the same number in my contact. The first number under mobile is (XXX)-XXX-XXXX and the duplicate new number I have to add is in this format +1(XXX)XXX-XXX.

Those working with Apple support, can you pass this on as I think this is another bug. I am using IOS 14.3.

Thanks.

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Answer 14

Feb 3, 2021 6:57 AM in response to JClary07

I am having the exact same issues as everyone else and there is nothing that will solve the issue. If it does, it is only momentarily. I have the latest update as well. Never had this issue until I switched to the 12 Pro. This is incredibly frustrating!!!

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Answer 15

Feb 3, 2021 8:09 AM in response to smshick

That didn't work for me, unfortunately. However, I did just chat with Apple and they had me reset my settings (this doesn't remove data, pictures or anything but it will reset things like your wallpaper, password, etc.) and that seemed to work so far. Afterwards I was also told (by someone who works at a US Cellular office) if you change your Language/Region to UK and then back to US it will fix the issue as well. I would've tried this option first before resetting my settings but oh well. Not a big deal! Hopefully others on this thread can benefit from this.

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