saeed.ayman Author

Level 1

120 points

How to delete Read-only Contact on iPhone

So, I recently have created an ordinary contact on my iPhone, then tried to delete it normally.

The thing is, I got a message saying "Not all contacts were deleted - One or more of the contact may be read-only".

I do not sync my contacts with any other email accounts unless my iCloud on my iPhone.

This is the first time I face such an error, and this happened the same day I have upgraded to the new iOS 15.4

Any ideas?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 15

Posted on Mar 17, 2022 1:29 AM

Top-ranking reply

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2022 5:14 AM

Close Contacts app. then

Settings, your name, iCloud

Turn off Contacts

Say yes delete contacts from device

Restart the phone

Open Contacts app. It should be empty.

(If Contacts not empty then you have contacts stored elsewhere and it needs to be addressed -come back)

Assuming they are empty, turn Contacts back on in iCloud settings as above

Try again.

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92 replies

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Mar 28, 2022 6:37 AM in response to kingkong6937

Depends on what restrictions have been turned on, often unintentionally.

Turn it off see what happens.

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Apr 3, 2022 3:35 AM in response to godgravity

In that case please report the bug and the fix to

https://apple.com/feedback

Apr 18, 2022 11:28 AM in response to LuisIna3105

Oh yes that error is happening only with contacts saved through Whatsapp. Thanks for the other tip it is insightful.

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Apr 5, 2022 8:09 AM in response to isokengold

We don't know a solution because the rpoblem is not known to us yet. We are only users like you

Users here very rarely tell us what email address they are using to host their contacts.

Personally I don't have this problem using iCloud contacts.

Workarounds were offered earlier on in this thread

hmw460

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2022 9:59 PM in response to saeed.ayman

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May 11, 2022 11:35 AM in response to LD150

But I only want to delete duplicate contacts. One of my friends is listed 7 times for some strange reason. Every time I try to delete all but 1, I get that message. I tried the Settings, etc process. Was wondering when I turn on “ Allow changes”, do I then turn Off the Setting choices? Very confused. Was wondering if anyone had othis same problem. Thanks!!

May 11, 2022 8:54 PM in response to LD150

I just did this and now SO MANY of my contacts are gone. Very important ones. Am I screwed? They’re gone forever? I thought they were to all come back and then I could try deleting the one I was trying to originally.

Naz444

Level 1

8 points

May 18, 2022 7:55 AM in response to saeed.ayman

I don’t want to delete all my contacts only ones I may have added random a day before or week before.. same screen message I get. Only associated with iCloud. No other apps has access other than Whatsap. How can I delete like normal, never faced his issue before

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Mar 17, 2022 3:49 AM in response to saeed.ayman

If you have your contacts in iCloud and nowhere else it makes no sense, but it also sounds like you did a multiple delete. What process did you use?

saeed.ayman Author

Level 1

120 points

Mar 17, 2022 5:25 AM in response to LD150

Great!

This solved it!!!

LD150

Level 10

99,713 points

Mar 17, 2022 6:19 AM in response to saeed.ayman

Thats great, glad I could help.

Khalisa9

Level 1

8 points

Mar 25, 2022 11:09 AM in response to LD150

The above did not work for me. Same issue. Can’t delete a contact. Read only. Have never seen this before.

ayo1996

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2022 10:50 AM in response to saeed.ayman

My contact is messing up

Mar 28, 2022 5:00 AM in response to KingLarryohms

I have already turned off contact in all of my accounts and only have one, but am still having the same issue.

Mar 28, 2022 5:01 AM in response to LD150

Screen time is turned on. How would this affect contacts?

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How to delete Read-only Contact on iPhone