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Disappearing contacts

I toggled my contacts on and off in iCloud settings, I chose to keep on my phone the previous synched iCloud contacts on my phone and now a portion of my contacts had disappeared. 

Some of the symptoms:

1. I don’t see "All on my iphone" selection under Groups in Contacts. From what I understand, there should be a selection for this choice under the groups in My Contacts.

2. My contacts that weren't previously synced to my MacBook had disappeared.

THank you for you help!


iPhone 8

Posted on Oct 22, 2022 3:07 PM

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Oct 24, 2022 12:08 PM in response to yuriytymo

Hello yuriytymo,


Welcome to Apple Support Communities. 


It sounds like some of your contacts may be synced from other email accounts. Go to Settings > Contacts > Accounts. Do you have other email accounts set up on your iPhone where contacts may be synced to those email accounts?


Please use the steps as listed here to manage your contacts: Manage and delete contacts on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Turn Contacts on or off for an account

Want to add or remove all of the contacts from an account that you already set up? Just turn Contacts on or off for that account:

  1. Go to Settings > Contacts > Accounts.
  2. Tap the account that has contacts that you want to add or remove.
  3. To add contacts, turn on Contacts. To remove contacts, turn off Contacts, then tap Delete from My iPhone.


Let us know if you have further questions.


Take care.

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Oct 25, 2022 7:47 AM in response to yuriytymo

yuriytymo,


If contacts weren't synced by your email account or iCloud, they will be stored in a backup. Did you back up your iPhone using iTunes or Finder on your Mac? If so, you can erase your iPhone and restore from a backup that includes those missing contacts. Keep in mind your iPhone will be restored from that specific date.


To find backups you've made on your computer, follow these steps:


"Search for the backup folder on your Mac

To find a list of your backups:

  1. Click the magnifier  in the menu bar.
  2. Type or copy and paste this: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
  3. Select the Backup folder under Folders.


Find a specific backup

On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later:

  1. Open the Finder. Click your device.
  2. Under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or select Delete or Archive.

Mac screen showing how to find a specific backup

3. Click OK when you're finished.


Search for the backup folder on Windows 8 or 10

  1. Find the Search bar:
    • In Windows 8, click the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner.
    • In Windows 10, click the Search bar next to the Start button.

2. In the Search bar, enter %appdata%. If you don’t see your backups, enter %USERPROFILE%.

3. Press Return.

4. Double-click these folders: "Apple" or "Apple Computer" > MobileSync > Backup."


This information is from Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support.


Take care.

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Oct 29, 2022 7:11 AM in response to yuriytymo

Thanks again for getting back to us, yuriytymo.


To answer your questions, yes any information that was added post the backup date would be lost if you restored from a backup and no, there is no option available from Apple to just grab specific content from a backup.


For the other issue, try going to Settings > Contacts > Default Account and see if "on my iPhone" is a selection. If it is, choose that option and then see if your contacts reappear or have the selection under Groups. This step may help with the missing contacts.


Since you've toggled the iCloud Contacts, log on to iCloud using a web browser and see if your missing contacts are still part of the iCloud. Also, keep in mind per this article: Use other contact accounts on iPhone - Apple Support


Show or hide a group
Tap Groups, then select the groups you want to see.
This button appears only if you have more than one source of contacts.

Keep us updated.


Cheers!

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Oct 28, 2022 9:32 PM in response to 1ssmith

I do have a back up from May of this year. Does it mean that all of my info between then and now will be deleted?

Can I just pull the contacts from the back up?

Also do you have any idea as to why I'm not seeing "All on my iphone" selection under Groups in Contacts? It supposed to be there.


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Oct 29, 2022 10:54 AM in response to Matthew.S81

"For the other issue, try going to Settings > Contacts > Default Account and see if "on my iPhone" is a selection. If it is, choose that option and then see if your contacts reappear or have the selection under Groups. This step may help with the missing contacts. "


I tried this, but "on my iPhone" is not even an option that shows up there. What does this meant?

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Oct 29, 2022 12:23 PM in response to yuriytymo

Hey yuriytymo,


If you're not seeing that option, there aren't any contacts that are stored on the iPhone itself. Are you seeing the missing contacts in iCloud?


If not, and they were saved to the phone, they only may be available through a backup.


If you have additional questions, it may be best to reach out to Apple Support here: Get Support. They may be able to provide you additional information and steps to perform.


Take care.

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Nov 3, 2022 8:49 PM in response to Sheree_P

I don't see the missing contacts in the iCloud.

So the lost contacts were on my phone, when I toggle the icloud backing on and off, but why did they disappeared?


Related question about the possibility that I will use my phone back up from several months ago to regain the contacts.

I do have all my current messages in my iMessage on the MACBOOK. After getting wiped out by the back up install, will these messages sync to my iphone from my macbook iMessage? 

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Disappearing contacts

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