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iPhone keeps changing contacts phone label

So this is a question that was addressed by another associate and I tried the support suggested but still having same issue once again.

Posted on Nov 2, 2022 1:15 PM

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Posted on Mar 31, 2023 3:25 PM

I have the same issue and deleting/stopping icloud sync/overnight did not work for me. This is a serious issue and is impeding my business. If Apple cannot fix this I am changing phones. I painstakingly re-label all of my contacts only for 24 hours to pass and all labels revert to 'phone'. No more fax, iPhone, work, or custom labels. Ridiculous. I am so sick of this. 🤬

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Mar 31, 2023 3:25 PM in response to EMT404

I have the same issue and deleting/stopping icloud sync/overnight did not work for me. This is a serious issue and is impeding my business. If Apple cannot fix this I am changing phones. I painstakingly re-label all of my contacts only for 24 hours to pass and all labels revert to 'phone'. No more fax, iPhone, work, or custom labels. Ridiculous. I am so sick of this. 🤬

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Jan 31, 2024 4:20 PM in response to EMT404

What a pathetic joke. These iPhones are f-ing junk. Nothing works, nothing saves, all my address and phone labels are changed to random arbitrary labels for no f-ing reason and I'm sick and tired of paying thousands of dollars for garbage that can't do simple basic **** without screwing it up.

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Feb 16, 2024 3:04 PM in response to EMT404

Has there been a solution to this problem?


My Contacts sync with my Apple products as well as a Windows PC via the Outlook Add-In. I don't know if this is contributing to the issue.


I have 3,530 business contacts who have all had their numbers changed to read "phone" only. Gone is the detail of which is their office, cell or home number. Even if I fix a Contact, it's corrupted by the time I return to it. This is a shambles and is impeding my business.


Any updates on this?

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Jan 15, 2023 3:28 PM in response to EMT404

I resolved this problem by going into my iPhone's iCloud settings to turn off Contacts syncing with iCloud, then I signed out of my iPhone. I logged into iCloud on my laptop and deleted all of my Contacts there. It appears to take some time to fully clear out the contact data from iCloud. I don't know how much, but I waited overnight. The next day I corrected all of the contacts on my iPhone, signed back into my iPhone with my Apple ID, then turned on Contacts syncing in iCloud settings. All of my iPhone contacts uploaded and synced correctly with iCloud, and I haven't had a problem since.

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Mar 8, 2023 7:07 PM in response to EMT404

I have had this same label issue of something mysteriously changing all my contacts back to the generic defaults (Phone, Email) with no resolve. This just started occurring maybe a week or few weeks ago. I went back into my contacts and corrected my various contact's custom labels (iPhone, Mobile, Work, Home, etc.) that had somehow changed back to just "Phone" and "Email", they sync correctly across all my IOS and Mac OS devices, and then at some point in time (e.g. the next day), the labels had all reverted back again to the defaults (Phone, Email). I am only syncing contacts with one server - iCloud - and have Contact Sync turned off for all other servers (MSN, Gmail, etc). I was on the phone with Apple support who was not aware of this issue within Contacts or with iCloud and now suspects it's the MS Outlook app that's causing the issue. I have been using Apple Contacts along with MS Outlook for years without issue until now. I am curious if anyone else with this issue is also launching / running MS Outlook and indeed if this is possibly what's causing this?

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Apr 15, 2023 7:37 PM in response to EMT404

I tried the aforementioned overnight iCloud fix but after 24 hours my contact issue was back—here is how I fixed it:


Turned off iCloud sync for Contacts under iCloud settings

 

iPhone: Contacts>Accounts>Gmail>Toggled Contacts Off


Mac: Contacts>Settings>Accounts>Unchecked Enable this account for Exchange (Outlook) & Gmail


Deleted all Contacts on my iPhone by USB connect to my Mac and checking sync contacts to iPhone:


You can also delete multiple contacts at once on your iPhone doing the following: 


  1. Launch the Contacts app on your ‌iPhone‌, or open the Phone app and tap Contacts.
  2. Using two fingers, press and hold a contact in the list, then drag your fingers up or down to highlight adjacent contacts as a selection.
  3. Release your fingers to finish your selection and then long (hard) press with one finger on any highlighted contacts, then tap Delete [X] Contacts in the dropdown menu.
  4. Tap Delete Contacts in the confirmation prompt.


Went to https://www.icloud.com/contacts/ and scrubbed all my Contacts, deleted duplicates (cog wheel bottom left), added correct photos and labels to all, including custom labels (this was tedious but I have been trying to fix this issue for months) I turned off ‘Automatically format phone numbers’:


Simultaneously had https://contacts.google.com open and added any missing Gmail contacts not in my iCloud Contacts by Exporting as vCard in export prompt on left-side menu:




Exported all iCloud Contacts vCards and iMessaged them all to my iPhone from my Mac:


Saved all Contacts to my iPhone and waited for them to re-populate completely; that was Saturday afternoon April 1 and it is now April 15. All custom labels and photos are intact for contacts.


There were still a few Contacts whose photos did not transfer; I AirDropped any Contacts that had remaining issues from my Mac to my iPhone until they were all correct:


Have not turned iCloud sync back on for Contacts under iCloud settings on iPhone (or iMac or Macbook) and have also unchecked Microsoft Outlook under iCloud Drive on (all) Mac as I cannot function properly at work without knowing what numbers are what in my contacts (iPhone, fax, email, mobile, office, work, personal, etc.) 


Worth noting that after doing this there is now no ‘Default’ account under Contacts in settings on my iPhone whereas before there was a choice of iCloud, Gmail, or My iPhone


Personally, I think this contact reversion issue is caused by Outlook, Gmail, or both and is ultimately an Apple (iCloud) problem that they do not know how to fix or do not know exists. 


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Mar 10, 2023 8:44 AM in response to simonegfl

I removed MS Outlook's access from Google and the problem has resolved. It seems to have something to do with Outlook's way of contact sync. There was no configuration on Outlook that worked to turn sync off and I had to remove all outlook access from google. If someone has updates on Outlook's fix to this problem, would love to hear.

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Nov 4, 2022 6:55 AM in response to EMT404

Hi EMT404,


Edit contacts on iPhone covers general information on editing contacts including contact labels:


  • "Change a label: Tap the label, then select one in the list, or tap Add Custom Label to create one of your own."


Share information such as what you mean by phone label, how it's changing, and steps you tried to continue so a complete understanding of the situation is possible.


Regards.

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May 13, 2024 6:50 PM in response to EMT404

FYI, I have been suffering with this Contacts corruption problem (and have also been working with Apple support) for many, MANY months now but regrettably with no explanations or resolutions from Apple. Trying various sync combinations and setups, I have most recently PROVEN (and documented for Apple Tech) that the source of the corruptions is the iCloud itself and ONLY the iCloud system alone even when ALL syncing to ALL my devices (iPhone, iPad, & Windows Outlook) is completely turned off/disabled. In other words, my Contacts listing in my iCloud account get corrupted (usually within 1-2 days) even with ALL device and other program syncing completely turned off over that time period, while all the Contacts left on a device (like my iPhone) remain intact and unchanged. If I then re-activate iCloud Contact syncing on the iPhone, the iPhone Contacts will then within minutes become totally corrupted again to match the corruption on the iCloud Therefore, it’s 100% certain that the problem is, and starts with, the iCloud system ALONE, and ONLY the iCloud, NOT the iPhone, iPad or Windows PC Outlook program.

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iPhone keeps changing contacts phone label

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