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Recently Apple added a zillion entries to my contacts. It apparently added as a new contact every email i have ever received or phone call i have ever gotten. How do i go back to the simple list of contacts that i entered myself? I need to get back to the simple contact list that I enerted.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 6, iOS 11
Thank you for the response SravanKra.
The issue I have involves getting rid of thousands of contacts that I never created or asked to be created. I might have 300 contacts that I created and inputted into my iPhone. My Apple iPhone - on its own - added probably 3,000 to 5,000 entries to my contacts list - that I did not ask for or authorize. For example, I spoke with a person - "Colin" - 8-10 years ago for business, and not spoken to him since. Apple entered 6 different "Colin" entries into my contacts list.
The problem is that legitimate contracts that I need to use on a daily basis are literally drowned out by a flood of meaningless contacts that have no utility to me and that I did not request. I need to get rid of these.
How do I get rid of this massive influx of contacts that I did not create and never gave permission to populate my contacts list??
Roy
Thank you for the response SravanKra.
The issue I have involves getting rid of thousands of contacts that I never created or asked to be created. I might have 300 contacts that I created and inputted into my iPhone. My Apple iPhone - on its own - added probably 3,000 to 5,000 entries to my contacts list - that I did not ask for or authorize. For example, I spoke with a person - "Colin" - 8-10 years ago for business, and not spoken to him since. Apple entered 6 different "Colin" entries into my contacts list.
The problem is that legitimate contracts that I need to use on a daily basis are literally drowned out by a flood of meaningless contacts that have no utility to me and that I did not request. I need to get rid of these.
How do I get rid of this massive influx of contacts that I did not create and never gave permission to populate my contacts list??
Roy
Idris - thank you for your interest in the issue and your response. We are not yet at a solution.
What is going on is that Apple is sifting through my email accounts (that I recently added to my phone) and adding as a contact anyone who has ever corresponded with me by email. Apple is not "adding contacts" from scratch to my phone. But it is adding to my contacts list entries that it has retrieved from my email accounts which go back 15+ years. So, if I try to create a text it will inundate the recipient field with a vast number of suggested email addresses that are not current or relevant.
I have gone into settings as you suggest - but I cannot solve the problem by turning off my email accounts from my phone as I need to use my email. The solution I am looking for involves limiting the suggested contracts that appear when I want to create a text to those specific contacts I have created/designated. I don't need to see every email address I have corresponded with over the last 15+ years. I hope there is a way to do that.
Roy
When it comes to storing contacts on an iPhone or any other smartphone, you'll discover that they are not directly stored on the device itself or the SIM card. Instead, modern smartphones utilize synchronization with various email accounts to manage and store contact information.
It's important to note that while the contacts themselves are primarily stored on the email server, a local copy is typically maintained on your iPhone for offline access. This allows you to view and modify your contacts even when your device is not connected to the internet. However, the master copy of your contacts resides on the email server, ensuring that changes made on any synchronized device are consistently updated across all devices connected to the same account.
When you add and enable the Contacts feature on your iPhone, it provides you with the ability to sync your contacts with a specific email account. This email account can be from various providers such as Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other email client server that supports contact synchronization.
The process of syncing contacts involves establishing a connection between your iPhone and the email server associated with the chosen account. This allows the contact information to be seamlessly exchanged between your device and the server. Any changes or updates made to your contacts, whether it's adding a new contact, editing an existing one, or deleting a contact, are reflected both on your iPhone and in the corresponding email account.
By utilizing this synchronization method, you can access and manage your contacts from multiple devices or platforms. For example, if you add a contact on your iPhone and sync it with your Google account, you can then view and access that contact from other devices like a computer or tablet by signing into your Google account.
By syncing your contacts with an email account, you can enjoy the convenience of having your contact information readily available across multiple devices and platforms, ensuring seamless access and management of your contacts wherever you go.
Please see the pic below for a better understanding...
If you are unable to find your contacts which were stored in the email client, then try this --> Restore contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and more using ...
Check if the email account has been removed from the iOS mail app.
Add the email account that stores your contacts in the IOS mail app and enable Contacts.
What is your default Contacts account? If none, please add an email account and enable contacts.
See the pic below
Unlike some Android devices, contacts are neither stored locally on an iPhone nor in SIM. They are synced to an email account that you had Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other
If you have a corporate email account added through a profile on your device, please check with your organization's system administrator.
Apple has no ability to add contacts to your phone. It sounds as if you may have added or turned on an old account. Go to Settings>Contacts>Accounts and check to see what accounts are active on your phone. Turn off the ones you don't want.
A lot of contacts where added to my iPhone automatically
