New ISO update 18.3.1 Deleting Saved Contacts

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New ISO update 18.3.1 Deleting Saved Contacts

I updated my phone to ISO 18.3.1 and most of my contacts were deleted off my phone. I contacted Apple Support who ultimately told me that there was nothing they can do or they weren't able to find the reason as to why the contacts were deleted. My contacts were deleted off my iCloud Drive and are not able to be recovered. Has this happened to anyone else and if so, have you been able to retrieve your contacts? I have several work related as well as personal contacts that have been deleted that I've had for years.

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Mar 13, 2025 11:13 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 13, 2025 11:18 AM in response to ajak727

Contacts sync to email accounts. If you delete an email account, or if the email server is not available, or if you change the email password on another device but not on your iPhone you will lose the contacts associated with that email.

iOS updates do not delete contacts, but the things I mentioned can. One other possibility is VPN, which can “break” after an update and prevent access to certain servers. So if you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN. However, VPN actually reduces your privacy, it does not enhance it.

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Answer 2

Mar 13, 2025 11:34 AM in response to ajak727

What email account do you have contacts enabled for? iCloud? An MS Exchange account? AOL? Yahoo?

Go to Settings/apps/Contacts/Accounts. Each account will list what features are enabled; which ones have Contacts listed?

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Answer 3

ajak727 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 13, 2025 11:26 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

I have not deleted any synced emails or had any changes to my phone other than the software update.

Additionally, I do not have a third party VPN on my phone. My contacts were deleted or lost after updating my phone.

Do you have any suggestions other than the ones your listed above to recover my contacts?

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New ISO update 18.3.1 Deleting Saved Contacts

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