iTunes deleted all contacts during sync, How can I fix it?

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iTunes deleted all contacts during sync, How can I fix it?

Bought a new iPhone 4 from verizon the other day and had them push my contacts from my android phone over. Well this put everyone of my facebook friends (600+) contacts in my phone with nearly 90% of them with no email or even a number, just the name. I went home and pulled all my contacts onto my Windows 7 PC and edited the contacts that I needed and deleted all the junk contacts. Synced via the Info - Advanced - Contacts (the next sync only will replace the information on the phone with the information from the computer). It worked all fine and dandy.

I headed out for the day and when I realized my music from my iTunes wasn't on my phone I came home and synced it all to my phone. I had deleted all my windows contacts since I don't use outlook or anything of the sort. After I unplugged my phone I saw that iTunes had erased all my contacts but the few people I had been texting that day. Is there a way I can get my contacts back? Even my current "backup" is showing today from when I plugged my phone into my computer.

Thanks in advance!

Windows 7

Posted on Apr 2, 2011 5:44 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 2, 2011 6:41 PM in response to Aronvorn

The Windows Contacts address book is not Outlook and a completely separate application, so not using Outlook or anything of the sort with there only being one sort which is Outlook are not related to one another.

The iPhone supports syncing contacts with Windows Contacts. If you deleted all contacts from Windows Contacts after syncing your iPhone with Windows Contacts with all the deletions and edits and you left Sync Contacts with Windows Contacts selected under the Info tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes, iTunes did exactly as was selected. The sync process for contacts with a supported address book application on your computer is a bidirectional or true sync process. And not a good idea to depend on your iPhone or any cell phone alone for contacts which can be lost or stolen.

Contacts are included with your iPhone's backup which is updated by iTunes as the first step during the iTunes sync process, but so is a significant amount of other data. Your iPhone's backup is not updated by simply connecting your iPhone to your computer - not unless you have iTunes set to sync automatically when your iPhone is connected. If a problem develops with your iPhone's backup in regards to this data and you don't sync contacts with a supported address book application on your computer, kiss your contacts goodbye.

If you haven't synced your iPhone with iTunes again since the contacts were removed from your iPhone based on deleting all contacts from Windows Contacts and not deselecting Sync Contacts under the Info tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes before the next sync, try restoring your iPhone with iTunes from your iPhone's backup. Do not sync again and when prompted to update your iPhone's backup as the first step after selecting Restore, decline this prompt.

Before restoring contacts with your iPhone's backup, enter one contact in Windows Contacts before the next sync for this data. This will provide a merge prompt with the first sync for this data, which you want to select. You should continue syncing contacts with Windows Contacts and include Windows Contacts with your computer's backup along with all other important data.

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