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The loss of names (or some names) in regards to Messages Conversations can often occur if for some reason iCloud has been turned off (ie. when login out of your Apple ID) or during an upgrade - I’m not certain but both appear to break a link between Contacts and Messages, which may only be temporary or can persist.
I had this on a few occasions happen to the same two contacts, all others remained unaffetched, the solution was to go into Contacts Settings and toggle and/or change the various options under “Short Name”. Also doing similar to the section above for Sort/Display Order might also result in a fix.
The above may need to be done a few times, switching back each time to Messages to see if anything has changed, and Messages App might have to be closed following each viewing - it’s a bit suck and see, what could work for some might be different for others.
Also toggling Nicknames under the same settings and adding said nickname to the problem contact using edit can kick things into working again.
The loss of names (or some names) in regards to Messages Conversations can often occur if for some reason iCloud has been turned off (ie. when login out of your Apple ID) or during an upgrade - I’m not certain but both appear to break a link between Contacts and Messages, which may only be temporary or can persist.
I had this on a few occasions happen to the same two contacts, all others remained unaffetched, the solution was to go into Contacts Settings and toggle and/or change the various options under “Short Name”. Also doing similar to the section above for Sort/Display Order might also result in a fix.
The above may need to be done a few times, switching back each time to Messages to see if anything has changed, and Messages App might have to be closed following each viewing - it’s a bit suck and see, what could work for some might be different for others.
Also toggling Nicknames under the same settings and adding said nickname to the problem contact using edit can kick things into working again.
If you can‘t update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Make sure that you're using the latest version of iTunes.
- If iTunes is already open, close it. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes. If you don't have a computer, borrow one from a friend or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for help.
- While your device is connected, force restart it with these steps:
- On an iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Then press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Finally, press and hold the Side button until you see the recovery-mode screen.
- On an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold the Side and Volume Down buttons at the same time. Keep holding them until you see the recovery-mode screen.
- On an iPhone 6s and earlier, iPad, or iPod touch: Press and hold both the Home and the Top (or Side) buttons at the same time. Keep holding them until you see the recovery-mode screen.
- When you see the option to Restore or Update, choose Update. iTunes will try to reinstall iOS without erasing your data. Wait while iTunes downloads the software for your device. If the download takes more than 15 minutes and your device exits recovery mode, let the download finish, then repeat these steps.
- After the Update or Restore completes, set up your device.
I had the same problem, I was missing some of the contacts names in messages but not all of them.
I got them back by turning iCloud contacts off and choosed to “Delete from My iPhone”.
Later I switched it on again and once they where synced back, contacts name are visible in messages again.
Best Regards.
Thank you this worked for me too
Thank you - you have solved the mystery & discovered a bug in iOS
Hi joe_7399,
I tried this on Friday, i'm still getting the same issues. so I went ahead and deleted any previous conversations I had to start all new. So I selected a new conversation and tried either typing a contacts name or by using their phone number. My phone recognized the contact info but once I typed my msg in, the info is then lost. so I go back into the conversation, selected the "i" located on the top right side of the screen, I can see the image of my contact and their number but still no name. So I then clicked on the right side again on the arrow for more info ">", the entire screen goes blank with no name, no numbers, and all the icons (message, call, video and mail) are grayed out and canno be selected.
Almost every contact I have a conversation with is like this. I have taken screen shots to show my issues.
Please help me.
Your welcome, there is another issue that sometimes shows, in that a Message discussion might go from showing the name to "Maybe." and then name.
This occurs if the contact has change there phone number for some reason ie new sim, and it's been reported it has something to do with Settings/Contacts/Siri & Search/Find Contacts in Other Apps, again, toggling may resolve but didn't work for me so just deleted the discussion in the end.
Also, this error or issue is only occurring with the Messages app and not the contacts in the Phone app.
I have this issue as well and I followed the steps above and it didn't solve the issue. Were you able to solve this with additional steps?
I had the same issue too - your suggestion fixed it - thanks!
This helped. Thank you!
Contact names missing in messages
