Missing my contacts on iPad from iCloud

Try these steps first

Make sure that iCloud Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders are available. If there's an issue, try again after it's fixed. If there isn't an issue, try these steps.

After each step, see if you still need help:

1. Check for updates to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. To use iCloud, your devices need to meet the system requirements.
2. See if the date and time settings on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC are correct.
3. Make sure that you're signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all your devices and check your settings.
   • On your iPhone, tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Settings > iCloud. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you turn on what you want to update (Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders).
   • On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you select what you want to update (Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders).
   • On your PC, open iCloud for Windows. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you select what you want to update (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Tasks).
4. If you sign in to third-party apps with your Apple ID, protect your account with two-factor authentication and use an app-specific password. If you don’t have devices that can be updated to iOS 9 or OS X El Capitan or later, you can set up two-step verification instead.
5. Open Safari and go to www.apple.com to check your connection. If you can’t open the page, get help connecting to the Internet.
6. Open a secure website, like your Apple ID account page, to see if you can access port 443. If the website won't open, contact your Internet service provider for help. Safari needs access to port 443 to update your information in iCloud.
7. Keep your data within the limits. If you go over the limit, your data won't stay up to date.

iOS

macOS

iCloud.com

Microsoft Windows

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

After each step, check your contacts, calendars, or reminders.

Refresh your contacts, calendars, and reminders

To refresh your calendars and reminders:

1. Open the Calendar app and tap the Calendars tab.
2. Swipe down on the list to refresh your events and reminders.
   

To refresh your contacts, open Contacts and swipe down on the list.

To refresh your contact groups:

1. Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
2. Swipe down on the list to refresh your groups.

Set iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders as your default

If your contacts, calendars, and reminders are in iCloud, then iCloud automatically updates your information. See if your information is in iCloud or a third-party account, like Google or Yahoo. Then change your default account to iCloud.

See which account your contacts are in:

1. Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
2. Deselect the All [account] option for any third-party account, like Gmail or Yahoo.
3. Make sure All iCloud is selected.
4. Tap Done to see your list of contacts. If you don't see the contact you're looking for, it's stored in another account.
5. You can import the contact from a third-party service into iCloud.

Set iCloud as the default account for your contacts in iOS 8 or later:

1. Tap Settings > Contacts.
2. Tap Default Account.
3. Select iCloud.

See which account your calendars are in:

1. Open the Calendar app and tap an event to open it.
2. Tap the calendar name to see if the event is in an iCloud calendar.

Set an iCloud calendar as the default calendar:

1. Tap Settings > Calendar.
2. Tap Default Calendar.
3. Tap a calendar under iCloud to make it your default.
   

See which account your reminders are in:

1. Open the Reminders app and tap the list name in the upper-left corner to view all your lists.
2. See if the list is stored on your device or iCloud. Open a list and tap Edit. If you see Sharing, then your list is in iCloud.

When you create a reminder, you can choose to store it in iCloud or on your iOS device.

Check your app settings

Make sure that your iCloud Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders are set to appear in the Contacts or Calendars app:

• Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner. Make sure that All iCloud is selected.
• Open the Calendar app and tap the Calendars tab. Make sure that All iCloud is selected.

Change how often your calendars and reminders update:

1. Tap Settings > Calendar, or tap Settings > Reminders.
2. Tap Sync.
3. If All Events or All Reminders is selected, choose a specific timeframe instead, like Events or Reminders 1 Month Back. If a specific timeframe is selected, choose All Events or All Reminders instead.
4. Press the Home button.
5. Wait a few minutes. Open the Calendar app, tap the Calendars tab, and swipe down to refresh.

Since the iCloud Birthdays calendar updates daily, you might not see changes to birthdays in the Calendars app until the next day.

Restart the Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders app

1. Double-click the Home button to see your open apps.
2. Find the app, then swipe up to close it.
3. Press the Home button to return to your Home screen.
4. Wait a minute, then open the app again.

Turn off iCloud Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders and turn it back on

1. Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud.
2. Slide to turn off Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders.
3. If you see your calendars or reminders on iCloud.com or any of your devices, you can choose Delete from My [device]. If not, choose Keep on My [device].
4. Wait a few minutes, then turn on Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders again.

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Restart your device. If you're not sure how to do this, follow these steps.