Home > iOS Tips and Tricks > How to Recover Lost or Deleted iPhone Contact on iOS 14

How to Recover Lost or Deleted iPhone Contact on iOS 14

Audrey Goodwin

2024-03-22 16:31:28 • Filed to: iOS Tips and Tricks • Proven solutions

Many iPhone users are complaining that their iPhone contacts are missing on iOS 14 after upgrading to the new operating system. This happens because firmware may perform a factory reset while updating your device or the update failed and led to the loss of contacts. Luckily, there are multiple ways to get back iPhone lost contacts on iOS 14. As shown in this article, you can recover lost contacts from iCloud on iOS 14, from iTunes or through the device settings.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Contacts from iCloud Backup

There is no need to panic screaming “help I’ve lost my phone contacts on iOS 14,” when you can easily recover lost contacts from iCloud on iOS 14. This is an easy method that works best when you have installed the latest iOS and are connected to the internet.

Additionally, you must have backed up your data to your iCloud account at least once within the past 180 days. Your existing contacts should be present on iCloud. When recovering iPhone lost contacts on iOS 14, the process will involve merging the existing iCloud contacts to your iOS device and hence not overwrite the data.

To restore lost or deleted contacts on iOS 14 from iCloud backup;

Switch on your iPhone and connect it to stable internet.
Associate it with your iCloud ID by accessing the Settings from Home screen and going to iCloud
You will see a list of mapped programs. Go to Contacts and turn it OFF
If a prompt appears, hit Keep on My iPhone to leave your existing contacts on the iPhone intact. And then wait for Contacts app to turn off
Now, turn Contacts back ON
And then prompted hit Merge to restore the contacts from the iCloud backup and merge with the existing ones on iPhones. Merging helps in preventing redundancy
Having made this step, wait for a while as the missing contacts on iPhones are restored form iCloud.

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Alternatively, you can export a vCard file from iCloud. The process involves exporting all saved contacts in a vCard format.

Go to the iCloud official website and log-in to your iCloud account
Go to the Contacts option from the iCloud home dashboard.

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As soon as contacts saved are launched manually pick those to export
Go to Settings and hit Export vCard to export the vCard file that you’ll save on iPhone

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Method 2: Restore Contacts from iTunes Backup

If you do not have an iCloud account, you can as well restore lost or deleted contacts on iOS 14 from iTunes backup. Your iPhone should have the latest iOS as expected and it functions best if you created at least one backup of your data using iTunes.

What’s more, you must have the latest version of iTunes on your computer, and should have access to the iTunes back up file.

If you are confident that you can get back iPhone contacts missing on iOS 14 from iTunes back up, use the following steps.

Start the process by powering your iPhone and turning off the Find My iPhone option; Go to the Settings and access iCloud. Locate Find My iPhone and turn it OFF.
Now use the right cable to connect the iPhone to the computer
Wait for iTunes to launch automatically. If it does not, simply locate the application and launch it manually.
At the top of iTunes interface, hit the iPhone icon
Go to left pane of the new window and choose the Summary option, which is located under the Settings category
In the right pane, head over to the Backup section, find the Manually Backup and Restore column and click on Restore Backup

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Now, the Restore From Backup box will appear, where you should pay attention to the iPhone Name drop-down list to choose the right backup file containing the contacts you need to be recovered.

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To restore lost or deleted contacts on iOS 14, click Restore.

Using iTunes to restore lost or deleted contacts on iOS 14 is quite different from recovering lost contacts from iCloud on iOS 14. It only works if you have an iTunes backup file and you cannot choose the specific contacts to recover. The process also erases the existing iPhone data.

Method 3: Restore Contacts through iPhone Settings

If you cannot recover lost contacts from iCloud on iOS 14 or iTunes backup, then you should consider the iPhone settings. There is a possibility of getting iPhone lost contacts on iOS 14 because iOS users normally hide certain contacts, which appear lost or deleted after the iOS 14 update.

iOS updates are known to alter multiple factors such as contact settings of your device, leading you to the conclusion that “my phone contacts data has been lost on iOS 14.” This is one of the reasons why you are advised to back up your Contacts, Photos, and other details so that you may not lose information when updating.

So, if your iPhone contacts are missing on iOS 14, they may be in the hidden group and hence have not disappeared entirely. So, resolve the issue by making them visible.

As usual, the iPhone’s operating system allows you to create a group of hidden contacts. To check it, access the iPhone Settings from the Home screen, and go Contacts, access Groups and choose the Hidden Group option. You should be able to see the contacts that are present in the group.

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You are free to make all the hidden contacts visible. To do so, go back and hit the Show All Contacts option, which makes all the saved contacts seeable on the Contacts application.

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Alternatively, you may have hidden the contacts on the Spotlight Search. To fix this and iPhone contacts missing on iOS 14;

Go to the iPhone Settings, access General option and then hit the Spotlight Search

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You will be able to view all other applications and settings that are connected to the Spotlight.
If the Contacts option is disabled, it is the reason why iPhone contacts are missing on iOS 14.

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So, enable it by toggling the switch and thus fix the problem.

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