Missing Contacts After iOS 16/17 Update? Get iPhone Lost Contacts Back!

“I just updated my iPhone to iOS 17, but now I can’t find my contacts anymore! Can someone tell me how to get back my iOS 17 lost contacts?”

Updating your iPhone to the latest iOS version is usually an exciting experience, bringing new features and improvements. However, it's not uncommon to encounter unexpected issues after an update, such as missing contacts. Many users have reported that their contacts disappeared after upgrading to iOS 16 or iOS 17, leaving them perplexed and worried about retrieving their valuable contact information.

In this article, we will explore the reasons behind the disappearance of contacts after iOS 16/17 updates and provide effective solutions to recover those lost contacts. Additionally, we will introduce a convenient one-click solution that guarantees the safe restoration of your lost or deleted iPhone contacts.

• Part 1: Why Do My Contacts Disappear after Upgrading to iOS 16/17?
• Part 2: How to Get Back iOS 16/iOS 17 Lost Contacts on Your Device?
• Part 3: A One-click Solution to Restore your Lost/Deleted iPhone Contacts

Part 1: Why Do My Contacts Disappear after Upgrading to iOS 16/17?

There could be several reasons for this iOS 16/17 issue, leading to the unavailability of your contacts. Before we learn how to get back missing contacts in iOS 16/17, let’s discuss what could have caused it in the first place.

• You could have updated your device to a beta or unstable iOS 16 or iOS 17 version.
• During the iOS update, your device relies on backups to restore data. If your backup is outdated or corrupted, there is a possibility that your contacts might not be restored correctly, leading to their disappearance after the update.
• iOS updates can sometimes disrupt the syncing process with cloud services like iCloud, Google Contacts, or Microsoft Exchange. This interruption can lead to contacts not being properly synced and eventually disappearing from your device. Your device could be logged out of your iCloud account where your contacts were synced.
• Your contacts might be available, but you just can’t access them on your iPhone as of now.
• Chances are that your iOS device might not be booted properly and didn’t load your contacts yet.
• There could be some problem with your SIM or network, causing the unavailability of contacts.
• Any other firmware or device-related issue can make your iOS contacts missing on your phone.

Part 2: How to Get Back iOS 16/iOS 17 Lost Contacts on your Device?

As you can see, there could be all kinds of reasons for missing contacts on iOS 16/iO7. Let’s discuss a handful of ways to fix this iOS 16/iOS 17 issue and get back your lost contacts.

Fix 1: Restore Contacts from iCloud

Since our contacts don’t take up a lot of space, many iPhone users sync them to their iCloud accounts. In this way, if your contacts are lost or go missing, you can easily get them back from your iCloud account. After updating your device to iOS 16/iOS 17, chances are that it could have logged out of the linked iCloud account on it. Therefore, you can first go to your iPhone’s settings and tap on the name tag to log in to the same iCloud account where your contacts are saved.

That’s it! Once you have logged in to your iCloud account, you can easily get your missing contacts on iOS 16/iOS 17. Just go to its iCloud Settings > Contact and turn on its syncing option. This will sync the contacts saved on your iCloud to your iPhone storage.

Fix 2: Restore Lost Contacts from iTunes

Just like iCloud, you can also store a backup of your iOS device via iTunes. Therefore, if you have already taken a backup of your device on iTunes, then you can just restore it to your iPhone. Please note that this will delete any existing data on your iPhone and would restore the backup instead.

Just connect your iPhone to the system and launch iTunes on it. Now, select the connected iPhone, go to its Summary, and click on the “Restore Backup” option under the Backups section. This will launch a pop-up window, letting you select the backup file and restore it to your iPhone.

Fix 3: Force Restart your iOS Device

At times, our iOS 16/iOS 17 contacts are missing, and we can’t see them, but it doesn’t mean that they are deleted. Chances are that your iOS device might not be able to load them properly after the update. To fix this iOS 16/iOS 17 issues and get your contacts back, you can just restart your device. To force restart your iPhone, follow these steps:

If you have an older iPhone model, then just long-press the Power button on the side. For newer devices, you have to press either the Volume Up or Down key with the Side key at the same time. As a Power slider would appear on the screen, you can swipe it and turn off your phone. Now, wait for a few minutes and long-press the Power/Side button to restart your iPhone and check if it gets back your iOS 16/iOS 17 lost contacts.

Fix 4: Reset iPhone’s Network Settings

As stated above, any change in your iPhone’s Network Settings can also make iOS 16/iOS 17 contacts missing. The easiest way to fix this iOS 16/iOS 17 issue is by resetting the saved network settings to their default value. For this, you can go to your iPhone’s Settings > General > Reset and tap on the “Reset Network Settings” field. Simply confirm your choice and wait, as your device would be restarted with its default network settings.

Part 3: A One-click Solution to Restore your Lost/Deleted iPhone Contacts

Lastly, if none of the above solutions can fix this iOS 16/iOS 17 issue, then chances are that your contacts are deleted in the process. If you don’t have their backup, then using a reliable data recovery option would be the best solution. You can consider using Dr.Fone – Data Recovery (iOS) which can recover all kinds of data from almost every iOS device.

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It is one of the first data recovery applications for iOS devices that can get back your lost contacts after iOS update, photos, videos, messages, and so much more. The application is extremely easy to use, needs no jailbreak access, and is known for one of the highest recovery rates in the industry. You can follow these simple steps to get your missing contacts on iOS 16/iOS 17 back using Dr.Fone – Data Recovery (iOS):

Step 1: Connect your iPhone and launch the tool

Firstly, just connect your malfunctioning iOS device to the computer using a lightning cable and launch Dr.Fone toolkit on it. From its welcome screen, you can go to the “Data Recovery” option.

Step 2: Select what you wish to recover

From the provided options on the left, just choose to “recover data from iOS device”. Here, you can view all kinds of categories to look for on the connected iPhone. You can just enable contacts under the Deleted Files section and click on the “Start Scan” button. If you want, you can select any other kind of data you wish to look for on your device as well.

Step 3: Scan and Recover your lost contacts

Once you start the scanning, the application will take some time to retrieve the missing contacts from your device. It will let you know the process from an on-screen indicator that you can halt in between.

In the end, the retrieved data would automatically be categorized under different folders. You can just go to the Contacts option to view the iOS lost contacts on the right. Simply select the iOS 16/iOS 17 missing contacts from here and restore them to your device to save them to your computer.

In this way, you can easily get back your iOS 16/iOS 17 lost contacts. At first, you can try a few simple solutions to fix this iOS 16/iOS 17 issue, like restoring them from iCloud or iTunes. Though, if your iOS contacts are missing, and you don’t have their backup, then consider using Dr.Fone – Data Recovery (iOS) instead. It is a reliable and user-friendly application that would let you restore all kinds of lost or unavailable data from your iOS device without any trouble.

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Conclusion

Losing contacts after updating to iOS 16 or iOS 17 can be a distressing experience. However, there are several methods you can try to retrieve your missing contacts. First, check your cloud sync services to see if the contacts are still available there. You can also try force restarting your iPhone or restoring from a backup. For a more reliable and comprehensive solution, consider using iPhone Data Recovery, a user-friendly tool designed to recover lost or deleted data from your iPhone. With these methods at your disposal, you can now take control of your lost contacts and get your iPhone running smoothly again after the update.