How to Restore Contacts on iPhone (4 Methods)

Summary: Many of the users have been wondering about the ways to restore deleted contacts. In this post, we shared the best methods to restore deleted contacts from your iPhone series 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, XS, XS Max, XR, X, 8, 7, 6, and 5.

Losing contact names and numbers from the device all of a sudden is not new for iPhone users. Sometimes contact names are missing with only the random numbers visible, or the contact list is altogether empty. Mostly, the incidents occur after updating to a newer version of iOS, a bug in the device, accidental deletion, or else formatting of the iPhone.

You can always restore from iCloud or iTunes backup, but sometimes even those attempts might fail to recover deleted contacts. This can be because of wrong user names, passcodes, or device settings.

In such cases, the best way to restore only the missing contacts is to use iPhone Data Recovery Software by Stellar**.** Read on to know the four solutions to recover deleted contact on iPhone below.

If you have synced your iPhone to iCloud backup, restore missing contact names and numbers with this method.

• Go to your iPhone Settings > iCloud > Contacts (iOS 16 & 15 users follow: Settings > User Name > iCloud)

• Toggle OFF and turn ON Contacts again

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• It asks what you would like to do with the previously synced iCloud contacts on your iPhone. Select Delete from My iPhone.

You will get back lost contacts on the iPhone. Those accounts are also displayed in your group lists if you have different Cloud accounts like Gmail linked to your device. You can check and uncheck the group to view or hide, respectively.

This works only when you have backed up your iPhone to iTunes.

• Connect your iPhone to the PC
•  Launch iTunes
• Select your device from the Device list and pick the most recent backup entry date of your iPhone from the Summary page

• Click Restore Backup

You can get back the lost or deleted contacts from your iTunes backup. But the drawback of this method is that with iTunes, you do not have a choice to restore only the lost contacts on your iPhone selectively. This means that complete data from iTunes will be restored on your device, replacing existing iPhone data.

All current media photos, videos, messages, etc., on your iPhone will also be replaced by the iOS backup files. If you want to restore only contacts from iTunes backup, use a safe third-party iPhone data recovery application.

The best way to overcome the iTunes drawback and selectively restore only the missing contacts is to use iPhone Contact Recovery Software by Stellar.

This secure & do-it-yourself software recovers lost or accidentally deleted iPhone contacts, call history, etc., regardless of the cause of the loss.Experience the Free Trial version NOW!

The free demo version of Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone allows you to scan and preview files from iPhone, iCloud, and iTunes backup, and to save them, you need to register the software.

Stellar Data Recovery offers three ways to recover iPhone contacts missing on your device:

1. Recovery from iPhone
2. Recover from iCloud Backup
3. Recover from iTunes Backup

1. Recover from iPhone

There is a possibility that your device has all the contacts, but they are not showing up—select Recovery from iPhone to view the hidden iPhone contacts in this case.

• Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch and launch the software
• On the home screen, choose “Recover from iPhone”, select “Contacts and Call Logs,” and click “Next.”

• It will show you the iOS devices connected to your system. Select your device and click Scan

• After scanning, select Contacts on your left pane; all the contacts will be displayed in the right pane.
•  Then, Select All or particular items by clicking on the associated checkbox.
• Click on Save and browse the desired location to save the recovered contacts.

2. Restore from iCloud Backup

Recovery from iCloud Backup allows you to selectively recover deleted contacts from your iPhone rather than restoring everything from photos and videos to messages. Follow the below steps:

• Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable
•  Launch Stellar Data Recovery from iPhone
• Choose Recover from iCloud Backup, Select Contacts and Call Logs and click Next

• Enter the Apple ID and Password to get the list of available backup files.

• Select the backup file and click Scan

• After scanning, select “Contacts” on your left pane, all the contacts in the selected backup file will be displayed in the right pane.

• Then, Select All or selective items by clicking on the associated checkbox.

• Click on Save and browse the desired location to save the recovered contacts.

3. Restore from iTunes Backup

If your iPhone contacts are synced with iTunes backup, use Recovery from iTunes backup to recover missing iPhone contacts.

• Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch the software
• On the home screen, choose Recover from iTunes, select Contacts and Call Logs, and click Next

• The software analyzes your system and lists all the available iTunes backup files, as shown below. If you cannot find the desired backup file, you can click on Add Backup to manually add the backup file from the system. Now, select the file and click Scan

• After scanning, select “Contacts” on your left pane, all the contacts in the selected backup file will be displayed in the right pane.
•  Then, Select All or particular items by clicking on the associated checkbox.
• Click on Save and browse the desired location to save the recovered contacts.

Minor changes in the iPhone Settings can also help restore deleted contacts. Try the below Setting changes and check if they work for you:

• Change Contacts’ Groups Settings
• Reset the Network Connections
• Change Default Account in Settings back to iCloud (works for iPhone 8/7/6s)

1: Change Contacts’ Groups Settings

• Go to your Contacts, tap into Groups
•  Uncheck All iCloud
• Select All on iPhone

• Click on Done (top right)
• Check if you got back all your contacts

2: Reset the Network Connections

• Under Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings

• Enter your passcode
• Choose Reset Network Settings to continue ignoring the message that this action will delete all your network settings.

This action will clear your current saved networks and Wi-Fi passwords, but you can always re-enter your network passwords later. So give this a try to retrieve lost contacts.

3: Change Default Account in Settings back to iCloud (works for iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X, 8, 7, 6)

• Go to your iPhone Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Contacts
• Click Default Account
• Select iCloud instead of On my iPhone
• Check if your phone’s missing contacts recovered

To Wrap-up

Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone intelligently restores your missing or accidentally deleted contacts without causing loss of iPhone’s existing data, unlike iTunes or iCloud Backup recovery methods. Changing the iPhone settings can also help you get back missing contacts. So now no need to worry about the contacts list loss. Instead, try the above methods and recover deleted contacts on your iPhone.

Have you ever used any of the above methods for restoring missing iPhone contacts? Then, do share your experience in the comments below.

How to Recover Deleted iPhone Camera Roll Photos and Photo Stream Pictures?

Your iPhone is not only a medium to connect but also serves as a personal repository for your priceless photos, videos, and music. However, in case your iPhone crashes or you lose files due to accidental deletion, your data stands at risk and may be lost forever. But with Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone, your data is here to stay. This professional solution helps to retrieve your lost or accidentally deleted photos, audio, as well as video files from Camera Roll, Photo Stream, and App Library. It also offers a complete recovery of your iPhone data such as Contacts, Messages along with attachments, Notes, Call History, Calendars, Safari Bookmarks, iTunes, and iCloud backup files.

An iPhone stands apart for its high image quality, among its other notable features. With several iPhone releases over the years, its camera specifications have improved indescribably, and this has increased the percentage of buyers to a considerable extent. Though it cannot be likened to a professional DSLR, yet it stands superior in its category.

How to recover your deleted iPhone Photos?

If your collection of photos, audios, and video files gets accidentally deleted or lost due to iOS crash, the question that comes to mind is whether they can be recovered. If you have created a backup already, then all you need to do is to restore data from the most recent backup. However, if you have not created a backup either on iTunes or iCloud, then the situation needs attention.

Your photos and other multimedia files are important to you. Therefore, it is important to look for an efficient and reliable recovery tool. Here, Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone serves as a perfect solution with its straight forward and user-centric interface. This tool accommodates all the major specifications of different iPhone versions.

The Process: Let’s look at how Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone recovers your lost or accidentally deleted photos from your iPhone:

Step 1) Download, Install, and Launch Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone on your system

Step 2) Next, select Recover from iPhone option from the three alternates provided on the home screen. Select what you want to recover and click “Next”.

Step 3) Now connect the iPhone device to your system for initiating further recovery process. Alternatively, the device can be connected before you launch the tool

Step 4) The iPhone photo recovery tool will start scanning the connected device. A message will then pop up on the screen which reads: “_Please wait! Scanning your iPhone._” It will appear along with the live progress generator.

Note: Here, you can select to stop the scan process in between by selecting the Stop button

Step 5) Once the scanning is completed, the tool will enlist all the files and folders existing within the iPhone device.

Step 6) From the left panel, you can select Photos & Videos category from the tree structure. It will then expand associated options that include Camera Roll, Photo Stream, and Apps Library.

Step 7) Select Camera Roll and Photo Stream and the tool will display all the items from these two folders in the middle pane

Step 8) Now from the middle pane, you can either select a single file for recovery, or you can select multiple items by checking the associated boxes

Step 9) Once you select all the items that you need to recover from Camera Roll and Photo Stream, click on Save button

Step 10) The Save Files window will appear. Click on Browse and provide the location for storing the recovered data on the hard drive. Else use, the default location provided by the software which is Desktop << iPhone Default Name.

Step 11) Click OK to proceed saving the recovered files.

Step 12) Exit from the tool and go to the selected location to access the Camera Roll and Photo Stream recovered pictures.

Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone also restores data from the following:

• If you are looking to recover data from your iPhone backup such as iTunes backup or iCloud backup, then you need to select Recover from iTunes backup or Recover from iCloud backup options. The tool also allows importing files from Windows and Mac machines to iPhones.
• After the scan is completed, the tool will display all integrated components of deleted iTunes backup or iCloud backup files within its panel from where it can be selected as per priority and preferences. The powerful algorithms are fully advanced to recover every single bit of data.
• The tool also recovers encrypted iOS iTunes backup files and restores it back to the device. You can also recover lost or deleted data from iPad using the iPhone Data Recovery tool. Backup files of small, medium and large scale are handled effectively by the tool.
• The tool also recovers bookmarks deleted accidentally from your iPhone default browser Safari. Since bookmarks hold information about useful links and websites, this feature can be very helpful for technically savvy users.

How to Factory Reset iPhone and iPad Without Apple ID

Summary: This post guides you to the best methods to factory reset the iPhone without the Apple ID and password. It also shares a professional tool — Stellar iPhone Eraser that can help wipe iPhone without using Apple ID.

iPhone factory reset is essential when you want to sell off your old iPhone or troubleshoot the iOS device issues, such as iPhone freeze , iPhone stuck at booting loop, stuck at Apple logo , etc. But what if you have forgotten your Apple ID?

Apple ID is not just required to sign in to iCloud account, App store, etc., but also needed to factory reset iPhone and iPad.

So how to reset iPhone without Apple ID?

Lets’ explore the methods to reset iPhone without Apple ID and password. Also, levarn how you can recover your Apple ID password and then attempt a factory reset on your iPhone or iPad.

Methods to Reset iPhone Without Apple ID Password

You can utilize iPhone Recovery Mode and iTunes on your computer to reset the iOS device without Apple ID. Another easier method to permanently delete everything on iPhone that doesn’t require your Apple ID is by using Stellar iPhone Eraser software.

While you can also choose to reset the forgotten Apple ID and password and then later factory reset the iOS device with the new Apple ID.

1. Use Recovery Mode to reset iPhone without Apple ID
2. Reset iPhone without Apple ID via Stellar iPhone Eraser
3. Recover Apple ID and Password to reset iPhone

Important: As Factory Reset deletes everything on iPhone, always backup your data before reset. If you haven’t and already reset your iOS device, you can download Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone on your computer to restore the lost data due to factory reset.

Method 1: Use Recovery Mode to reset iPhone without Apple ID

You can factory reset iPhone without Apple ID or password by using Recovery Mode. Make sure to have the latest iTunes installed on your already trusted computer.

Steps to reset iPhone without Apple ID using Recovery Mode

Step 1: Update iTunes on your PC/Mac to the latest version.

Step 2: Connect your iPhone/ iPad to the computer via USB cable.

Step 3: Put your iPhone/ iPad to Recovery Mode. Note: The steps will vary with your iPhone/ iPad model.

How to put your iPhone to Recovery Mode

iPhone 8, iPhone X, or later: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Then, press and hold the Side button until you see the recovery mode screen.

iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPod touch: Press and hold the Top (or Side) and Volume Down buttons at the same time. Keep holding them until you see the Recovery Mode screen.

iPhone 6s or earlier, iPad with Home button, and 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.

iPad models that don’t have a Home button: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Press and hold the Top button until your device begins to restart. Continue holding the Top button until your device goes into Recovery Mode.
_Source: Apple support _

Step 4:  iTunes detects the DFU mode and alerts you. Click OK in the message box.

Step 5: In iTunes, click Summary.

Step 6: Select Restore iPhone on the right pane.

Figure: Restore iPhone option iTunes

Step 7: Click Restore to confirm.

iTunes factory resets your iPhone without Apple ID. This will delete all your photos, videos, contacts, messages, chats and other data, same as in normal factory reset process using iPhone settings, which requires Apple ID.

Click here

### **Method 2: Reset iPhone without Apple ID via Stellar iPhone Eraser**

Stellar iPhone Eraser software is another secure way to permanently erase complete iPhone data when you have forgotten Apple ID and password.  The software wipes iPhone as new without using the Apple ID.

Stellar iPhone Eraser is popularly used to reset iPhone before selling, donating, or exchanging so that no one can gain access to your personal data.

You can permanently delete photos, videos, audio, contacts, messages, passcodes, documents, third-party apps and other data from iPhone.

It sets the iOS device to the original factory settings. The software works with all iPhone variants including series of iPhone 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, XS MAX, XS, XR, X, 8, and below. It supports latest iOS 16 and below versions.

Steps to reset iPhone without Apple ID using software:

Step 1: Download and run Stellar Toolkit for iPhone on PC/Mac.

Step 2: Select Erase Data.

Step 3: On Erase iPhone Data screen, click Next.

Figure: Erase iPhone Data screen

Step 4: Connect your iPhone to the computer when prompted.

Figure: Erase button in software

Step 5: Click Erase.

Step 6: In the Erase Process dialog box, select Yes.

Step 7: In Data Erase Completes dialog box, click OK.

All the data gets erased permanently beyond recovery from your iPhone or iPad.

Method 3: Recover forgotten Apple ID and Password to reset iPhone

Apple ID password is necessary to use iPhone applications and services. So if you are not planning to sell off your iPhone or iPad, it is best to first recover the forgotten Apple ID password and then reset your iOS device using the ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ option in the iPhone Settings.

You can use iPhone Settings, Apple Support app, Find My iPhone, or visit Apple account page  to recover lost Apple ID password.

Click here to know in detail how to reset forgotten Apple ID and password.

Once you recover the Apple account password, follow the below steps to reset iPhone with the new Apple ID.

Reset iPhone with Apple ID password:

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset.
2. Click on Erase All Content and Settings.

Figure: Reset option in iPhone

3. Enter the new Apple password and click Erase iPhone.

Also read: Does factory reset deletes everything on iPhone?

Conclusion

Without the Apple ID and password, you cannot reset your iOS device through the traditional ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ method. Either you recover the forgotten Apple ID and password or use any of the two methods shared above to factory reset the iPhone without Apple ID.

You can put the iPhone to Recovery Mode and use iTunes on your computer to reset the iOS device without Apple ID. Other than this, a simpler way to permanently delete everything on your iPhone is by using Stellar iPhone Eraser software. The software doesn’t ask for Apple ID through the process. It quickly resets your iPhone or iPad and brings it to original settings by erasing complete data on it.

Apple will delete your photos in July. Here’s what you should do

Apple has recently announced that it will permanently delete photos from its users’ ‘My Photo Stream’ this month. This news has come as a surprise to the Apple community, as users struggle to understand the implications of this announcement and what necessary precautions can be taken. In this blog post, we will get into the details of this new move by Apple, explore the reasons behind it, and provide tips on how iPhone/iPad/Mac users can safeguard their precious photos.

The Announcement

_”_My Photo Stream is scheduled to be shut down on July 26, 2023. As part of this transition, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream from your devices will stop one month before, on June 26, 2023.

The photos in My Photo Stream are already stored on at least one of your devices, so as long as you have the device with your originals, you won’t lose any photos as part of this process. If a photo you want isn’t already in your Library on a particular iPhone, iPad, or Mac, make sure that you save it to your Library on that device…” Read more

What is Apple’s My Photo Stream?

My Photo Stream, launched in 2011, was designed to sync photos across multiple Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

This feature automatically stores your most recent pictures (up to 1000) for approx. 30 days so you can view and download them easily from other Apple devices. After this period, photos are removed from My Photo Stream but remain in your device’s Photos app. However, this only shows photos and not your live images or videos.

How to Protect Your ‘My Photo Stream’ Pictures?

Apple, known for its commitment to user privacy and data security, has recommended several preventive measures to mitigate the risk of losing any important photo due to this update.

1. Move My Photo Stream images to your Library

Even if the pictures in My Photo Stream are already there on at least one of your Apple devices, you must save these pictures to your Photo Library to avoid losing them**.** Here’s how to copy My Photo Stream pictures to your Photo Library:

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch:

• Open the Photos app and tap Albums.
• Tap on My Photo Stream > Select.
• Select all the photos you want to save, then tap the Share button > Save Image.

On your Mac:

• Open the Photos app and then open the My Photo Stream
• Select the photos you want to save which aren’t currently in your photo library.
• Drag and drop them from the My Photo Stream album into your Library.

2. Move to iCloud Photos

To preserve your My Photo Stream images in their original and high-resolution version, you can transfer them to iCloud Photos.

If you already have an iCloud account, just enable iCloud Photos to automatically upload & sync every photo and video you capture on the device, making them accessible from anywhere.

To use the iCloud Photos service, you will require the following:

• iPhone running iOS 8.3 or later version.
• iPad with iPadOS 8.3 or later version.
• Mac running OS X Yosemite or later version.

How to set up iCloud Photos on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch?

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings.
• Next, click on [Your Name] > iCloud.
• Tap on Photos and do the following:

For iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or later versions: Toggle on the ‘Sync this [device]‘ option.

For iOS 15, iPadOS 15, or earlier versions: Turn on the iCloud Photos

How to set up iCloud Photos on your Mac?

• On your Mac, go to Apple Menu and click on System Preferences.
• Click Apple ID and then select iCloud in the sidebar.
• Now, select Photos and turn on the switch next to Sync this Mac.

**

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Don’t want to use iCloud Photos?

While iCloud Photos is a convenient option for many Apple users, it’s important to acknowledge that it is not the best fit for everyone. Limited free storage of 5GB or lack of cross-platform compatibility can compel Apple users to look for other alternatives.

Storage options, such as Google Photos, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, external hard drives, etc., are available to ensure your iPhone Photos are safe and easily accessible.

The Bottom Line

Apple’s announcement of the potential discontinuation of My Photo Stream has understandably caused worry among its users. While a specific reason for this action remains undisclosed, they are actively addressing the issue to prevent data loss. In the meantime, iPhone users must take precautionary measures to safeguard their photos. They can simply move the My Photo Stream images to the Photo Library, iCloud Photos, or other backup folders.