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Recent contacts suddenly disappeared

MetCat

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My more recent contacts suddenly disappeared from my iPhone 6 Plus iOS 12. When I login to iCloud, the more recent contacts are gone as well. The contacts that remain are really old since way back. I have tried almost all of the obvious solutions posted online. Toggling on and off contacts, resetting network, signing out of iCloud, restoring from iCloud etc. I have only had my contacts on iCloud (not Gmail, Yahoo etc.). I have not manually deleted anything or installed any recent app that could be the cause of it. The only thing I can think of is that I have a notification saying that my iCloud is almost out of storage, which I have tried upgrading it but I am unable to. Not sure if that would help anyway. When I go to recent calls I see just the numbers with "maybe *contact name*" underneath. What should I do?
 
My more recent contacts suddenly disappeared from my iPhone 6 Plus iOS 12. When I login to iCloud, the more recent contacts are gone as well. The contacts that remain are really old since way back. I have tried almost all of the obvious solutions posted online. Toggling on and off contacts, resetting network, signing out of iCloud, restoring from iCloud etc. I have only had my contacts on iCloud (not Gmail, Yahoo etc.). I have not manually deleted anything or installed any recent app that could be the cause of it. The only thing I can think of is that I have a notification saying that my iCloud is almost out of storage, which I have tried upgrading it but I am unable to. Not sure if that would help anyway. When I go to recent calls I see just the numbers with "maybe *contact name*" underneath. What should I do?

I had similar happen a few years ago but it turned out it was entirely my own error in 'deleting' Gmail contacts on one of my 'travelling androids'. My iPhone contacts at that time were a mix of iCloud & Gmail depending on when they had been entered. Android does not ask '6 ways to Sunday' before allowing deletes. I'd lost about a third of my contacts totally ( on my iPhone) as of course the iCloud and a few old exchange contacts remained. I had to do a 'search and destroy' on my files and a lot of guesswork on WhatsApp to again link photos and avatars with some of my contacts. But I learned something which I hope helps. - 'Delete All Contacts' means exactly that and there's no going back. [emoji849]
 
Thanks for your reply. Thing is, I don't have a Gmail and I've never owned an Android. I've only used the iPhone and iCloud. I have not either done any mass deletions ‍
 
Thanks for your reply. Thing is, I don't have a Gmail and I've never owned an Android. I've only used the iPhone and iCloud. I have not either done any mass deletions ‍

That's even more baffling as I immediately know I'd messed up and how. Have you had any other anomalies with your phone and account indicating intrusion either accidental or deliberate? [emoji3166]
 
That's even more baffling as I immediately know I'd messed up and how. Have you had any other anomalies with your phone and account indicating intrusion either accidental or deliberate? [emoji3166]

Not at all, only that message saying my iCloud is running out of storage. But that's been there for a while. Could it be due to some iOS update during the night or something..?
 
Not at all, only that message saying my iCloud is running out of storage. But that's been there for a while. Could it be due to some iOS update during the night or something..?

Of course it 'shouldn't be' but who knows for sure - 'untoward behaviours' have been more of a thing with my iMacs but not the phone or iPad. Good luck tracking down the list contacts though -it's a real PITA....[emoji849]
 
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iOS updates don‘t use iCloud storage, they use storage on the iPhone itself. iCloud Photos uses iCloud storage, or your backups, e.g.

Thanks for confirming that. However, that leaves me even more baffled because then I have no idea what caused my recent contacts to disappear over night. And what I should do about it.
 
You’ve already done everything we’d advise usually. I’ve no idea what else could be done.
If the contacts were not in one of your backups, and you can’t find them on iCloud when you log in, it won’t be possible to retrieve them.

Did you follow the following instructions in order to upgrade your iCloud storage plan?
Upgrade your iCloud storage plan
 
You’ve already done everything we’d advise usually. I’ve no idea what else could be done. If the contacts were not in one of your backups, and you can’t find them on iCloud when you log in, it won’t be possible to retrieve them. Did you follow the following instructions in order to upgrade your iCloud storage plan? Upgrade your iCloud storage plan

What I also find strange is that on iCloud it only allows me to see/choose from two backups, one from the day of the lost contacts, and the other from the day before. When I tried to restore from the day before, nothing changed, still the same contacts. Is it normal that older backups than that don't exist/aren't displayed?

I tried to upgrade my storage but when I've gone through all the steps a message is displayed saying I must restore a removed app for Apple TV..? I even tried downloading it again and I still can't pass to the final step of the upgrade. It also complained that I hadn't connected a card at first, but even after I did it again, it didn't work. What a mess this is. I guess have to buy a new smartphone.
 
It’s possible that you just have 2 backups because your iCloud storage is limited.
Usually, iCloud backups contain information that is stored on the device. If you sync your contacts via iCloud, they are not included in a backup.

Apple released iOS 12.5.1 in January. If your iPhone is not running this version, update it. Maybe that’ll help completing the process to upgrade iCloud storage. Also, restarting your device might help - not with the contacts, though.
 
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