Android Contacts Recovery: 4 Methods to Get Back Deleted Contacts on Android
Last Updated on April 15, 2024 by Jack RobertsonAdding someone’s phone number to your Android contacts helps you skip the process of remembering the complex number. You don’t need to recite the number, simply launch the Contacts app and tap on the person’s profile and call.
This is the ideal situation to use the Contacts app on Android. However, there’re always accidents that make us lose our contacts on the phone.
In some cases, we will find our contacts disappearing after a system update. For some, it happens after we remove the Sim card, but the contacts are still gone even if we insert it back. Also, some say when they’re clearing their contact list, they accidentally delete some important contacts.
All these accidents contribute to one result: the contacts on our Android phone are gone. And our priority now is, of course, to restore them. So, in this article, 4 methods will be listed for you. Choose one and restore your Android contacts back.
Android Contacts Recovery:
- Method 1: Restore Contacts on Android from Google;
- Method 2: Recover Android Contacts from the Internal Storage Directly;
- Method 3: Recover Android Contacts from the SD Card (If You Insert One to Your Android);
- Method 4: Get Deleted Android Contacts Back via Gmail;
- Tip: Back Up Contacts on Android In Case of They’re Missing Again;
Method 1: Restore Contacts on Android from Google
When you lose all the contacts on your Android phone, you can try to get all the deleted contacts back from Google backup.
Also, if you plan to recover contacts from an old Android to a new one, Google backup helps too. Make sure your Android is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network. Follow the steps below.
Step 1
On your Android phone, launch the Settings app. Find Google and tap on it.
Note:
If you’ve never signed in your Google account here, well, this method is not for you. Try the other three.
Step 2
From the menu, scroll down and tap Set up & restore. On the new screen, tap Restore Contacts.
Step 3
Now, Google will list all records for recoverable contacts based on the devices you have used.
Note:
If you have multiple Google accounts registered to this Android, you can click on the arrow next to the shown account and choose the one that you backup contacts to.
Choose the device that has the contacts you need. Lastly, tap Restore to recover all contacts in this backup to this Android.
The process will be complete in seconds, you can launch the Contacts app to find the missing contacts.
Tip:
Google claims that it will not restore the contacts that your Android already has. So, you don’t need to worry about having repeated contacts and numbers.
Method 2: Recover Android Contacts from the Internal Storage Directly
Actually, we can use a data recovery program to restore the deleted or lost contacts directly from your Android phone. After all, any data on your Android will leave some cache files even after it gets deleted. In this case, a powerful data recovery tool is able to detect the cache and recover the data.
So, here comes the question, what Android data recovery tool can we use to restore contacts? Well, there’re a lot on the Internet, I will list one for you for reference, the UltData for Android.
This is a third-party software which works with Win and Mac systems. With it, you’ll be able to:
- Selectively and flexibly back up and restore the missing contacts;
- Preview the contacts prior to it being restored;
- Recover not only contacts, but also messages, call history, gallery, music, videos, documents;
- Have your files recovered within minutes;
- Operate with an easy-to-use interface.
This recovery software does more than just contact recovery. You may think you won’t need it, but you never know if you will get all data wiped out because of an unexpected Android error. If your phone falls in the water or has internal damage, your data will be ruined and inaccessible.
Steps to Recover Android Contacts from the Internal Storage
Step 1
Download, install and launch UltData for Android on your computer.
Step 2
Connect your Android to the computer with a USB cable, and make sure the connection is stable.
Step 3
Next, on UltData, choose “Recover Lost Data”. Uncheck all the options and leave only Contacts. Click Start to proceed.
Step 4
A scan will start right away. When it’s done, tick the Contacts option to show all the deleted contacts on this Android.
Step 5
Browse and select the target contacts. Click Recover to get them back to your Android.
Method 3: Recover Android Contacts from the SD Card (If You Insert One to Your Android)
If you save your contacts on SD card instead of the Android internal storage, then, the previous two methods are less likely to help. In this case, you will need a SD card data recovery tool. Try echoshare Data Recovery then.
echoshare Data Recovery is a professional data retriever for all kinds of data storage devices, like SD card (Micro & Mini SD included as well), hard drive(portable or Mac/PC hard drive) , USB Drive, disk, etc. So, if the contacts and other data disappear from your SD card, this tool gets your back.
Apart from contacts, echoshare Data Recovery can recover several more data for you, videos, audio, pictures, documents, etc. Make sure nothing in your SD card is gone out of the wind with this retriever tool!
You may say your SD is corrupted or having some issues, which is the reason why your contacts are missing. Don’t worry, echoshare handles corrupted and formatted SD cards without any issues at all. Just plug it into an SD card reader and start the recovery now!
Step 1 Get the program Ready
Get echoshare Data Recovery installed on your computer, launch it afterward.
Step 2 Connect the SD card to the PC
Put your SD card into an SD reader and plug the reader into the computer.
Step 3 Set up for the contact recovery
On the program’s interface, tick the “USB devices/SD Card” option first. Then, look down and untick the Check all file types option. Check the Others option.
Step 4 Start to scan deleted data from the SD card
Click Next and the program will start to scan for all the deleted contacts on this SD card.
Step 5 Recover contacts from the SD card
When the scan is done, find those items with the VCF file extension (the format of contacts on the SD card).
Locate the target contacts and click Recover to import them to the PC. When the import is done, you can get them back to your Android with a USB cable.
Method 4: Get Deleted Android Contacts Back via Gmail/Google Contacts
For many of us using Androids, our contacts are synced with our Google accounts. If so, then it’ll be easy to restore your contacts.
- Launch Chrome on a computer and go to Google Contacts.
- Locate Trash from the left-hand side menu, and click it.
- Google will show you all the deleted contacts on your Android, and recover them.
If you’ve emptied the Trash folder on Google Contacts, well, try this:
- Click the Settings Menu button on the top-right corner of the browser.
- Choose Undo Change and a window pops out.
- On the pop-up, choose a time depending on when you delete the contacts from your Android.
- Click Undo to complete.
In this case, Google will undo the changes on your Android contacts. This means all the deleted contacts will be restored and you will find them on the Android Contacts app.
Tip: Back Up Contacts on Android In Case of They’re Missing Again
Just in case your contacts are deleted or gone because of system errors, remember to back them up.
There’re multiple ways of backing up your Android contacts, like Google and the default backup service of your Android phone.
Here, let’s back up your text messages on your Android to Google!
Step 1 : Log in to Google account
On your Android, launch the Settings app. Scroll down and find Google. Tap on it and sign in with your account.
Step 2 : Start to back up
After login, choose Backup from the menu. Then, Google will prompt you to Back up your phone with Google One. Tap Turn on to enable this backup service on your Android.
Next, set the Backup by Google One option on. In this way, Google will back up your Android, including text messages to the cloud.
Tip:
Google will back up your Android data automatically as long as your phone is connected to a Wifi network after it’s been locked and charging for 2 hours.
You may also tap on Back up now and save all the text messages right away!
FAQs
Either your Contacts app or Google backup is having some undefined bugs. To stop this error, you can follow these:
Turn off Google Sync and turn it on again: Go to Settings - Account - (your Google account). Find Contacts, disable it first and enable it after.
Update Contacts App: Go to Play Store - My apps & games. Find Contacts and update it.
Clear App Cache: Visit Settings - App / App Infor - Contacts - Clear Cache.
Reset App Preferences: There’re differene access to this option. Try this path: Visit Settings - App / App Infor - Reset App Preferences (three-dot button). Or try this: Settings - System -Advanced - Reset options - Reset app preferences.