Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025

8 ways to troubleshoot when your contacts are not showing up on an iPhone

8 ways to troubleshoot when your contacts are not showing up on an iPhone

You can fix iPhone contacts not showing by restarting and updating your phone, toggling iCloud contacts, showing all contacts, and more.

When you add someone to your iPhone's Contacts app, you expect that person to forever be at your fingertips. And usually, that's the case. But sometimes your contacts list doesn't work the way you expect, and some of your contacts don't show up on your iPhone.

While there are many reasons why this might happen, you can fix contacts not showing up on your iPhone in eight ways. Here's how:


Restart your iPhone


If you troubleshoot computer (or smartphone) problems from time to time, you quickly learn that many of the common problems are caused by a temporary software glitch. Usually, you can easily solve the issue by rebooting your phone. 

If you need a reminder, here is how to restart any iPhone. After the phone restarts, check if you can see the contacts you're looking for.


Make sure you're showing all contacts


Sometimes, the reason you can't see all your contacts is that they could have been set to hidden. 

Here's how you can check and fix it: 

1. Open the Contacts or Phone app on your iPhone.

2. Make sure it says Contacts at the top. If it doesn't, tap Lists in the top left corner.

Tap "Lists."


3. Tap All contacts.

Check if you can see all the contacts that were previously missing.

Quick tip: The lists in the Contacts and Phone app are linked, so showing all contacts in one app will reveal them in the other as well.


Make sure Contacts sync is enabled on connected email accounts



If you have multiple email accounts on your iPhone, you should be aware that each account might have its own contacts list, too. It's possible the contacts are disabled for one or more of these accounts, and there's a way you can check this. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 

2. Tap Mail. 

3. On the Mail app's settings page, tap Accounts.

Tap "Accounts."


4. Check each account: Tap an account name and, if it has an entry for Contacts, make sure it's enabled by swiping the button to the right.


Turn on iCloud backup for contacts


You probably already backed up your iPhone to iCloud, and part of that backup includes your contacts. But if you have multiple devices, you should be backing them all up to iCloud. 

If you added a contact on your iPad, for example, unless you're syncing both the iPad and your iPhone to iCloud, the new iPad contact will never make its way to your phone.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap your account name at the top of the screen. 

Tap on your name at the top of the Settings app.


3. Tap iCloud.

4. In the Apps Using iCloud section make sure Contacts is enabled by swiping the toggle button to the right. 

Quick tip: If you can't see the Contacts toggle right away in the Apps Using iCloud section, tap Show All.

Tap "Show All."


5. Now repeat that process on your iPad to make sure all contacts end up on both devices.


Re-sync with iCloud


It's possible that some of your contacts are stored in iCloud but, for some reason, aren't making their way to your phone when iCloud regularly syncs with your devices. You can often solve this by toggling iCloud off and on again to trigger a forced sync. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 

2. Tap your account name at the top of the screen. 

3. Tap iCloud.

4. In the Apps Using iCloud section, turn off iCloud sync for Contacts by swiping the toggle button to the left. 

Toggle off "Contacts."


5. In the pop-up, tap Keep on My iPhone. 

6. Wait a moment, and then swipe the Contacts toggle button to the right to turn it back on. 

7. In the pop-up, tap Merge to combine your phone's contacts with the ones on iCloud.

After a few minutes, all your contacts should re-sync and hopefully your missing contacts will appear.


Turn off Short Name


Short Name is a setting for contacts that makes your contacts easier to read, but there may be times when this feature conflicts with third-party apps. Try turning this feature off to see if it fixes the problem. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap Contacts. 

3. Tap Short Name. 

Tap "Short Name."


4. Turn off Short Name by swiping the toggle button to the left.


Check for iOS updates


Finally, it's always possible — though not very likely — that a bug or software incompatibility on your iPhone has affected the Contacts app's ability to display all your contacts. 

You should check to make sure your iPhone's operating system is fully up to date, and make sure the Phone and Contacts apps are updated as well.


Contact Apple Support


If you've tried all the steps above and nothing has worked, you might want to contact Apple support for assistance. They can help you get to the bottom of the problem. 

You can also check the official Apple support community for iPhone users for solutions, or ask fellow users for help by posting your issue on the forum.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
×