Despite our best efforts, we all lose or break our smartphone at least once in our lives. There’s no feeling of futility quite like suddenly realizing your phone has been unintentionally abandoned in the back of an Uber, fumbled straight into a toilet or left to fend for itself at the supermarket.
We’ve all been there. We all know what it’s like to come to grips with the fact that we’re out a few hundred hard-earned dollars, precious photos and (perhaps most importantly) our life’s work – our contact list.
Regardless of the reason you find yourself without a functional phone, it’s easy (though potentially expensive) to replace. Unfortunately, the same can’t always be said when it comes to the contacts in your phone’s memory.
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So, what do you do when you find yourself saying: “I lost all my contacts.” How do you get them back? It’s easy to find someone’s phone number but what if your whole contact list is gone along with your phone?
Here are several ways to recover lost contacts so that you can get back in touch.
How to Back Up and Restore Contacts
While you can’t put a price on friendship, you can avoid losing a friend’s contact info in the first place. Here’s how to back up your contacts.
For Android
Google allows you to back up the contacts that are stored on your Android device. If you damage or lose your phone, you’ll be able to restore the contacts to the new device.
To backup your contacts, begin by opening your phone’s Settings app. First tap System, then Backup. Then turn Back up to Google Drive on.
To restore contacts from backups on a new device, open your phone’s Settings app. Tap Google. Under “Services,” tap Restore contacts.
For iPhone
To backup contacts with iCloud, start by opening your phone’s Settings app. At the very top (but below the search bar), tap the bar that says “Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes…” (it will also probably feature your first and last name). Next, click iCloud before taking a look at the Contacts slider. If it’s green, your contacts are already backed up. If it’s gray, click the slider to back up your contacts.
To restore contacts, simply go to Settings on iCloud.com, then click Restore Contacts (in the Advanced section).
Locating a Lost iPhone or Android
Both iPhones and Androids offer tracking feature that come in handy should you lose or misplace your device. Google’s Find My Phone and Apple’s Find My are both easy to use. They can help you remotely access the location of your smartphone from a separate device. Another great feature is that it allows you to remotely erase data from your phone if you cannot recover it.
How to Recover Deleted Contacts
According to Gemalto, a leader in online data security, the most frequent reason people need to restore contacts on their phone is due to an operating system upgrade error. That’s right, something intended to add greater value with the addition of more advanced features is also the number one culprit in the loss of valuable contact information.
If you find yourself wondering where your contacts list went and how to get contacts back, this OS upgrade error may be to blame. Regardless of whether you’re using an Android or iOS device, when the manufacturer’s latest operating system version is automatically uploaded, you could potentially lose all your contacts. That’s why it’s important to make sure you have a back up plan.
Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to restore your contacts either directly from the phone itself or through the recovery process discussed in the previous section.
You can also attempt to retrieve a lost contact using a people search engine.
Search to Find Missing Contacts
Despite your best efforts to restore contacts, the unfortunately reality is that you may not be able to. That’s where Spokeo’s people search comes to the rescue.
Spokeo is a people search engine that allows you to quickly search for contact information belonging to the people you know. You can search by name, email address or street address to try to locate a phone number or email address to fill in the gaps in your contact list.
The easiest way to get started is to input your contact’s first and last name in the search box before clicking “Search Now”. Then select the state in which your contact resides, followed by the city. This will help narrow the search results down to a manageable list where you can then identify the correct listing based on their middle name, age or relatives.
Spokeo is the perfect tool to use if you need to rebuild your contact database or are looking for additional information on a contact.
How to Recover Lost Phone Numbers
A contact’s name without a phone number is like a ship without a rudder or salt without pepper.
One of the more frequent questions smartphone users ask is how to retrieve deleted phone numbers. Fortunately, there are several Android apps that can help you recover missing data. There are also similar apps for iPhone owner. These can be found using a Google search.
With the Android tools, you may be able to recover deleted phone numbers, restore lost messages, videos and photos. You’ll want to check to see if there is a cost for the app before downloading.
We would also strongly recommend that you check out the reviews to make sure that the app delivers what it promises based on the feedback from existing users. You may even find a few additional tricks or two to expedite the recovery process in the comment fields.
It’s Your Call
A Spokeo premium account provides you with access to over 12 billion public records and 120+ social network sites. In conjunction with advanced search filtering capabilities, you will have one of the most comprehensive people search databases available at your fingertips.
Another great benefit of a paid membership is the access it provides to Spokeo’s Customer Care team. Available during business hours via phone or chat, Spokeo’s team is a valuable resource that can help you track down the search you’re looking for. Staffed by dedicated search experts, the Customer Care team’s knowledge of the product’s search capabilities combined with their passion for helping users makes them a valuable resource.
If you find yourself wondering how to recover lost contacts, just remember that Spokeo has the answer.