Quite often you can meet situations where the owner of a smartphone accidentally deleted contacts on Android, and does not know how to restore them, or, even worse, lost his phone and does not have physical access to it. We will try to figure out what can be done in such cases. The methods used to recover such information are quite similar to each other. However, in each case, it is necessary to take into account some important nuances and specifics of the Android devices themselves.
Can I restore contacts on Android?
Consideration of the main topic, let's start with the fact, is it possible to recover such information in general? By and large, such an opportunity in the Android devices themselves is provided initially. However, here you need to clearly understand that recovery of lost contacts or deleted phone book is usually possible only if at least once the synchronization of your account with Google services or additional services has been activated, as well as in those situations where backups of the state of the entire You exported a mobile system, or a list of contacts, to files to save, say, on your computer’s hard drive or in cloud services.
Unfortunately, in the absence of access to the lost device, restoring contacts on Android after removal can be performed exclusively and only if it is synchronized with some services that were initially available in the operating system. But there is no guarantee that the one who found your phone did not immediately delete the phone book and turn on synchronization. In this case, the recovery procedure is complicated quite strongly.
Note: if contacts were originally saved on the SIM card, you can simply import the list again.
Ways to restore contacts on Android after removal
As for the basic techniques that allow you to restore the phone book or contact lists created earlier in other applications, for which when they were installed on the device permission to access contacts was issued, there are not as many as we would like. Nevertheless, the main methods are considered to be the following:
- use of the Gmail mail service;
- recovery in the service Google Contacts;
- restoration of the list of numbers in the Viber messenger;
- import phone book from backups;
- use of third-party software.
As you can see from the list, the last three methods are clearly limited in their capabilities, since it can be assumed that the user has never manually created backups, and most (but not all) contact recovery applications are paid.
How to restore contacts on Android after deletion: instructions for using mail
Now, when considering the first method, which is considered one of the simplest, we will proceed from the fact that the synchronization of contacts on the phone with mail and cloud services was carried out (at least from time to time), since this option is active by default in all Android systems. How to restore contacts on Android after deletion in such a situation? Easy peasy!
To perform these operations, you will need to enter the mail under your account, which is currently active on the phone and with which the device was activated when it was first turned on, using either the specially installed Gmail mail client or any of the available web browsers .
In the left part of the menu, go to the contacts section, and then select their recovery as an action, then specify how long the status of the information should be restored. But keep in mind that this option is only active for a 30-day period. If more time has passed and automatic synchronization has not been performed, nothing will work.
Information recovery through the Google Contacts service
Speaking about how to restore contacts on Android after deletion by an almost completely identical method, you can use the specialized Google Contacts service.
To do this, go to the phone’s standard settings, go to the contacts section, swipe right to open the additional menu, tap on the settings item, and then select recovery in the contacts management section. If backups were created automatically, then a list of them will appear.
Use the one that corresponds in time to the moment preceding the removal of the phone book and activate the start of the process.
Using the Viber messenger
Now let's look at another situation when the contacts on the "Android" disappeared. How to restore them through this messenger? Alas, this can be done only partially, although as one of the means, if nothing else gives a result, this method is suitable. The fact is that the application itself creates backup copies exclusively for messages that were sent or received in the process of correspondence, but in no way affects the phone book on the mobile device itself.
But you can use the settings of your own account, after which you select recovery in the backup section. The message history will be restored, and for each message, the number of the interlocutor will also appear, which can either be recorded or saved in the phone book again.
Additional technique
Now let's see how to restore contacts on Android after deletion using pre-created copies for this.
So, for example, it’s quite simple to perform such actions by importing the phone book from CSV or vCard file formats that could be exported earlier to Gmail or saved in Google Drive’s cloud storage. To do this, in the contact settings on the mobile device, you just need to use the corresponding item. This method, if copies of the contacts were saved in the form of files, is perfect for situations involving a complete reset of the gadget to the factory state or with the loss of the phone.
3rd party software
Finally, let's briefly dwell on how to restore contacts on Android after deletion, if the previous methods have not had the desired effect. Advising something specific in that case is quite difficult.
However, some experts recommend paying attention to a small utility from Chinese developers called EaseUS MobiSaver. If you need something more powerful, it is best to use paid, but highly effective applications like Tenorshare Data Recovery, Android Data Recovery from iSkysoft and the like. Some of the inconvenience in using them may be due to the fact that for correct operation it is necessary to have root-rights or to install the program on a PC, and only then synchronize via USB debugging with a mobile device.