Nowadays, phones are used for almost everything, and they hold a lot of our essential data, from cherished memories to important contacts. The question is what to do if your device suddenly fails or gets attacked by malware. For iPhone users, Apple provides two ways to back up their phone data, iTunes and iCloud.
This article deals with the problem of losing your contacts and how to extract contacts from iPhone backups. It will also mention the detailed steps for both iCloud and iPhone backup using a reliable tool.
Part 1: Extract iPhone Contacts from iTunes Backup Without Data Loss
If you lost your iPhone contacts but have an iTunes backup, you can use it to restore them. However, what to do if you don’t want to restore everything and only want contacts? This situation requires a tool to safely extract contacts from iTunes backup: Tenorshare UltData.
Tenorshare UltData is an amazing and powerful iOS data recovery software that can recover 35+ types of data from iOS devices and backups. Using it, you can export only contacts or other data from the iTunes backup easily. Here is how to extract contacts from iTunes backup without data loss:
Step 1: Install and Launch Tenorshare UltData.
After downloading and installing Tenorshare UltData on your computer, launch it and click “Recover Data from iTunes Backup.” It will show you all the iTunes backups present in your system.
Step 2: Select the iTunes Backup File and Scan
Select the iTunes backup from where you want to extract contacts and press “Next” to proceed. Now, you will be asked to choose which data types you want to scan for, so here, check “Contacts” and click “Scan” to start the scanning process.
Step 3: Complete the Contact Recovery Process
Once the scan is complete, select the contact category from the left panel to preview the recovered files. Lastly, click “Recover to PC” to save the recovered contacts.
Part 2: Extract iPhone Contacts from iCloud Without Data Loss
If you have iCloud backup of your phone data instead of iTunes, Tenorshare UltData can still easily extract your contacts. It is the best tool to retrieve lost or deleted data from iCloud. The process of extracting your contacts is also completely secure and safe. You can use the following steps to extract iPhone contacts from iCloud backup:
Step 1: Launch Tenorshare UltData and Log into Your iCloud Account
Launch Tenorshare UltData on your computer and click “Recover Data from iCloud.” Afterward, log into your iCloud account using your Apple ID.
Step 2: Choose the Contacts and Download
Once signed into iCloud, you will be asked to choose the data you want to recover. Select “Contacts” and tap “Download” to download the iCloud data.
Step 3: Recover Your Deleted Contacts
When data is downloaded, select “Contacts” from the left panel to view the recovered contacts. You can save them using either “Recover to Device” or “Recover to PC,” depending on your choice.
Part 3: Restore iPhone Contacts from iTunes Backup
Need to restore all the data of your iPhone? If, after losing the contacts, you have decided to restore the iPhone to an older backup, your contacts will also be restored. If you want to restore the iTunes backup, you will need to use iTunes on the computer. These are the steps to extract contacts from iTunes backup:
Step 1: Access the iTunes app on your computer and update it to avoid any issues. Now connect your iPhone using a USB cable and select “Trust” in the “Trust This Computer” prompt on the iPhone.
Step 2: In iTunes, click the “Device” icon to select the attached iPhone and tap “Summary.” Next, move to the “Backups” section and click “Restore Backup.”
Step 3: Afterward, a small window will pop up where you need to select the iTunes backup you want to use. After selecting the backup, click “Restore” to start the restoration process.
Part 4: Export iPhone Contacts from the iCloud Website
Using the iCloud website to get your deleted contacts back is also possible. On the iCloud website, you can restore the contacts synced through the iCloud account. If the contacts you are looking for were deleted recently, you would need to wait for them to appear as an archive on the website. It usually takes 24 hours for the data to sync. Use these steps to export iPhone contacts from the iCloud website:
Step 1: Open the iCloud website on a web browser and log in using your Apple ID. Now click the “Grid” icon from the top right corner and select “Data Recovery.”
Step 2: In the “Data Recovery” screen. Select “Restore Contacts” and choose a backed-up contact list to restore. You can do it by clicking the “Restore” button.
Part 5: Restore iPhone Contacts from an iCloud Account
When setting up your iPhone, you can use your iCloud account to restore contacts and other data. It is the best way to restore iPhone contacts and data if you have bought a new device or were forced to factory reset your iPhone. You will need your iCloud account credentials to use this method. Given below are the required steps to restore iPhone contacts from an iCloud account:
Step 1: Set up your iPhone until you reach the “Apps & Data” screen. Afterward, press “Restore from iCloud Backup” and sign into your iCloud account on the next screen.
Step 2: Choose an iCloud backup to restore it on your iPhone once logged in. Afterward, complete the phone setup process.
Note: If you don’t want to reset your iPhone, learn how to restore iPhone from iCloud without reset here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Contacts on iPhone Backup
Got more questions about how to extract contacts from iPhone backup? Read the answers to the FAQs given below:
Can I extract contacts from an iTunes backup without restoring my iPhone?
Yes, you can extract only contacts from an iTunes backup without fully restoring the iPhone. To do that, you will need to use a third-party tool like Tenorshare UltData. This tool can extract contacts and other data from iTunes and iCloud backups without restoring them.
What is the difference between iCloud backup and iTunes backup?
iCloud backup and iTunes backup are two different methods for backing up data on iOS devices. One is a cloud storage backup, while the other is stored on the user’s local machine. The iCloud backup includes most of your device settings, app data, and other information, while iTunes backup includes all your device data.
How to sync iPhone contacts across devices?
You can sync the iPhone contacts with iCloud to share them across all the devices using the same Apple ID. To do it, you need to access iPhone’s Settings, tap the Apple ID profile and select “iCloud.” In the iCloud tab, press “Show All” and find and toggle on “Contacts” to sync them.
Conclusion
To summarize, losing your iPhone contacts can be problematic, but this problem can be quickly resolved as long as you have a backup. You can restore your iPhone to the older backup to restore the contacts. However, if you don’t want to do that, use Tenorshare UltData to extract contacts from your iPhone backup. With this tool, you can restore contacts without restoring the entire backup.