iPhone Not Saving Contacts? Here are 9 Fixes

Saving contacts on your iPhone is a convenient solution that helps you easily find the person you want to communicate with, since it is hard to remember multiple phone numbers. We all take this feature for granted until it fails to save contacts.

If you find that your iPhone is not saving contacts, don’t worry, we are going to show you some easy solutions that will help you fix this problem. Before we get to the solutions, let’s first look at why your iPhone won’t save new contacts.

Why Are My Contacts Not Saving on My iPhone?

The following are the top main reasons why your iPhone fails to save your contacts;

• If you have recently updated your iPhone to a new version of iOS, bugs or glitches with the new software could be preventing you from adding the new contacts to the device.
• A temporary software glitch could also be causing contacts not saving on your iPhone.
• Jailbreaking your iPhone can cause problems including your iPhone being unable to save the contacts.
• If you are trying to add the contact via a third-party app like WhatsApp, the contact may fail to show up in your Phone/Contacts App.

Now that we have learned the most common causes of this problem, let’s take a closer look at some of the best fixes for this issue;

1. Try Saving the Contact Again

You may already have tried this solution, but it wouldn’t hurt to try again, especially if you have been trying to copy and paste the number from another source. Sometimes, if you paste in the number and then tap “Add Number”, it may fail to save the contact. Use these steps instead;

• Inside the Phone app, tap “Contacts”. You can also do this directly from the Contacts App.
• Tap on the “+” icon.
• Enter the particulars of the new contact and then tap “Done.”

2. Force Quit All Apps Related to Contacts

It is also possible that when you try to add the contact to the Contacts App, you are getting interference from other apps related to contacts such as iMessage, FaceTime, and Phone. Force closing these apps can help to solve the problem. Here’s how to do it;

• Swipe towards the top of the screen and look for one of these apps.
• If it is there, tap and hold and then swipe up to close it.
• Repeat the process with all the other apps and then open the Contacts app to see if the new contact has been added successfully.

3. Restart Your iPhone

You can also easily resolve this problem by simply restarting your iPhone. To do that, press and hold down the Power and either the Volume key at the same time and use the slider to turn off the device.

Wait a few minutes and then hold the Power button to restart the device again. You can then try to save the contact on your iPhone again.

4. Reset Contact Settings

Sometimes the problem is the Contacts App itself and resetting its settings can be useful. Follow these simple steps to reset the settings on the Contacts App;

• Open the Settings on your iPhone. Tap on the “General” option.
• Scroll down to tap on “Restrictions”. Tap on “Contacts” and the turn or all changes.

5. Turn Off iCloud Contacts and Then Turn On

If you store your contacts in iCloud, the following steps may be able to help;

• Open the Settings app on your device and then tap on your profile at the top
• Tap “iCloud”. Turn off “Contacts” and choose if you would like to keep the contacts on your device or not. Don’t worry, your contacts will sync once you re-enable these contacts again.
• You should now restart the device. Go back to the iCloud settings and turn on “Contacts” again.

6. Turn On Viewing of All the Groups in Contacts

You may not be able to see the contact it is being saved in a group that is not visible in the Contacts App. Enabling contact groups to be visible in your Contacts App may therefore fix this problem;

• Open the Contacts app and then tap on “Groups.”
• Check all that you find on this page and then tap “Done.”
• You can try to see if the contact you’re trying to save is now visible.

7. Disable Short Name

When the “Short Name” option is enabled, some users find it hard to save new contacts on their iPhones. Follow these steps to turn off this feature and see if this helps;

• Open the Settings on your iPhone.
• Tap “Contacts” and then select “Short Name.”
• Turn off this option and check if the contacts are now visible.

8. Use the Contacts or Phone App Only

There are a lot of third-party apps that give you the opportunity to save contacts directly from them including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. While this is an easy solution, sometimes it may not go quite according to plan.

In this case, you should just try to save the contacts manually to the Contacts or Phone app directly. You can also try to update the third-party app to see if this will resolve the issue.

9. Update Your iPhone

Because this problem can also be caused by errors in the iOS system, you might want to update the device to a new version of iOS. These updates come with bug fixes that may be able to help resolve this problem.

Here’s how to check if an update is available and update the device; Open the Settings and tap “General > Software Update.” If an update is available, tap on “Download and Install” to begin updating the device.

Extra Tip: iPhone Contacts Disappeared? How to Recover

Of course, sometimes errors can happen to cause you to lose all the contacts on your iPhone. In this case, if you don’t have a backup, it may be very difficult to get these contacts back. But with a data recovery tool like Fucosoft iPhone Data Recovery can help you get your contacts back even without a backup. The following are some of the things it can do;

• It is one of the best software for data recovery, with the highest success rate in terms of recovery.
• It is also a good way to selectively recover data from your iTunes or iCloud backup file without having to restore the device.
• It allows you to recover different types of data including contacts, photos messages, and more from iPhone/iPad.
• It supports all iOS devices and all versions of the iOS firmware, even the newest iPhone 14/13/12 and iOS 16/15.

The Bottom Line

While this is not a common problem to experience when using an iPhone, it can happen for the reasons we have outlined above. The solutions here can help you overcome this issue once and for all and easily save your contacts in the future.