Is there a way to get information of the contacts in a back up without restoring from a backup? I deleted a contact and now I need it back.

Originally Posted by mark1960

Is there a way to get information of the contacts in a back up without restoring from a backup? I deleted a contact and now I need it back.

My understanding is that if you are syncing with Gmail you can recover any contact deleted in the last 30 days.

None that I am aware of. The backup isn't stored in a readable format. Restoring from backup is an all or nothing deal.

Originally Posted by twerppoet

None that I am aware of. The backup isn't stored in a readable format. Restoring from backup is an all or nothing deal.

Perhaps going back to the day before the contact was deleted and restoring it all would be an option. Or possibly I haven't understood it correctly.

Thanks for all the help. I'll just live with my mistake. Guess I need to be more careful.

If you are not syncing your contacts with a computer or online service like Google, I recommend you change that. Holding all your info on one device is risky, and the Contacts app has been known to lose the database.

I recommend using Google, at least until iCloud and iOS 5 come out. The Google account must be set up as an Exchange account on the iPad to sync Contacts.

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help