Help with Contacts

[jweakley]

I had a collections of contacts on my iPad, but I added a contact and that action appears to have wiped out all previous contacts, as now only the added contact appears when I select that icon. Any suggestions? BTW, I don't sync often, so that may or may not be a recovery option.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[twerppoet]

Here is a scatter shot reply I made to a similar question earlier this week.

Do you sync with a service like Google, Yahoo, or MobileMe. If so go into Settings >> Mail, Contacts, Calendars and open the account with your calendar. Make sure the Contacts info is selected. If it is, try turning it off, then on again. That should force a resync.

Other things.

Make sure there is nothing entered in the search box. The Contacts app will only list matching addresses, and you have to clear the search field manually.

Second, tap on the Groups ribbon/button at the top left. Depending on how you set things up you can have more than one address database. If you've accidentally created an empty one, it might be selected. Or an empty group could be selected.

Failing that, have you synced your iPad lately (but before you lost the contacts)? If so you've got a backup you can try restoring from. You will lose any recent document changes, like pictures, contacts, events in the calendar, or documents you've worked on in other apps. You'll want to save them off the iPad first. But that should be better than losing your whole contact database.

Do this only if you have a recent backup.

Open iTunes without connecting the iPad. Open iTunes Preferences, go to the Devices tab, and turn off automatic syncing. You can also look at your last backup file here and see when it was done.

Connect the iPad to iTunes. Right click on your iPad where it is listed under Devices. Choose Restore from Backup.

If none of that will work for you, let me know and I'll scratch my head some more and see if any of the fleas have ideas.

When/if you get it fixed I recommend syncing with an online service like Google. It can save a lot of headaches down the line.

 

[jweakley]

Twerppoet, I am pretty much a beginner, so I don't know where to look for the Groups ribbon you mentioned. When I go to the Contacts icon I see two contacts and no other options. Previously I saw all contacts listed on the the left side of the screen in alphabetical order.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[twerppoet]

On the left page of the contacts you should have a search bar and just above and to the left a red ribbon with the word Groups printed in it.

Or if you've got only one account and no groups, I suppose it might not be there. I've never been in that situation.

Is the search field empty? If not then tap the little x to the right to clear it. The x will only appear if there is something in that field.

 

[twerppoet]

I should have asked this first, as a just in case. Have you restarted the iPad since the problem showed up?

Hold down the power button until the red power off slider appears, then slide it off. Wait until if finishes shutting down, then hold the power button down again until the Apple logo appears.

 

[jweakley]

I did a reboot, but the situation is the same. Apparently I did something that wiped out all of my contacts when I added two others based upon a "create a new contact" instruction. Oh, well, I guess I start over. Thanks for your help. I am going to bed!

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[twerppoet]

Sorry. I strongly recommend syncing your contacts online for backup.

Google is a free account. You can set it up on your iPad as an Exchange account to sync contacts. After you get the account at Google, here is how to set it up.

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Google Sync (ActiveSync) - Google Mobile Help

I'd do this before I started entering new contacts.

Good night.

 

[Resajo]

I need help with a iPad contact issue. There is no red ribbon that says groups in my address book....the book says "all contacts" I have added a few names to favorites ....and was wanting to access the list....but no way to see it? Or edit it if I cannot have the ribbon to access the groups....how do I get this back?

 

[twerppoet]

If you have no Groups ribbon it's probably because you don't have any groups set up. Groups can only be set up for iCloud accounts, and they have to be set up at icloud.com using a desktop browser.

The Favorites option does not actually do anything in Contacts. Instead it places the selected phone number(s) in the Favorites (star) tab in FaceTime or Phone app on the iPhone. It may do the same for other apps, but I can't think of any at the moment.