iPhone contacts cannot sync with iCloud

Most people use iCloud to back up and sync data such as contacts, notes, photos, etc. on their iPhone and other Apple devices such as iPad, Mac or Apple TV. To sync contacts on iPhone 7/7 Plus/6s/6/5s/5 to iCloud, just open Settings and go to iCloud options. There, you can move Contacts to On and the iCloud backup feature on your device should also be enabled.

Sometimes iCloud sync doesn't seem to be as efficient as we think it is. Your contacts may not sync/update to iCloud correctly. Like this person described on the macrumors forum:

"I'm logged into iCloud and logged into my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro (all updated). Not only are my devices not sharing contacts; iCloud (web) also does not show new contacts added from any device."

If you encounter the problem of unable to transfer contacts from iPhone 7/SE/6s/6/5s/5/4 with Don’t worry about iCloud sync issues, this post provides some potential fixes for you to try, and also introduces a way to back up iPhone contacts that doesn’t rely on iCloud or iTunes.

Fix iPhone contacts not syncing to iCloud

Method 1. Turn off "Contacts" on iCloud and reopen

Step 1. Click Settings on iPhone > [ your name]> iCloud. If you are using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap "Settings" > "iCloud".

The second step is to turn off the iCloud address book function on the iPhone. If prompted, choose Delete Contacts on My iPhone.

Step 3: First, power off your iPhone, and then power it on again.

The fourth step is to log into iCloud.com on your Mac to make sure your contacts are still stored there.

Step 5. Repeat step 1 and turn on iCloud Contacts. If prompted, choose "Merge Contacts" from iCloud to your device.

Please make sure your multiple contact accounts are synced to your iCloud account correctly. You can set it up by following these steps: Go to Settings, then select Contacts, then Accounts, and finally iCloud. This ensures that your contact information is synced correctly.

Method 2. Add a Gmail account and then delete it

I got this solution from an Apple discussion; it sounds weird but does work for some people who can't sync their contacts/ People updating to iCloud worked.

First, turn on your device and go to Settings. Next, slide the screen to find the address book option. Click Contacts and select Account. In the account options, you will see an option to add an account. Click Add account and follow the on-screen instructions to complete adding the account.

The second step is to add a Google account to the device and set it up to sync mail, calendar, and contacts. This way, you can easily access and manage this information. The following are the specific steps: 1. Open your device's settings menu. 2. Scroll and find the Account option. 3. Click "Add Account." 4. Select "Google" as the account type. 5. Enter your Google Account login credentials, such as email address and password. 6. Complete the authentication process, such as entering a verification code or using two-factor authentication. 7. On the Account Settings page, select the items you want to sync, such as mail, calendars, and contacts. 8. Make other settings as needed, such as sync frequency or notification options. 9. Click "Done" or "Save" to save the settings. Your Google account has now been successfully added to the device and set up to sync mail, calendar, and contacts. You can access and manage this information through the corresponding applications to make it more convenient to use them.

Step 3. Wait for all iCloud contacts to show up on iPhone.

Wonderful thing? Maybe. Below are quotes from Apple's discussion.

Not long after, I discovered that all of my Google contacts on my phone had been synced. These contacts aren't exactly the same as my iCloud contacts though, since I primarily edit contacts on my MacBook Pro and don't use Gmail. A few hours later, I noticed that all of my iCloud contacts were also displayed, and the "Groups" link in the upper left corner appeared. So I went back to settings and deleted the Google account from my iPhone.

On iOS 10.3.3/10.3.2/10.3/10/9/8, users may encounter an issue that cannot sync contacts on iPhone to iCloud. In addition to using iCloud for sync and backup, users can also try other alternative tools to back up their contacts on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Alternative tool to backup contacts on iPhone, iPad - Tenorshare iCareFone

Tenorshare iCareFone is a professional iOS data management and transfer tool for contacts, photos, videos, notes, bookmarks Transfer from/to iPhone. This is helpful if your contacts are still not synced with iCloud.

• There are 4 options for contact export so you can import to other devices later without any hassle. You can export to backup file (.cdata), excel file, text file or xml file.
• Copy contacts from PC/Mac to iPhone without erasing current data.
• Find duplicate contacts and merge them with one click.
• You can delete all or multiple contacts on iPhone easily.

Install and open Tenorshare iCareFone, connect iPhone to computer. Click File Manager > Contacts in iCarFone.

Please click here to load all the contacts on your phone. You can edit, delete, import or export contacts. You can select all your contacts, or check some of them, and click the Export button. There are four options to back up your contacts to your computer.

When you delete a contact by mistake, lose some contacts due to iOS update, or want to copy contacts to a new iPhone, you can click Tenorshare immediately Import button in iCareFone to add your contacts.

Conclusion

If your iPhone contacts cannot sync to iCloud, you can try the two fixes shared in this article. In addition, you can also consider using Tenorshare iCareFone software to back up contacts to your computer, which makes them more convenient to view and manage.

The above is the detailed content of iPhone contacts cannot sync with iCloud. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!