Ten Solutions Available - How to Fix iPhone Contact Names Disappeared Suddenly?

Some users have encountered situations where the names in their iPhone contacts suddenly disappeared or only the phone numbers were displayed. If you are currently facing this problem where when you make a call, the contact person's name is not displayed but only the phone number, then you mustn't miss this article. We will introduce to you several effective methods to recover the names of your iPhone contacts. Additionally, through this article, you will also learn about the possible reasons for the disappearance of your iPhone contact names, to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

PART 1 Possible Reasons for The Disappearance of iPhone Contact Names

First, let's take a look together at what reasons might cause the names of iPhone contacts to disappear.

1. System update issue: The main purpose of iOS system upgrades is to fix problems. In fact, it may also introduce new vulnerabilities or compatibility faults, causing device abnormalities, such as file loss or non-display of contact names, frequent lagging, etc.

2. Malware threat: Malware and viruses may cause data leakage, information loss, and even abnormal display of contacts.

3. Accidental deletion: During the usage process, users may lose contact information and other details due to accidental deletion.

4. Jailbreak risk: It is well known that jailbreaking an iPhone may undermine system stability, such as causing lost contacts and abnormal data.

5. Hardware failure: Hardware damage is also one of the important reasons for the loss of data and contacts. For instance, battery failure or power interruption during system updates may result in the loss of contacts.

PART 2 How to Solve The Problem of iPhone Contacts Only Showing Mumbers But Mot Names?

After identifying the possible reasons that may cause iPhone contacts to only display numbers and not names, you can refer to the following content for repair.

1. Restart Your iPhone

For electronic devices, forced restarting is an efficient way to eliminate and fix minor and temporary faults. Choose the appropriate way based on the different models of your iOS device:

- For iPhone 11/X/8 series devices: Quickly press the volume up key > Quickly press the volume down key > long press the side power button.

For iPhone 7 series devices: Press and hold the volume down key and the side power key simultaneously.

- For iPhone SE/6 and earlier devices: Press and hold the home screen key and the power key simultaneously.

2. Check The Contact Grouping and Display Settings

On your iPhone, click the Contacts app on your iPhone. Find the group option in the upper right corner, click on the "All iCloud" option, and select "All on My iPhone". Then, check whether the contact information has been restored.

3. Disable/Enable Contacts via iCloud to Resynchronize Them

If your iPhone data has been backed up via iCloud, you can resynchronize your iCloud contacts. The specific operation is as follows:

Open your iPhone, go to "Settings" → "Apple ID" → "iCloud", turn off the "Contacts" option, and select "Delete from iPhone".

After restarting the device, re-enter the same path, turn on the "Contacts" synchronization switch, and wait for the data to recover.

This method is only applicable when the name information of contacts within the Contacts app is displayed normally, but the names of contacts are missing in other apps such as "Messages, Calls". The specific operation is as follows:

Enter your iPhone, open the Contacts app, and edit any contact (such as adding a note) or create a new contact to trigger the system to update the contacts cache.

5. Reset Network Settings

Sometimes, network connection errors may also affect the synchronization of contact information. The problem can be solved by following these steps: Start your iPhone, click "Settings" > "General" > "Reset" > "Reset Network Settings".

6. Disable The "Short Name" Function

Turning off the "Short Name" feature on your iPhone might help you retrieve the contact information that has "disappeared" for no reason. Click "Settings" > "Contacts" > "Short Name", and then turn off this option to avoid incomplete or missing contact names due to the display of system abbreviations.

7. Re-add The Deleted iPhone Email Accounts

Try re-adding the email accounts you have deleted on your iPhone, as sometimes deleting an email account synchronized with a contact may result in the loss of contact information. To restore these contact information, you can follow these steps: "Settings" > "Email" > "Account" > "Add Account". After following the prompts, enable contact synchronization.

8. Restart The Phone Application to Update Contact Database

Restarting might solve most of the bugs on your iPhone. When you find that some contact names have "disappeared", you can try to completely close the Phone app and restart it to refresh its running status.

9. Use Siri to Display

After waking up Siri, the voice prompts it to "find the contact [name]" or "display the phone number of [name]" to check if Siri can recognize and retrieve the contact information.

10. Check The SIM Card and Hardware Status of Your iPhone

Sometimes, the SIM card and hardware status can also affect your usage experience. The fault can be eliminated by confirming that the SIM card has been correctly inserted into the card tray without any looseness or poor contact. Especially for the recent situations where your iPhone has been dropped or exposed to water, it is recommended that you contact Apple's official or authorized service provider to check if the hardware is damaged.

PART 3 Use Professional iOS Data Recovery Apps to Recover Lost Contacts on Your iPhone

If none of the above methods can solve the problem of lost contacts on your iPhone, then trying professional data recovery software is a good choice. Geekersoft iPhone Data Recovery can help users retrieve lost contacts on their iphones simply and efficiently. This iOS data recovery tool, as a one-stop iOS data recovery solution, supports the rapid recovery of various types of data such as deleted or lost contacts, call records, messages, photos, and videos in iphones, ipads, and iPods. With its advanced algorithm, Geekersoft iPhone Data Recovery does not require backing up files and can comprehensively handle various scenarios where your data is lost, such as accidental deletion, system crash or other situations. Its operation is very user-friendly. Users can achieve data recovery by simply clicking the mouse without any technical background.

The main features Geekersoft iPhone Data Recovery:

- Support selective data recovery from iTunes and iCloud backups.

- The recovery success rate is first-class, while also paying close attention to your data privacy and security.

- The operation is simple and the interface is intuitive and friendly.

Summary

The above is what we have introduced to you about the reasons why iPhone loses contact names and only shows phone numbers, as well as the solutions. You can choose the appropriate one according to your own needs. In addition, we suggest that you regularly back up your data. After all, data is one of the most valuable assets in the information age.