restore contacts after factory data reset without backing it up to gmail

[shokry3m]

i did a factory data reset on my galaxy grand and after that i discovered a havnt backed my contacts to my gmail account, can any one help me about this?, is there any way to restore my contacts again??? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease help

 

[Paul627g]

If you didn't have your contacts synced to your Gmail account prior to the factory reset then all is lost there is no recovering them unless you had it synced at a earlier date. But as of having a most recent Contact list leading up to your factory reset, then no anything entered on your device after an earlier sync date is lost.

Personally I see no reason why someone would turn off the Contacts sync on their device, that is the most important thing that should always be left ON.

 

[srkmagnus]

Make sure to keep Contacts sync'd accross Google in the future.

 

[recklezzrogue]

Hi,

This seems an appropriate place to ask - but not sure...new here.

I absolutely and unequivocally will no longer share any contact information with Google...they have too much information on all of us...(stated in advance of the "why would you do that" question I am sure to get).

I have disabled absolutely everything google on droid, and shocking I know, but it still work great...with one exception - I am trying load contacts from a CSV format onto the phone. Every last article I can find points to use of the gmail account. I am totally done with google, so, could someone please advise as to how I can import my contacts directly to my phone via USB, or SD Card, or anything other than the use of a google account?

Thanks,

Rogue

 

[srkmagnus]

Can you open the contacts appliction and load/import contact through the app? See if that works.

It also sounds like you have disabled your Google account? If so, this means you can't download apps form the Play Store. If you have enabled the account and can download apps then look for a contacts app that allows you to import contacts.

 

[Maddi Peters]

It says you can't rrestore contacts lost due to factory reset.

 

[susanyloanen]

Make sure you set your phone to save to SIM card then when you do the factory reset your data is saved.

 

[sheikha bensalamah]

Hi I reset factory my phone and I lost my contacts pls help me to restore and recover it

 

[Rukbat]

Any contacts entered as Google contacts are automatically saved to Google. So if your contacts were saved as Google contacts (you have a choice of "phone" or your email address - saving them to your email address makes them Google contacts), just put the email address into the phone, enable syncing for the address, enable syncing for your contacts and within a few minutes your contacts will be there.

If all the contacts were entered as "phone" and you did a factory reset, it's time to start getting out the paper list and entering it by hand. The contacts no longer exist. (That's what factory reset means " restore the phone to the way it was when it left the factory and WIPE OUT ALL MY PERSONAL DATA". It's what you do if you're going to sell your phone.)

This time, when you enter the first contact, choose the email, not "phone". It'll stay that way for the rest of the contacts.

Once you're done, go to https://www.google.com/contacts/ Click More, go to Export and export the contacts. Save that file somewhere. (Repeat any time you make a change to your contacts.) Next time you lose all your contacts, go back there, Import and import the file.

 

[mayconvert]

Hi,

This seems an appropriate place to ask - but not sure...new here.

I absolutely and unequivocally will no longer share any contact information with Google...they have too much information on all of us...(stated in advance of the "why would you do that" question I am sure to get).

I have disabled absolutely everything google on droid, and shocking I know, but it still work great...with one exception - I am trying load contacts from a CSV format onto the phone. Every last article I can find points to use of the gmail account. I am totally done with google, so, could someone please advise as to how I can import my contacts directly to my phone via USB, or SD Card, or anything other than the use of a google account?

Thanks,

Rogue

lol you are using an operating system made by google. do you think disabling any of that helps keep google out of your life?
So they aren't "stored" for easy back up, but the phone can still see your contacts. every one of them.
If you use gmail, they read your email.
all you guys did was lose your contacts for no good reason, if you don't want google in your business, get a windows or apple phone and don't use google anything.

 

[Paisley]

Hi,

This seems an appropriate place to ask - but not sure...new here.

I absolutely and unequivocally will no longer share any contact information with Google...they have too much information on all of us...(stated in advance of the "why would you do that" question I am sure to get).

I have disabled absolutely everything google on droid, and shocking I know, but it still work great...with one exception - I am trying load contacts from a CSV format onto the phone. Every last article I can find points to use of the gmail account. I am totally done with google, so, could someone please advise as to how I can import my contacts directly to my phone via USB, or SD Card, or anything other than the use of a google account?

Thanks,

Rogue

There's an earlier thread where i was looking for the same. Easy peasy.

Depending on your phone, you may have a local phone book option. Try hitting "export" and see if you can export to "phone". Newer Google and Motorola phones don't have that option. In that case, first you want to save your contacts to a file, copy your contacts to a VCF file. Very easy, go to your contacts, hit export, and save the file to "storage". You can send the file then to yourself, or store it on a server, whatever cloud storage you currently use, like drop box, etc. Just like you might in any other circumstance. And keep that in mind for periodic back ups. Just because google offers web-based email and contact list service doesn’t automatically mean you need to sign up for or utilize that service. So i'm not sure why people get up in arms if you reject the service. lol. Other phones have a local account option, in the past Google has, lately they have not.

People tell you it's an android o/s phone, therefore you must be trying to hide if you don’t send them your phone contacts, or ‘they have it anyway so just give it up’ or ‘if you don’t want that service don’t use any of it'. I don't quite get those arguments. I've used a number of other operating systems in the past, whether it be my phone or my computer and were they data mining/advertising companies, i wouldn't have sent them my contacts either. There’s was never an assumption, use 1 part of it, use it all, or that you should be entrenched in all their services (Is everyone expected to use 'Drive’ if they’ve always used and like the drop box service? Well it comes installed on android. Personally I don't use Google Contacts but really like my Google Drive). Google gmail and google contacts are add-on services just like any other service that a company would offer. And a person doesn't have to like the company who makes your phone o/s, (Although if you really want to be absolutely *100%* done with them, *then* you may want to look into other options for an o/s, but opting out of their services and eco system seems completely reasonable, sending a company your info is optional). I hear people knock Microsoft all the time but they also knock apple. What to do, do they all spurn both and find a dif. o/s for their computer? Probably very few do. In either case, like them or not, there is no reason to send your entire phone book to a data collection/advertising/social media company just because they have a social media hub and digital services that they would like you to be an integral part of it. I've used Yahoo for my main emails since it came out, so I'm not going to switch over to a new contacts service or email service just because they make the o/s of my phone. If anything, Google is forcing the choice btwn all in or all out, so it's not surprising people are starting to opt further out. Like people moving over to Vimeo because youtube won’t stop trying to drag them into G+, which is a totally different service than Youtube or Gmail. Or people disabling gmail from their phone completely because it's the only native way to have a local phone book.

Anyway, if your phone never came with a local option you'll need to create a local account through an app. I updated the thread to include the solution in the first post. http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...-have-contact-list-not-google-affiliated.html.

AFTER you've exported your contacts to "storage" (saved it as a vcf file), delete your Google contacts: [Settings > apps > contacts > clear data/cache. Also Settings > apps > contact storage > clear data/cache].

*then* import your contacts to your local account. Go to the vcf file (though a file manager app), click on it, it gives you 2 options. “Contacts” or “dialer”, click “contacts” (ONCE), it will give you 2 options. “local account” or the gmail account. Choose local account. All your contacts will end up there.

Once you've done that, if your contacts inadvertently went to your gmail account via a default link and sync, and you want to remove them, (make sure you do this last after you've saved your contacts to your local phone book and a vcf file) go to gmail site, pull down to contacts, click all, hit delete. They stay there for 30 days (start to type an email addy and you'll see), but will be gone from Google Contacts after that, even though still possibly on Google servers, but that's life, just like if you shop for something your data/info/history is stored with that company forever. Although maybe Google doesn't keep it forever, people will tell you that Google treats your information respectfully, so surely they wouldn’t keep using that information for their active data and/or advertising practices. Lol. Surely. In fact, Google may just be a very reasonable company, perhaps if someone asked them to re-add a local account option on stock phones, maybe they would do it.

As for being new here, while you may not care for the entire Google conglomerate, this *is* an environment where they are highly respected and well liked, so it's wise to just keep that in mind. Just as Apple would be on an iPhone forum. Hopefully not to the point of walking on eggshells, but opting out of the Google ecosystem can occasionally rub people the wrong way.

If you have any questions on the logistics, prolly best to add it on to the thread i posted in the link.

 

[mrYoussef135]

You can try some data recovery software , which tries to undelete files.

 

[Stevendon]

I'm not an Android user and don't know much about them, but every phone I've owned will backup to. Computer if plugged in.
My BlackBerry automatically backs up when I plug it in, or whenever it's connected to the home wifi.

I'm using that logic to assume that if at any stage the phone was plugged into a computer then some if not all may have been backed up there.
Fingers crossed that it does that, and those who lost their data had plugged their phones into the computer.

 

[CarrotParty]

On some phones there is a built in feature in the contacts app to import all contacts from your SIM card, which is not erased when a factory reset is done. See if you can try this.

 

[chris davies3]

If you hate Google that much then might I suggest you buy an apple phone

 

[Inders99]

if you don't want google in your business, get a windows or apple phone and don't use google anything.

LOL...don't get on that Facebook garbage, Instagram, or any other social media app...they all already know more about you than you do.

As far as Apple not using your personal information...ROF, that's all I can say. If anyone believes Apple doesn't collect and disburse your personal info I have a real expensive bridge to sell.

 

[SxvageBoiPxtey]

Not sure if this works for everyone, but I find that when I upgraded my phone to android L, all my contacts that I saved to my SIM just happened to disappear. However, every time I downgrade back to the stock android version, the contacts happen to show back up. Again, not sure if this works for everyone.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SxvageBoiPxtey]

Wait, disregard that, just noticed you said you factory reset your phone, not upgrade

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[12MaNy]

Maybe see if they're backed up to SIM?

 

[Darell Ellison]

i did a factory data reset on my galaxy grand and after that i discovered a havnt backed my contacts to my gmail account, can any one help me about this?, is there any way to restore my contacts again??? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease help

Contacts