Samsung S6 lost all contacts, can I get them back?

[PtownBubba]

Samsung s6 lost all contacts

My S6 just lost all my contacts,,,, I did not accidentally delete anything,,, it did this on it's own or some auto-update did this,,, are they gone forever or hiding in the phone somewhere ?

 

[GutterGuppy]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

Did you check your google acct to see if its backed up there?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[PtownBubba]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

never did a google account,,,, unless the phone did it for me ??? Even if that happened,,, are my contacts lost forever then ?

 

[jaltman]

You need to know where your contacts were to begin with to know whether they are backed up somewhere. If not saved in Google, where else were they? Have you made backups with SmartSwitch? If information is important enough to save, then a conscious plan to make backups is imperative. Murphy's law: If anything can go wrong, it will.

 

[valorian]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

never did a google account,,,, unless the phone did it for me ??? Even if that happened,,, are my contacts lost forever then ?

You had to have made a Google account. It's required when you first setup your phone. Did you have your contacts saved as "Phone Contacts" or "Google Contacts"? If they were phone they are gone forever. If you had them saved as Google Contacts then they are backed up on Google's server.

 

[TheGeekNextDoor]

I don't understand why people don't have their contacts added to google/hotmail/yahoo/etc. Unless this was your first phone ever, it seems like they would be somewhere else as well right now.

 

[pbasister]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

Have you checked which contacts can be (or are) displayed?

 

[prolongExistence]

I don't understand why people don't have their contacts added to google/hotmail/yahoo/etc. Unless this was your first phone ever, it seems like they would be somewhere else as well right now.

I couldn't agree with you more. I can't stand when I see someone on social media saying "omg, I lost my phone, everyone please message me your phone number" or "new phone, I need everyone's number again". Please, please, please step into the new millennium and store your contacts in an email account, NOT on your device or sim. I have all my contacts stored in my gmail. As soon as I log into gmail on a new device, all my contacts are automagically there! For those that are tech clueless, if you have an android phone then you have a gmail account, it is required.

 

[duke70]

Thought I lost my phone so I went into to google to find my phone and seen you can erase info once someone turns back on. Well I did that and now I have found my phone. I have not turn the phone in fear of loosing all info. If I never backed info up does it delete the info off my phones device or just if I had back it up in Google?? I hope I explained that right

 

[PtownBubba]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

Contact settings to display, All Contacts; scrolled through the other settings, and the display is the same, only shows newly entered contacts,,,,, I have had cell phones for 20 years,,,,,,,,,,,,never lost contacts before,,,,,not the end of the world , just a little pain in the arss,,,,never did a Google back up,,, never cared for Google,, [and Chrome],,,,,,,,,,,,, would never use either one by choice,, but will have to fall in line,,,,,, would rather just save my contacts on my PC, [like I do for PC email ] in a folder,,,, but have searched the phone files, do not see any "Contacts" displayed to copy/paste. [like with videos or photos,in the Gallery,, copy to PC folder ] Thanks for all the input,,, always learn something on help forums,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[prolongExistence]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

Contact settings to display, All Contacts; scrolled through the other settings, and the display is the same, only shows newly entered contacts,,,,, I have had cell phones for 20 years,,,,,,,,,,,,never lost contacts before,,,,,not the end of the world , just a little pain in the arss,,,,never did a Google back up,,, never cared for Google,, [and Chrome],,,,,,,,,,,,, would never use either one by choice,, but will have to fall in line,,,,,, would rather just save my contacts on my PC, [like I do for PC email ] in a folder,,,, but have searched the phone files, do not see any "Contacts" displayed to copy/paste. [like with videos or photos,in the Gallery,, copy to PC folder ] Thanks for all the input,,, always learn something on help forums,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Well if you're not partial to Google then you don't necessarily have to use Google. It's the easiest since you're required to have gmail anyway but, who ever you use for your email should be able to sync your contacts. Just store them in your favorite email providers contact list & as long as that email is accessible on your phone you should be able to have the contacts in your phone's contact list.

 

[PtownBubba]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

ok,,, will try that,,, so I can not do a simple copy/paste of contacts from s6 to pc ,,, without yet another app or added program,, like I do with photos from phone to pc, or adding ringtones and sounds from pc to phone?

 

[prolongExistence]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

ok,,, will try that,,, so I can not do a simple copy/paste of contacts from s6 to pc ,,, without yet another app or added program,, like I do with photos from phone to pc, or adding ringtones and sounds from pc to phone?

Did you try to open the Contacts app & go to More>Settings>Import/Export Contacts? I don't know if it will do what you want or not, I've never tried it.

 

[stephen.gibbons3]

Re: Samsung s6 lost all contacts

Thats why i always back my contacts to sim which you can hide so you dont see multiple contacts ei ste sim ste phone gary sim gary phone easy way to just hide them goto contact tap the 3dots>settings>contacts>contacts to display>device this will only show contacts on device not both just another thought are you sure you save contacts to device and not sim and after your update your phone gone to show contacts on device only and not sim

 

[Chuquicamata]

One trick not mentioned often online is this:

* You may have two Samsung accounts, especially if you first registered with a non-Gmail-account.
* Samsung may switch to your Gmail account when you press a wrong button like "synchronize".
* Try loging in to your Phone with another email, your contacts could be there.

HTH

Chuqui