contactsiosiphoneitunesmemory
I have an iCloud account, but I am backing up via iTunes.
I want to restore my iPhone because of the "other" files taking up a really huge portion of my phone's memory (2 GB and I have only 16 GB of storage).
I just want to back up my contacts. I've checked my iCloud account online and my contacts are there. Can I recover the contacts back to my phone after restoring to a new iPhone too?
I found how to make iTunes restore only contacts, while preserving the rest intact:
Edit > Preferences > Devices > Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically should be switched OnCtrl-S if Sidebar is hidden)Summary | Info | Apps | Music | ...), click InfoAdvanced sectionReplace information on this phone > ContactsApply in the bottom right of iTunes window (or right click on iPhone and choose Sync)These steps wipe the local contact store on iPhone (leaving cloud contact sync alone, if applicable) and injects all the contacts stored in the PC-side data source that iTunes has selected (from Windows Contacts in my case; Outlook on Windows / Contacts on Mac in other setups) and pushes those contacts to the device. It does not load contacts from an iOS backup.
Your contacts may have been there all along.
First you need to go to groups and select at least one before the + button will show up.
If you have no groups or no groups selected then the contacts have nothing to add to, therefore no button.
Group selected
No group selected
Best Answer
Yes, as long as your contacts are synced with iCloud, you can reset your phone without losing them. If you can see them on iCloud.com, they are synced.
First make sure you have a current iCloud backup of your phone before resetting. You can backup manually by going to "Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Back up Now".
Second, make sure your contacts are being synced "Settings > iCloud > Contacts" button turned ON (green showing).
Now, after you reset your phone (Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings), you can set-up the phone as a "new phone" (i.e. not from your iCloud backup). Add your iCloud account and turn on Contacts syncing (switch button to green). Your contacts will then be downloaded from iCloud onto your fresh iPhone installation.