Knowing how to restore Whatsapp contacts is a commonly searched question among users of the application. After all, like all machines, smartphones can crash. In this way, those who use WhatsApp on a daily basis may be harmed if one, two, or more of their contacts do not appear in the app.
There are many unofficial tricks to solve the issue. But sometimes you must be careful to understand how to restore WhatsApp contacts and do everything as directed by the application.
To help you restore WhatsApp contacts efficiently and securely, we created this article. Whether you are an Android or an iPhone user, this article will be beneficial for both.
Backup recovery
One of the most efficient ways to restore Whatsapp contacts is through a WhatsApp backup.
When we restore WhatsApp backup, we not only restore the conversation and exchange media backed up beforehand, but it also helps us to retrieve WhatsApp contacts.
Cell phones of Android and iOS systems also allow users to get back deleted contacts.
In the case of Apple cell phones, iCloud allows users to restore their data. However, the method can be different on different operating systems.
How to restore WhatsApp contacts on Android?
If you have an Android, go to the settings and adjust your “Google Account” options. The “sync contacts” function can help you get your WhatsApp contacts back.
Your contacts are automatically synced when you add your Google account to your Android phone. That is, whenever you add a new phone, this data will be backed up in the Google Contacts system. You can access this list in the contacts app or on your computer, in your Gmail account under the “Contacts” option. Visiting EarthWeb can help to get more knowledge about WhatsApp backups.
Google divides this list into “Contacts”, “Frequent Contacts” and “Other Contacts”. Watch the third one carefully. Unnamed numbers and emails not included in the system may be there. If you’ve turned on sync, they’ll appear in your phone’s phonebook.
A step-by-step guide to restore your WhatsApp contacts on Android:
- On your mobile, open the “Settings” and look for the “Accounts” menu.
- Select the “Google” option and click on the email account with which your backup is performed;
- Make sure the “Sync Contacts” option is activated (if not, enjoy activating and do not risk losing your numbers again.
- Then,access your Gmail account from a computer and go to ” Contacts “, where you’ll find the list of emails and phone numbers of contacts you have or have had since you have an Android device ;
- Use the search bar to quickly find the desired contact. From there, just select which one or which one you want to recover.
The path and options may vary depending on the Android version.
How to restore WhatsApp contacts on an iPhone
If you have an iPhone, log into iCloud. There, trigger the restoration of contacts using the backup (check date and time) from the Apple cloud.
A step-by-step guide to restore iPhone WhatsApp contacts
- Visit the iCloud website.
- There, click on “Adjustments.”
- Look for “Restore contacts” in the “Advanced”
- You will see iPhone backup versions with a date and time.
- Choose which one you want to use and click “Restore”.
Wait for iCloud to complete restoring contacts to your iPhone before changing them. While restoring, any changes you make will not be saved.
Use a VCF file.
In addition to making a backup via cloud services such as Google or iCloud, it is also possible to save WhatsApp contacts by creating a special VCF file containing all the data in the phone book. Therefore, if you have previously created this file to save your contacts, you can use it to recover (if possible) the lost number. Therefore, send the VCF file to your e-mail address and continue with the extraction of the contacts.
On an iPhone:
- Open the Mail application (or the one you use to manage your email)
- Open the email containing the VCF file.
- Click on the attachment
- Tap on Add contacts
On Android:
- Open the email management application.
- Locate the email containing the VCF file.
- Download the attachment
- Using a file manager, rename the file (if you haven’t already done so) to contacts.VCF
- Open the Google Contacts app.
- Press the menu button located at the top left.
- Go to Settings, then Import.
- Check the file.VCF entry
- Select the file you just downloaded and wait for the operation to complete.
Import contacts from SIM
Have you ever thought if some of your numbers could be in your old SIM? Maybe you’re going to message someone who has had a relationship with you in the past, which is why you’re trying to restore your WhatsApp contacts. Or maybe your phone has crashed. So don’t miss any way to restore your WhatsApp contacts.
Conclusion
The whole discussion was about how we can restore WhatsApp contacts in different ways. By the way, I always recommend you create a backup of your data on iCloud or Google Drive so you can easily restore it when you need it. The other official way is to create a VCF file. So you can use it to recover if you have lost the numbers.