4 Ways to Extract Contacts from an iPhone Backup

Brithny posted on February 5, 2020 in Partition Manager|Tutorial Article

Backing up your iPhone contacts is easy, but restoring them isn't quite as simple. If you restore your iPhone from an iTunes or iCloud backup the regular way, you'll lose all of your existing data, since the restore will wipe your device and replace everything with what's in the backup. This is generally not recommended unless your device is brand new. If it's not, you'll want to use a safer method that won't cause data loss, which we'll outline below.

Whichever way you choose, remember to back up your iPhone first, and then follow the guides below to extract contacts from iPhone backup whether you lose data or not.

Part 1: Extract Contacts from iPhone Backup without Data Loss

If you want to extract contacts from an iPhone backup (either iTunes or iCloud backup) without losing any data, try this secure iPhone Data Recovery tool – MobiSaver. After installing it on your computer, you can directly recover deleted contacts, messages, videos, photos, and other iOS data from the device or iTunes/iCloud backup without a backup.

The best part about this tool is that it does not cause any data loss during the recovery process. Additionally, it lets you preview the data before recovery, helping you avoid restoring unnecessary data.

Extracting contacts from an iPhone backup:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to the computer > Launch the MobiSaver tool > Choose the recovery mode you want to use > Click on the "Scan" button.

Step 2: The program will then scan your device and display all the deleted data from it.

Step 3: Preview and select the contacts you want to recover, then click "Recover".

Part 2: Export iPhone Contacts from iCloud Website

If you don't want to use a third-party recovery tool, you can also retrieve your contacts from icloud.com. To do this, you must make sure that the contact was synced with iCloud before you deleted it. If not, you won't be able to locate and restore it this way.

Before you begin, make sure that Contact syncing is turned on in iCloud: Open the Settings app on your iPhone > Tap iCloud > Tap Contacts > Make sure that Contacts is turned on. Then, continue with the steps below on your computer using a web browser.

Step 1: Open a new web browser and go to icloud.com.

Step 2. Sign in to the iCloud website with your Apple ID.

Step 3: Click on “Account Settings” under your name.

4. Under “Advanced,” click Restore Contacts.

Step 5: Choose the contact archive you want to restore. If "No Archives Available" appears, your contacts weren't synced with iCloud, and you'll have to retrieve them another way.

Select the Contact backup you want to restore

Part 3: Recover iPhone Contacts from iCloud Account

If you don't mind losing some data, you can also restore your iPhone from an iCloud backup that contains your deleted contacts. First, you'll need to check if you have a backup of your device from before you lost the contacts. If you do, proceed to the next step. If not, then you might want to try the other methods instead. Here's how:

Step 1: Check whether you have backed up your iPhone before the contacts got lost.

On your iPhone, open the “Settings” app, and tap “iCloud.” Scroll down and find “iCloud Backup,” where you should see the date of your last backup.

Step 2: Reset your iPhone (if your device is new, skip this step).

1. Go to your iPhone's "Settings" menu. 2. Tap "General," then select "Reset." 3. Tap "Erase All Content and Settings."

Step 3: Set up your iPhone and restore from the iCloud backup.

1. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your iPhone. 2. When you reach the "Set Up Your iPhone" screen, tap "Restore from iCloud Backup." 3. Log in to your iCloud account and select a backup to restore.

As we mentioned earlier, this will wipe all existing data from your iPhone. If you don't want that, you can use MobiSaver to extract only the contacts from an iCloud backup without losing any data. Better yet, it lets you preview contacts before you restore them. Here's how.

Step 1. Download and install MobiSaver on your computer > Connect your iPhone to the computer > Choose “Recover from iCloud Backup” > Sign in to your iCloud account.

Step 2: You will see all the iCloud backups in your account > Select the one that contains the lost contacts > Tap on "Scan" to proceed.

Step 3: Once the scan is finished, it will display all the data > Choose the data you want to recover > Click “Recover”.

Part 4: Retrieve iPhone Contacts from iTunes Backup

iTunes is our least favorite option for exporting contacts, not only because it will wipe all the existing data on your iPhone, but also because it's a terrible experience. But if you insist on using iTunes, we'll show you how to export your iPhone contacts that way, too.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes.

Step 2 Click on your iPhone in the device list, then click "Restore from Backup"

Step 3: Select the most recent backup and tap “Restore.”

Bottom line

With these 4 methods, you can easily export contacts from iPhone backup. Among these methods, MobiSaver is the most recommended one, as it allows you to preview data before restoring, thus helping you avoid retrieving unnecessary files. Moreover, no data will be lost during the recovery process. All these fantastic features make it an excellent recovery tool. Don't miss it if you need to recover deleted files on your iOS device.