How do you refresh Contacts on iPhone?

Over time, the Contacts app on your iPhone can become cluttered with outdated, duplicate, or irrelevant contact information. Refreshing your contacts is a great way to clean things up and ensure you only have current, useful contacts on your device. There are a few different methods you can use to refresh contacts on an iPhone.

Check for Contact Duplicates

One of the best reasons to refresh your contacts is to check for and remove duplicate entries. Having multiple contacts for the same person creates clutter and makes finding the right contact more difficult. Here’s how to check for duplicates on your iPhone:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap Groups at the top left.
3. Scroll down and tap Duplicates.

This will display any duplicate contacts it finds. You can tap on the contacts to view them and determine which entry you want to keep.

To remove a duplicate, swipe left on the contact entry and tap Delete. Repeat this for any duplicates.

Refresh from iCloud

If you use iCloud to sync your contacts across devices, you can refresh the contacts on your iPhone from iCloud.com. Here’s how:

1. On your computer, go to iCloud.com and sign in.
2. Click Contacts.
3. Make any updates to contacts here, adding new ones or editing existing ones.
4. On your iPhone, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.
5. Tap Contacts.
6. Turn on Contacts.

Your iPhone will sync with iCloud and refresh your contacts.

Sync with Google Contacts

If you use Gmail, you can sync your iPhone contacts with your Google Contacts list. Here’s how to refresh from Google Contacts:

1. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts on your iPhone.
2. Tap Add Account > Google.
3. Sign in to your Google Account.
4. On the next screen, tap Contacts to enable contact syncing.

Once enabled, your iPhone will regularly sync and refresh contacts from Google Contacts.

Import Contacts from SIM Card

If you still have contacts saved on your SIM card, you can import them to refresh your iPhone contacts:

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.
2. Make sure Contacts is switched on to sync with iCloud.
3. Go to Settings > Contacts.
4. Tap Import SIM Contacts.
5. Tap to import all contacts.

This will import any contacts stored on your SIM card to your iCloud contacts and sync them to your iPhone.

Refresh with iTunes

iTunes can be used to sync Contacts from a computer to an iPhone. Here’s how:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable.
2. Open iTunes.
3. Select your iPhone.
4. Go to Contacts in the sidebar.
5. Select Sync Contacts.
6. Click Apply to sync your iPhone contacts with the contacts on this computer.

Syncing will refresh your iPhone contacts with the contacts iTunes has.

Delete Contacts

Deleting stale contacts is an easy way to clean up your contacts list. Here’s how to delete on an iPhone:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap Select in the top right corner.
3. Tap each contact you want to delete.
4. Tap Delete in the bottom left.
5. Confirm the delete.

Be careful not to delete contacts still in use. Consider sorting by last name first to make it easier to find unused contacts.

Manage Contact Groups

The Contacts app lets you organize people into Groups. Managing your groups can help tidy up your contacts app.

To update groups:

1. Open Contacts and tap Groups.
2. Tap Edit in the top right corner.
3. Add a new group by tapping Add Group.
4. Rename or delete groups by tapping them and then tapping Delete or Rename.
5. Drag contacts between groups to reorganize.

Organizing contacts into relevant groups like Family, Friends, Work, Acquaintances, etc can help keep things orderly.

Review Suggested Contacts

Your iPhone can suggest contacts to add based on communications with people. This is a handy way to refresh your contacts app.

To review suggested contacts:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Scroll to the Suggested Contacts section.
3. Tap Add Contact next to suggestions you want to add.

This allows you quickly bulk add new contacts that your iPhone recommends.

Update Contact Photos

Having photos for your contacts makes them more recognizable and your contacts list feel up-to-date. Here are a few ways to add or update contact photos on an iPhone:

• Add a photo when creating a new contact by tapping Add Photo.
• In an existing contact, tap Edit > Add Photo and select a new photo.
• Refresh photos from social networks by going to Settings > Contacts > Update All Contacts Photos.
• Set contact photos in bulk from a computer by editing contacts in iCloud.com or iTunes.

Review Favorites

The Favorites section contains your most frequently contacted or most important contacts. Updating this helps surface key contacts.

To edit Favorites:

1. Go to Favorites in the Contacts app.
2. Tap Edit in the top right corner.
3. Delete contacts from Favorites by tapping the red circle and then Delete.
4. Add favorites by tapping Add Contact and selecting a contact.

Editing your Favorites ensures only your most relevant contacts are there.

Share Contacts

You can selectively share contacts with others by using the vCard electronic business card format.

To share contacts from your iPhone:

1. Open the Contacts app and select a contact.
2. Tap Export vCard at the bottom.
3. Choose the sharing method like Message, Mail, AirDrop, etc.
4. Send the vCard file to share that contact.

This is useful for sharing contact info with people who aren’t already in your contacts.

Review Recently Deleted

Contacts you’ve recently deleted get moved to the Recently Deleted folder. Review this folder to see if there are any contacts you want to restore or permanently delete.

To review and manage Recently Deleted contacts:

1. Open Contacts and tap Groups.
2. Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted.
3. Tap a contact to restore it, or swipe left and tap Delete to remove forever.

This provides a safety net in case you accidentally delete an important contact.

Create New Contacts

Adding new contacts can help refresh your contacts by appending new information. Here are a few ways to add contacts on an iPhone:

• Open Contacts, tap +, and enter the contact information.
• Create a contact from an email signature. Tap the contact’s email, then Create Contact.
• Add someone to contacts after receiving a call or message from them.
• Import contacts from social networks in Settings.

Populating your contacts with new people helps keep it up-to-date.

Conclusion

Keeping your iPhone contacts refreshed is important for staying connected and maintaining relationships. By cleaning up duplicates, adding missing information, deleting stale contacts, organizing favorites, and more, you can have a contacts app that has your most up-to-date and relevant connections. Use the above tips to refresh contacts on your iPhone.