How can I avoid from having all my contacts disappear?

I have an older Droid Ultra and never had any problems till this...In July I went to make a phone call from my "recent" list and noticed that the persons name was gone and just showed their phone number. At that time I added them back to my contacts. Yesterday the same thing happened with a few numbers so I again added them back to my contact list. Today I went to text someone I don't contact very often and their number is gone. Somehow their name gets deleted (?) which makes them just a phone number and gone from my list. I don't call a lot of people but I did have phone numbers just in case (I have family all over the US) , and as I just scrolled through my contacts I realize many of them are gone. (Maddening!) I don't turn off my phone, I don't use Cloud, I just use my phone as a phone and the internet a little bit. The only similarity is that I was out of state both times this happened. Any ideas on what may have caused this and how to avoid it happening again?

Accepted answers

Jakeman1

How are your contacts backed up? If it is through Verizon Cloud, go into Verizon Cloud from a computer, go to the trash can and move them all back to active contacts. They should re populate your phone. Then change ALL of your contacts over to Google contacts, and make sure Google Back up is turned on so it will back up your contacts. You should never have an issue with this again.

All comments

Jakeman1

JohnB_VZW

I can't live without my contacts so I completely understand how you feel MEMAC68. It's hard to memorize numbers you rarely call. Lets get to the bottom of this.

You mentioned this first started in July with one number. Do you remember downloading any new apps to the phone during this time? How do you backup the contacts on the phone? Just to be clear, only the contact name is missing, but the number is still in your contact list?

JohnB_VZW

If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

bearone21

use gmail for contacts

MEMAC68

Thank you for the replies to my question.

I have had a cell phone for many many years and this is the first time I had ever had a problem with losing stored information (contacts). I would hear of "backing up contacts" but I assumed that was for people who used their phone for work or such. I never dreamed that this was something I should do as I just use my phone as a phone pretty much.

Therefore, I had never backed anything up. I did sign up for and back up my contacts into Verizon cloud, but its a little late now that I have lost many of my numbers.

JohnB, I only noticed one number was gone in July but most likely it was more than that. I'm not sure if I downloaded an app at that time or not. I have very few apps on my phone....as I said, I mainly just use my phone as a phone. I am pretty much technology challenged to do much more with it. And no, the name in my contact list disappears which just shows up as the phone number, and if I don't catch it and change it back to the name, the entire thing disappears from my contact list.

Is this a common occurrence anymore? Is this why people back up numbers?

Thank you.

Verizon_Support

It's concerning to hear that you are experiencing issues with contacts eventually being lost from your device. We usually recommend backing up your device to either Google or Verizon Cloud to ensure that, should a loss in information occur, the phone can be restored from that change. Do you recall making any changes to your device when this issue began?

HarleyE_VZW Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport If my response answered your question please click the Correct Answer button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!