5 Fixes for “Not All Contacts Were Deleted” Error on iPhone

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he’s a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

Fix 1: Delete Contact Using the Same App Used to Create It

One of the most common reasons you may encounter the “Not all contacts were deleted” error on your iPhone is if you have created a contact using instant messaging apps like WhatsApp. Since these are read-only contacts, you may have trouble deleting them using the Contacts app.

To delete such read-only contacts from your iPhone, you need to use the same app you used to add the contact. For example, if you cannot delete acontact created using WhatsApp, follow these steps to remove it.

Step 1:Launch WhatsApp on your iPhone and navigate to thecontactyou want to delete. Tap thecontact nameat the top.

Step 2:Tap theEditoption at the top-right corner and tap theDelete Contactoption.

Fix 2: Turn Off Siri’s Contact Suggestions

Siri’s contact suggestions feature may sometimes prevent your iPhone from deleting certain contacts or displaying previouslydeleted contacts. To avoid such issues, you should turn off Siri contact suggestions on your iPhone using these steps:

Step 1:Open theSettingsapp and scroll down to tap onSiri & Search.

Step 2:Tap onContactsand turn off the toggle next toShow Contact Suggesions.

Fix 3: Disable and Re-Enable iCloud Sync

Sync issues with your iCloud accountcan also prevent you from editing or removing contacts on your iPhone. You can try disabling and re-enabling iCloud contacts sync on your iPhone to see if that helps.

Step 1:Open theSettingsapp and tap on your name at the top. Then, tap oniCloudand selectShow All.

Step 2:Turn off the toggle next toContacts. Wait for a few seconds, and then turn the toggle back on.

Fix 4: Check Content & Privacy Restrictions

You may be encountering the “Not all contacts were deleted” error due to content restrictions set on your iPhone. You need to review these settings to ensure contact changes aren’t restricted to your iPhone.

Step 1:Open theSettingsapp, tap onScreen Time, and selectContent & Privacy Restrictionsfrom the following menu.

Step 2:Tap onContactsand selectAllow Changes.

Try deleting contacts after this and see if you get any errors.

Fix 5: Use iCloud in a Browser to Delete the Contact

Lastly, if none of the above tips work, you can delete contacts by accessing your iCloud account in a web browser. Here are the steps for the same.

Step 1:Open up a web browser on your computer andvisit iCloud. Sign in to your account if you haven’t already.

Step 2:Click theapps iconin the top-right corner and selectContacts.

Step 3:Hold down theControl(Windows) orCommand(Mac) key on your keyboard and select the contacts you want to delete. Then, click theDelete Contactsoption in the right pane.

Step 4:Click theDeletebutton to confirm.

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Last updated on 26 June, 2024

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