Not All Contacts Were Deleted Error on iPhone [Fix]

When iPhone is overloaded with unwanted contacts, it consumes a lot of space and you might not be able to save any contacts or files on the iPhone. So it is always good to update the contacts list by deleting the contacts not needed any longer.

Recently, many iPhone users started getting an error message while trying to delete the contacts on their iPhones. The error message that occurred on the iPhone is shown below.

Not all contacts were deleted

One or more of the contacts may be read-only.

This error can occur when there is a technical glitch within the iPhone or when iPhone is not updated to its latest version. Apart from this, if any contacts have been stored on iPhone through third-party applications like WhatsApp, etc. this might create this kind of problem.

In this article, let us see all the possible solutions for resolving this issue so that iPhone users can delete their contacts effectively.

Preliminary Fixes

Restart your iPhone

These types of errors can occur on an iPhone anytime because of technical issues on iPhone. So the only way is to refresh the iPhone by simply restarting the iPhone which refreshes all the services and settings within it.

So we advise our users to try restarting their iPhones once and see if this helps in resolving this issue.

Update the iPhone

Apple releases a new update after working on the feedback and bugs reported by iPhone/iPad users. When these updates are still pending and not installed by the user, the iPhone may lack some of the best and improved features which might be the reason for this type of error.



Therefore, try updating your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Software Update and wait for some time to load the updates if any. Click on Download and Install if there is any update released by Apple. After which the issue may be resolved on your iPhone.

Fix 1 – Turn Off the iCloud Contacts

Some iPhone users have rectified this error by disabling the iCloud contacts on their iPhones. Let us also try doing the same and see if this helps us in resolving this error.

Step 1: You first have to open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Then go to the Apple ID page by tapping on the Profile Name at the top of the Settings page as shown below.

 

apple id page profile name 11zon

 

Step 3: Once the Apple ID page appears, look for the iCloud option and tap on it as shown.

 

icloud 11zon

 

Step 4: Now you have to click on the Show All option to view all other options as well.

 

show all 11zon

 

Step 5: Now search for the Contacts option from the list and disable it by tapping on its toggle button as shown in the image below.

 

disable contacts icloud 11zon

 

Fix 2 – Allow Contacts in the Content & Privacy Restrictions

Many users are aware that they might have disallowed the contacts in the contents and privacy restrictions section on their iPhones. This causes the contacts from getting restricted while deleting them. So let us try allowing the contacts using the steps explained below.

Step 1: First of all, you need to go to the Settings app on the iPhone.

Step 2: After the Settings page is open, scroll down and select the Screen Time option from the menu as shown below.

 

screen time 11zon 1

 

Step 3: Now tap on the Content & Privacy Restrictions option.

 



content privacy restrictions 11zon

 

Step 4: Under the Privacy section, find the Contacts from the list and click on it.

 

select contacts icloud 11zon

 

Step 5: On the Contacts page, click on the Allow Changes option at the top as shown below.

 

allow changes contacts 11zon

 

Step 6: Then you can close the Settings app after the said changes are made.

Fix 3 – Delete the Contacts from third-party apps like WhatsApp

This error usually occurs if the user has added the contacts, not through the default Phone app on the iPhone and instead through some third-party apps like WhatsApp, etc. This can be easily resolved by trying to delete the contact from the third-party app itself from where you had added this contact.

Step 1: First of all, you have to open the third-party app on your iPhone.

NOTE – We are showing an example of WhatsApp.

Step 2: Once the app is open, click on the New Chat icon on the top right side of the app window as shown below.

 

new chat icon whatsapp 11zon

 

Step 3: Now this shows all the contacts present on WhatsApp.

Step 4: Scroll down the list and tap on the contact you want to delete.

Step 5: Now click on the contact’s name on the top as shown below.

 

contact tap 11zon

 

Step 6: Once the Contact Info page appears, click on the Edit option at the top right corner of the page as shown.



 

edit contact info whatsapp 11zon

 

Step 7: On the Edit Contact page, you will find the Delete Contact option at the bottom.

 

delete contact whatsapp 11zon

 

Step 8: Tap on it and then click Delete Contact to confirm delete the contact from your iPhone.

 

delete contact confirm whatsapp 11zon

 

Step 9: This deletes the contact from your iPhone successfully.

Fix 4 – Try deleting contacts from another device

If you are still facing this issue and are not able to delete some of the contacts from your iPhone, you can try deleting those contacts from another device. This can be done only if you are using the same Apple ID on another device as well.

If yes, you can try searching for those contacts on another device having the same Apple ID and deleting them. Many iPhone users have been able to delete contacts using this method.