Losing your phone numbers can be frustrating and stressful. Whether you lost them due to switching phones, losing your contacts list, or having your phone stolen, there are ways to try and recover your missing numbers.
Quick Answers
Here are some quick answers to common questions about getting your phone numbers back:
- Check your old SIM card – Your contacts may still be stored on your old SIM card if you recently upgraded phones
- Use cloud backup services – If you had your contacts backed up to Google, iCloud etc, you can restore from there
- Try calling your voicemail – Any numbers that called and left VM’s will show up there
- Check call logs online – Your call logs may be available through your phone carrier’s website
- Ask contacts to resend their info – Let people know you lost your contacts and ask them to text or email you their details
- Try contact recovery apps – Apps like Fonelab can scan and pull contacts from your old phone
Check Your SIM Card
If you recently upgraded to a new phone, your old SIM card may still contain your contacts list. SIM cards can store hundreds of contacts, so it’s worth checking it out. Power off your new phone, take out the new SIM card, and insert your old SIM card instead. Then power your phone back on and check your contacts list. If you see your numbers there, you can transfer them back to your new phone or SIM card. This is the fastest way to get your contacts back if you just changed devices.
Use Cloud Backup Services
If you previously had your contacts backed up to a cloud service, you may be able to restore them from there. Here are some options to check for cloud contact backups:
- iCloud – If you use an iPhone, your contacts may be backed up to iCloud. Go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups and see if there is a backup of your contacts.
- Google Contacts – If you use Android, your contacts may be backed up to your Google account. Go to contacts.google.com and sign in to check.
- Your Phone Carrier – Some carriers like Verizon back up your contacts list to the cloud. Check your carrier’s website.
- Third-Party Apps – Apps like Copy My Data or Syncios can backup your contacts online. Check if you used any apps to do this.
If you find your contacts backed up to any of these cloud services, you can typically restore them to your new phone with a few clicks. This will quickly transfer your contact list back to your mobile device.
Check Your Voicemail
An easy way to retrieve some of your lost numbers is to call your voicemail. Numbers that recently called and left voicemails will show up in your voicemail inbox. You can go through the list of messages and regain the numbers that left them. Keep in mind this will only work for numbers that actually called and left VMs recently. But it can help you reconstruct part of your contact list. To access voicemail:
- Dial your phone number from your mobile phone
- When voicemail picks up, press * or # to enter passcode
- Listen to recent messages and regain those numbers
This trick works for both iPhone and Android devices. It’s a simple way to get back at least some contacts who’ve tried calling you recently.
Check Online Call Logs
If you have an account with your mobile phone carrier, you can likely access your call logs online through their website. Call logs will display the last 30-60 days of incoming/outgoing calls. You can go through the list and recover the phone numbers to your contacts. Here are some carrier sites to check call logs:
- Verizon – Sign in at vzw.com and go to My Verizon > Call Logs
- AT&T – Sign in at att.com and go to Profile > Phone/Device > View Call Logs
- T-Mobile – Sign in at my.t-mobile.com and go to Profile > View Call History
- Sprint – Sign in at sprint.com and go to My Sprint > View Call History
For other carriers, search “[Carrier Name] view call logs online.” Recovering numbers through your call logs takes more time than contacts stored in the cloud but can help fill in missing pieces.
Ask Contacts To Resend Their Info
One simple way to get your contacts back is to just ask people to resend their information. Post on social media or send emails/texts to let people know you lost your contacts. Ask them to text or email you their name, phone number, and any other info they want you to have. Most people are happy to send their details again. You can even set up a shared Google Sheet and ask people to enter their information there.
While it takes effort to ask everyone, this gives you the most updated contact information from people. It’s a chance to purge old numbers and get the current details for all your contacts. Be sure to apologize for the inconvenience and thank them for taking the time to re-share their information.
Try Contact Recovery Apps
There are apps designed specifically to help recover lost contacts from phones. They scan your device and attempt to pull numbers, names, and emails from your address book. Some top options include:
- Fonelab – Scans Android and iPhone devices and recovers contacts stored on the phone or SIM card
- EaseUS MobiSaver – Retrieves deleted or lost contacts on both iOS and Android phones
- iMyFone D-Back – Specialized iOS contact recovery tool for iPhones and iPads
These apps work best if you still have your old phone. They can scan the device itself and pull contacts directly from it. But some claim to also work recovering iPhone contacts from iCloud backups without the old device. Reviews suggest Fonelab provides the deepest scans and best contact recovery rates.
How Contact Recovery Apps Work
Contact recovery apps use a few key strategies to extract your lost phone numbers and information:
- Scan Contacts Data – They directly scan your phone’s stored contacts list for recoverable data
- Scan SIM Card – They check your SIM card to find stored contacts
- Scan Internal Storage – They dig through your phone’s internal memory to find contacts
- iCloud Extraction – For iPhones, they can pull contacts from iCloud backups
Advanced tools like Fonelab even recover WhatsApp messages, call history, notes, and calendar data. Overall these apps provide an automated way to regain missing contact info from your smartphone.
Prevent Losing Contacts In the Future
Once you rebuild your contact list, be sure to regularly back it up so you don’t have to go through this again. Here are some backup tips:
- Sync your contacts to cloud services like Google and iCloud
- Export your contacts to your email, external hard drive etc
- Use third party backup tools to automate copying your contacts
- Save important contacts to your SIM card as a failsafe
Be proactive about backing up your data to avoid ever losing your valuable contacts again. With regular backups in place, you’ll have peace of mind if anything happens to your phone.
Conclusion
Recovering lost contacts takes some effort but is possible in most cases. Start by checking your old SIM card and cloud backups for a quick restore. Call voicemail, go through call logs, and ask people to resend info to help fill in gaps. And contact recovery apps provide automated scanning to extract contacts left on your phone. With a multi-pronged approach, you can likely recover the bulk of your missing numbers.
The most important takeaway is to backup your contacts regularly going forward. Use cloud services, local copies, and SIM card storage to keep backups in multiple places. With regular contact backups, you’ll never have to worry about losing them again.