Have you tried to delete a contact from your Android smartphone but, by accessing Gmail from your PC, this is still present on the famous e-mail service? Have you deleted a name from the Outlook.com address book but, both on your smartphone and on your tablet, is it still present? There is obviously something wrong with the synchronization of your e-mail account (and therefore of your address book), but don’t worry: it is a problem of very simple resolution.
All you have to do is delete a contact from the server of your email service (eg. Gmail, Outlook.com or iCloud) and check that the address book synchronization options are configured correctly on your smartphone and tablet. I know, so called it may seem a complex operation to complete, especially for a low-tech guy like you, and instead I assure you that you are wrong!
Take five minutes of free time, read the instructions I am about to give you and try to put them into practice: I assure you that, regardless of the email service and device you use, you will be able to delete a contact from the address book and find it deleted on all your devices. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- How to delete a contact from the Gmail server
- Computer
- Android
- iPhone/iPad
- How to delete a contact from the Outlook server
- Computer
- Android
- iPhone/iPad
- How to delete a contact from the iCloud server
- Computer
- iPhone/iPad
- How to delete a contact from the WhatsApp server
- In case of second thoughts
How to delete a contact from the Gmail server
If you use Gmail as an e-mail service and you want to delete a contact from it, so that it disappears from all your devices, proceed as follows: I assure you that it is a very simple procedure.
Computer
To delete a contact from the Gmail server , connected to Google Contacts , the Gmail address book management service, log in to your Google account (if necessary) and scroll the screen to locate the name you want to delete (you can also use the appropriate search bar at the top).
At this point, place the mouse pointer on his profile photo and put a check mark in the box next to his name. If you want to delete multiple contacts, put check marks on all the contacts you want to remove. Once this is done, press the ⋮ icon at the top and select the Delete item from the appropriate box on the screen. Press on the item Move to Trash to confirm.
The contact has not yet been permanently deleted, but only moved to the virtual “recycle bin”. If you do not intervene, the name in the trash will be automatically deleted after 30 days; if not, act manually by clicking on the Trash tab on the sidebar and pressing on the wording at the top Empty the trash now to confirm the deletion of all the contacts in this section.
Android
Are you using an Android device and would you like to delete a contact from Gmail through it? No problem. You just have to have activated the synchronization of the address book between the device and the famous Google e-mail service.
To verify this, open the Android Settings app (the gear icon located on the home screen), go to Users and Accounts and select the Google logo first and then your e-mail address (if necessary ). Check, then, that the Contact option is active, otherwise you can do it yourself. If you have any difficulties and / or want more information on how to synchronize Android address book with Gmail , consult my guide dedicated to the topic.
Once the phonebook synchronization between Android and Gmail has been activated, all you have to do is open the Contacts or Phonebook app of your device, search for the name to be deleted (using the appropriate search function in the application) and select it.
At this point, press the ⋮ icon at the top (it could be represented by a menu icon or by the item Other , depending on how the app is structured) and select the Delete item from the menu that opens. Then confirm by pressing the appropriate button that appears on the screen and the game will be done.
Within a few seconds, the contact selected in the Address Book app will be deleted from your device, from the Gmail servers (in this case it will be moved to the virtual recycle bin, which I told you about in this chapter ) and, consequently, from all connected devices. to the latter.
iPhone/iPad
If you want to delete a contact from Gmail and you are using an iPhone or an iPad , you must have previously set up your Google account on the latter and have activated contact synchronization.
To check this, start the Settings app , go to Contacts> Accounts and make sure that in the screen that opens there is an entry relating to Gmail : if successful, tap on it and check that the lever relating to Contacts is moved to ON (otherwise move it yourself to enable synchronization of contacts with Gmail). If any steps are not clear to you, check out my tutorial on how to set up Gmail on iPhone .
Once the synchronization of contacts between iPhone / iPad and Gmail has been verified (or activated), all you have to do is open the iOS Contacts app and select the name to delete . At this point, tap on the Edit item located at the top right, get to the bottom of the screen that opens, press the Delete contact option and confirm by tapping the Delete contact button that appears at the bottom.
Within a few seconds, the contact deleted from the Contacts app will also be deleted from the service servers and, consequently, from the address book of all the devices synchronized with the latter.
How to delete a contact from the Outlook server
If you use Outlook.com as an e-mail service and would like a hand to delete a contact from all the devices connected to it, take a couple of minutes and follow the instructions I am about to give you. You can act from a PC, smartphone or tablet.
Computer
To delete a contact from the Outlook servers , connect to your mailbox on Outlook.com and log into your Microsoft account . Subsequently, click on the icon with the 9 squares located at the top left and select the item People in the menu that is shown to you, to access the Outlook address book.
Now, scroll the screen to find the name to remove or search for it with the help of the search bar at the top. When you have found him, click on his profile photo , to put a check mark next to his name; at this stage, you can also select multiple names to remove by putting a check mark next to them.
All you have to do is press the Delete button at the top and then confirm the operation by clicking the Delete button in the screen box. However, the name has not been completely eliminated. This is in fact located in the Deleted section (reachable from the sidebar): access this section and press the Delete button at the top to remove all the contacts on the screen.
The contact you deleted will be permanently deleted from the Outlook servers and from all the devices that you have synchronized with the Microsoft e-mail service.
Android
If you use an Android terminal , you can delete contacts from Outlook.com servers using the app of the same name available in the Play Store and alternative stores .
Then start the Outlook app and select the Search tab at the bottom. Then press on the word Contacts at the top and tap on the contact to delete. Then press the Delete contact button and confirm the operation by tapping the Delete item at the bottom. Unlike the web panel , deleting a name is final, without it being moved to any temporary section.
If, on the other hand, your Outlook contacts are synchronized with the address book, go to the Settings> Accounts menu , check that there is already an Outlook account configured (if not, you have to press the Add account item ) and select it, and then move the lever to ON related to the option to sync contacts .
At this point, open the Contacts or Address Book app of your phone (or tablet), search for the name to delete , select it and tap the menu button (which could be represented by three dots, three horizontal lines or by the item Other , depending on the app in use). Then select the item Delete / Delete contact from the menu that opens, reply Delete to the warning that appears on the screen and that’s it.
iPhone/iPad
If you have an iPhone or an iPad , you can delete contacts from Outlook by following the same procedure that I showed you earlier for Gmail. Therefore, first download the Outlook app from the iOS / iPadOS App Store .
After that, start it and log in with your Microsoft account. At this point, on its main screen, tap on the Search tab at the bottom and press on the People item at the top. From the list of contacts, select the one to delete, press the Delete contact button at the bottom and confirm the operation using the Delete item .
If you have activated the synchronization of contacts between Outlook and iOS / iPadOS, you can act from the iOS Contacts app, but first check that everything is working correctly. Start the Settings app , go to Contacts> Accounts and make sure that in the screen that opens there is an item related to Outlook : if not, tap on the vice Add account and configure your Outlook.com account following the instructions you find in my tutorial on how to add emails on iPhone (by activating the contact synchronization lever at the end of the procedure).
If, on the other hand, the Outlook account is already configured on the device, select it and make sure that the lever relating to the Contacts item is moved to ON (otherwise move it yourself to activate contact synchronization). Now, open the Contacts app and select the name to delete .
Then press the Edit item located at the top right, get to the bottom of the screen that opens and tap on Delete contact twice in a row. In this way, the selected name will be deleted from the Outlook servers and from all devices connected to the latter. It wasn’t difficult, was it ?!
How to delete a contact from the iCloud server
Are you an Apple user and have you synchronized your address book with iCloud ? In this case, you can delete contacts from the service’s servers (and therefore from all devices connected to it) by acting from the iCloud web panel, the macOS Contacts app or the iOS address book. Here is all explained in detail.
Computer
If you want to delete a contact from iCloud , connect to the main page of the service and log in using your Apple ID . Then click on the Contacts icon that appears on the screen and use the search field at the top to find the name of your interest.
When the operation is completed, click on the name to be deleted , then on the Edit item at the top and, finally, on the Delete contact item at the bottom. Then confirm by pressing the Delete button and that’s it: the contact will be deleted from the iCloud servers and from all your devices connected to it.
If you are using a Mac , you can also achieve the same result through the macOS Contacts application. Before proceeding, however, go to System Preferences (the gear icon located on the Dock bar), select the iCloud entry from the latter and make sure that your iCloud account is configured correctly on the computer and that there is the check mark next to the Contacts item (if not, log in to iCloud and put the check mark next to the contacts item).
Now, open the macOS Contacts application (you can find it in the Launchpad or by searching in Spotlight), find the name to be deleted using the appropriate bar located at the top and proceed with its deletion by right-clicking on it, selecting the Delete card item from the menu that appears and confirming (i.e. by pressing the Delete button that appears on the screen).
iPhone/iPad
If you have an iPhone or iPad and you have associated the latter with your iCloud account, you can delete contacts from the service’s servers by using the Contacts app .
To check if your device is connected to iCloud, start the Settings app and tap your name . If your name is not there, presses on the item to log in and log in to iCloud . Next, tap on your name and then on the iCloud items> Show all and, if necessary, move the lever relative to the Contacts option to ON .
You are now ready to take action! Start the iOS Contacts app, select the name to delete and tap on the Edit item located at the top right. Then scroll down the screen that opens, press the Delete contact option at the bottom and confirm by tapping the Delete contact button that appears on the display of your device. Mission accomplished!
How to delete a contact from the WhatsApp server
Would you like to delete a contact from the WhatsApp server , so as not to see it again in the message composition screen of this famous app? It can be done, but first it is good to make one thing clear: while Gmail, Outlook, iCloud and e-mail services have their own address book, WhatsApp takes contacts from the smartphone address book. This means that it is not possible to act directly on the contacts present on the service servers, but that you can only delete a contact from the address book of your device and, consequently, from that of the application.
To delete a contact from Android , open the Contacts app on your device (eg. Address book ), select the name to be deleted , press the menu button (which could be represented by three dots, three horizontal lines or by the item Other ) and first select the Delete / Delete contact item from the menu that opens and then the Delete item from the box that appears in the center of the screen.
To delete a contact from iPhone , on the other hand, open the iOS Contacts app, select the name to delete and tap first on the Edit item located at the top right, then on the Delete contact option at the bottom of the screen that opened and, finally, on the Delete contact button that appears on the phone display.
Now, open WhatsApp , select the Chat tab , press the button to start composing a new message and the name you deleted from the address book should also have disappeared from WhatsApp. Otherwise, if you use Android , you can force the update of the WhatsApp address book by pressing the button with the three dots located at the top right and selecting the Update item from the menu that appears.
In case of second thoughts
If after deleting a contact from the servers of Gmail, Outlook, iCloud or other e-mail services you have second thoughts, you can retrace your steps by following the instructions I gave you in my tutorials on how to recover contacts on Android and how to recover contacts on iPhone . The result is not always 100% guaranteed but, between cloud backup systems and data recovery applications, if it hasn’t been too long since the deletion of contacts, you should be able to achieve your goal.
Of course, you can also rely on the integrated features of some services, such as Outlook and Gmail , which allow you to delete contacts by temporarily moving them to a virtual “trash”, so that you can then restore them if you change your mind within 30 days. I told you about it in their dedicated chapters