Top 8 Ways to Fix Google Contacts Not Syncing to iPhone

You can use Apple’s iCloud service on iPhone and iPad to sync contacts between various Apple devices. However, many users prefer to use Google Contacts over iCloud, especially those who use Android phones. The reason being the synchronization of Google contacts between Android or Windows and iPhone. Unfortunately, some users are having trouble syncing with Google contacts on iPhone. If your Google contacts also won’t sync to your iPhone, these fixes will help.

The problem of syncing Google contacts with iPhone can occur due to various reasons like sync not enabled, Google account is not set up correctly, etc. While it’s hard to find the exact problem, we’ve covered all possible solutions in detail below.

Let’s start.

Note: The following fixes will also work for the iPad.

1. Restart the iPhone

Often times, a simple restart of your iPhone can restart the syncing process. So stop whatever you are doing on your iPhone and restart it. Press the power button until you see the slider for the “ slide to power off ” button, and then do the necessary.

2. Activate Google contacts

You need to correctly add your Google account credentials to properly sync Google contacts with your iPhone. Once this is done, you will need to enable the Contacts option for your Google account.

Here is how to do that.

Step 1: Open settings on your iPhone or iPad. Go to Contacts> Accounts.

2nd step: Tap Gmail if you’ve already added your Google account. Otherwise, tap Add account, choose Google and add your account. After that, go back to the Accounts screen and tap on Gmail.

Step 3: Turn on the toggle next to Contacts.

Step 4: Open the Contacts app on your iPhone or iPad. This should start the synchronization process. Wait a few moments and you will see your Google contacts on your iPhone or iPad.

Note: This method will only sync Google contacts with your iPhone and not the other way around. For this, you will need to move your existing iPhone to Google Contacts.

3. Check the date and time

Having the wrong date and time on your iPhone can also cause syncing issues. To resolve this issue, make sure the date and time are set correctly. To confirm, open Settings and go to General> Date & time. Turn on the toggle next to Set automatically.

4. Show all contacts

Sometimes Google contacts actually sync with your iPhone, but you don’t see them. Basically, iPhone categorizes contacts from various sources into different groups. You need to check if all groups are enabled in the Contacts app.

To do this, open the Contacts app on your iPhone. Tap the Groups option at the top.

Here you will see different contact groups. Make sure Gmail is selected. Then press the Done button to save the changes.

Step 3: Tap your email id.

Note: Make sure the toggle next to Contacts is turned on.

Step 4: Tap on Advanced.

Step 5: Make sure the toggle next to Use SSL is enabled. Try to add your account again in case you are asked to do so.

6. Create a default Gmail account

Usually, your iPhone saves new contacts in iCloud. This is why you might not see the contacts saved from your iPhone on your Google contacts. To sync new contacts from iPhone to Google Contacts, you will need to choose the default storage location like Gmail.

To do this, open the settings on your iPhone and go to Contacts. Tap Default account and choose Gmail. Now, all new contacts you save on your iPhone will automatically sync with Google Contacts.

7. Check the recovery settings

Open the settings on your iPhone and go to Contacts> Accounts. Tap Extract New Data.

Make sure the button next to Push is enabled. Tap on Gmail and choose the Recover option instead of Manual. Also choose automatically under recovery schedule.

8. Add a Google account again

If the above fixes don’t help, try adding the Google account again. To do this, go to Settings> Contacts> Accounts. Tap your Gmail account. Tap Remove account. Restart your phone and add the Google account again. Then turn on contact sync as shown in Method 2. Read what happens when you delete your Google account from your phone.

Google Bye iCloud Contacts

We hope the above solutions will help you sync Google contacts with your iPhone or iPad. You can keep iCloud Contacts and Google Contacts turned on on your phone. However, you should note that new contacts will only sync with the selected default account. If you want, you can turn off iCloud Contacts by going to Settings> your name> iCloud. Turn off the toggle next to Contacts.