Knowledge Base: App-Specific Help > iPhone/iPad
How do I restore deleted contacts using Handheld Contact Classic?
Posted by Craig S, Last modified by Craig S on 05 November 2021 06:45 PM

This article will be available for Handheld Contact Classic users only.  This recovery tool is not available in Handheld Contact API.

Beginning in Handheld Contact Classic version 9.0.1, there has been a deleted contact recovery tool built into the mobile device application.  This article will explain how to use this feature to recover recently deleted contacts from Act!.  The directions below will be for each operating system platform supported and will only give steps after a deletion of contact(s) in Act! has been completed.

Note:  Handheld Contact Classic will be able to keep track of recently deleted contacts from Act!.  However, this can only work in between two 'resend all data' procedures.  If a 'resend all data' is performed, this will eliminate the list of recently deleted contacts on the device side.  

iOS (iPhone/iPad):

  1. Open Handheld Contact Classic. 
  2. From the Dashboard, tap on Contacts.
  3. Press the 'lightning bolt' icon from the upper right corner.
  4. Under 'Maintenance' section, tap on 'Show recently deleted contacts'.
  5. A list of deleted contacts will appear.  If no contacts have been deleted, this screen will not open.
  6. Tag one (or more) contacts to recover.  Tap on 'Recover' from upper right corner.
  7. A pop up warning message will appear indicating that duplication may occur if the contact exists in Act!.  Press 'Continue' to proceed.
  8. When recovery is successful a message will appear.  Also on the Contact list the contacts that were recovered will appear at the top under the 'Recently Recovered Contacts' section (above the # filter).
  9. Sync Handheld Contact on the device manually.  This will sync the contact(s) back towards the Act! database.
  10. Sync Handheld Contact Classic on the PC/server side.  This will insert the recovered contact(s) back into the database.

Android:

  1. Open Handheld Contact Classic.
  2. From the Dashboard, tap on Contacts.
  3. Tap on the 3-dots in the upper right corner.
  4. Choose 'Show deleted contacts' from the dropdown.
  5. A list of deleted contacts will appear.  If no contacts have been deleted, this screen will be blank.
  6. Tag one (or more) contacts to recover.  Press the 'RECOVER' button in the lower right corner.
  7. A pop up message will appear indicating that if this contact still exists in Act! that the process may create a duplicate.  Choose OK to proceed.
  8. A banner will appear for 'RECENTLY RECOVERED CONTACTS', tap on this to show a list of the contacts that were recovered.
  9. Sync Handheld Contact on the device manually.  This will sync the contact(s) back towards the Act! database.
  10. Sync Handheld Contact Classic on the PC/server side.  This will insert the recovered contact(s) back into the database.

PLEASE NOTE: This restore process will include all the fields mapped to sync in Handheld Contact Classic, as well as all the related activities, opportunities, and the Notes & Histories connected with those contacts that were previously present in Handheld Contact.  Data that was never synced to the mobile device cannot be restored.

For more information about this feature, please see the blog post here.