Why Android phones do not allow you to delete some of your contact numbers and here is the solution
There are a lot of people who sometimes face a problem that prevents them from deleting contacts from their mobile phones, or they find that this happens to some contacts. They have no idea what is happening or why they cannot delete or edit them, so it can be very confusing and make you think that something strange is happening on your phone. But don’t worry because the explanation is much simpler than you think.
You probably have different types of contacts on your mobile phone, including SIM contacts, social networks, apps and more, so don't be surprised that now you notice when you try to delete a certain contact you find that you can't do it.
- Why you can't delete some contacts
One of the main reasons why you can’t delete contacts is because they are read-only. This is because the phone detects that the contact is duplicated in different apps or services, not just in the SIM card, that’s why it shows as read-only, so you can’t delete it or make any changes. Yes, you can eliminate all the others who are not in this state, but not these ones. Although there are some phones that allow you to delete these contacts, others don’t, but you can do something to fix that.
- Delete it this way on Android
You can’t delete contacts because they are linked to each other as is the case with many calendars. Not only are they on the SIM card but they are also on other phonebooks on your phone, so if you want to fix the problem, you will have to go to the phonebook and select the corresponding contact. You tap on the three vertical dots at the top and then tap to see the linked contacts. All you have to do is tap on Unlink and you will be able to delete them normally.
- Click on the Contacts app.
- Find contact
- Click on the three dots at the top right.
- Click on View linked contacts.
- Click Unlink
- Click on Read Only and click on Delete.
- If you have no other choice, do a factory reset.
If you can't delete it anyway, the most drastic solution is to factory reset your phone. The process may vary slightly from phone to phone, but this is where you'll see this option in your phone's settings. It may be located in the "About phone" section or other similar sections. As you can see, in this option contacts are deleted, so those that are not from the SIM card will disappear.
Therefore, it is important to make sure that the people you care about are on the card and not on the phone otherwise you may run out of numbers you want to keep. When resetting, and before adding other accounts, delete the contacts you want from the SIM card, and you should be able to do it without problems. Before making this decision, if you can do it, you will also have the possibility to test on another phone in case it is possible to delete it on this one, this way you will avoid having to factory reset everything and having to reinstall and format and so on.