You may have come across the error “Unfortunately Contacts has Stopped” frequently while using your Android device. Users most likely face this error when they are about to receive a phone call or open the phone. But this error may also appear anytime when are using the device.

Why the error “Unfortunately Contacts has Stopped” occurs?

There could be various reason for this error to occur. But mostly this error, “Unfortunately Contacts has Stopped” occurs due to the cache. Google stores cache in the local storage so that the speed can increase while re-downloading the app from Google servers. And also these cache helps to reduce the load. Besides this reason, the error can also occur due to the installation of other application from Google Play Store which can be incompatible to your device.

Want to try once?

Try out these simple steps before going to the actual solution. It may help you in solving your actual problem.

Try Disable Google+ app

Many of the users have reported the same problem. Also, the Samsung users have reported the problem “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped” with the Samsung Galaxy series including S9, j1, j2, and galaxy note 4. Also, some of the users have reported that this error has gone when disabled the Google+app. On many of the devices, uninstalling Google+ app or its updates fix the issue. If Google+ came pre-installed then you have to uninstall the updates and disable auto-update for the Play Store app. You can also disable the  Google+ app entirely.

Solutions to the Error “Unfortunately Contacts has stopped”.

If disabling the Google+ app from your android device didn’t work then try out these solutions. Here’s How to Fix Unfortunately Contacts Has Stopped Error on Android.Unfortunately Contacts Has Stopped Error on Android

Method One: Clear Contacts Cache and Data

Clearing Contacts Cache and Data is most important as this problem is related to the cache. Clearing cache can remove all the old and corrupted files which are disturbing the contact application to function properly. Follow these steps to clear cache and unwanted data from your contact application.

  • Open your Settings.
  • Go to Application Manager or Applications or Apps depending on the model of your device.
  • Slide to or Select All tab.
  • Find and Tap on Contacts.
  •  Tap on Clear Cache.
  • Tap on Clear Data (this will clear your call log).

Method Two: Change Date / Time format

Sometimes the Date and Time format can also cause such error. Many of the users have reported that changing the date/time format has helped to solve the problem. Once try this method to get rid of the problem.

  • Go back to Settings.
  • Go to Date and Time.
  • Change the format.

Method Three: Try uninstalling the downloaded software

As we already discussed that other application can also create such problems. So you have to find which app is actually creating such issues. For this, you have to uninstall all those apps which you have recently downloaded. Once you complete removing those apps, reboot the system and check if the method works or not. To uninstall the application from your device follow these steps.

  • Go to Settings.
  • Go to Application Manager or Application.
  • Find and tap on the recently installed app.
  • Then, tap on Uninstall.

Method Four: Reset to Factory Settings

If any of the above-mentioned solutions don’t fix the error “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped” then you have to factory reset your device. Resetting your factory settings brings back your device into the normal mode. But remember to take your device backup before proceeding to Factory reset. Else factory reset will erase all the data stored on your device along with the third-party mobile apps ( apps that you have downloaded from the Google Play Store ). To Factory reset your device follow these steps.

  • Go to Settings.
  • Tap on Backup & Reset.
  • Select where you want to back up your data.
  • Tap on Factory Data Reset.
  • Then, click on Reset Phone.

Hence, this is some of the methods that help in solving the error “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped”. Which method helps you? If there are other solutions then please don’t forget to mention those valuable solutions in our comment section as it may be useful to the other readers who are facing this error. Hope our article help solving your problem.

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60 COMMENTS

  1. I did following but still problem exists;
    – I moved all contacts to Phone Memory
    – I deleted cache of Contact Manager
    – I deleted app data of Contact Manager
    – Did Factory Reset
    – I deleted all contacts from SIM/Gmail/Phone etc. and then exported to Phone Memory (Total Contacts: ~500)

    Still no luck! It is really really annoying, contact manager often stopped working (~10 times a day) and it takes 15 minutes to start working to normal.

  2. I faced similar problem with my infinix Hot 2 but fixed it by downloading the “simpler contacts app” from play Store. I now use the downloaded app instead of the phone’s pre-installed contact app. Hope this helps.

  3. I followed the instructions and it worked! and what’s more amazing is that the call log wasn’t erased. Thank you very much!

  4. For me, none of this worked and I couldn’t even receive phone calls after moving from stock to CM12.1. I finally found the reason behind this. Turns out that by default the dialer is checking its blocked calls list and it will crash if the list is empty. What I did was to simply disable the list, and immediately the problem disappears. If I enable it again, the problem will reappear. So this is confirmed.

    Disable the blocked calls list in the dialer and the problem will go away.

  5. This didn’t work for me, but I remembered that I changed a few settings when my battery was discharging quickly and undid a change.

    Go to Setting > Applications > Application Manager
    Click the vertical … In right corner and select Modify System Settings
    It says Select which Apps can change system settings and displays list of Apps
    Make sure Contacts is set to On.

    I had turned that to Off along with a few others recently and now that I turned it back to On, Contacts now opens with no issues!

  6. I had the same problem. Alot of people said deleting voicemails worked, others said Google+ was the problem so they disabled it. But nothing worked for me so I went into:
    1. Google+ App
    2. Account settings
    3. Clicked contacts
    4. Clicked Keep contacts up to date

    After this I clicked on contacts once more and it worked perfectly again. I hope it works for anyone else if nothing else worked either.

  7. FYI:
    I tried all these fixes on my Galaxy Note 4. Nothing worked. Then I deleted 500+ old Google voice-mail (Google Voice) messages and it worked! So apparently if one has too many old voice mails it overflows the buffer and crashes. Sloppy coding.

  8. I tried everything here and none worked. As a last act of desperation I changed the interface on my new Galaxy Note 4 from “easy” to normal and it worked, I toggled it and verified this was the fix! Good luck to all and thanks for the other fixes!

  9. This will fix your problem! Go to Contacts in App Manager and in right corner you will see … in verticaly and click on that than just Uninstall updates and here you go.

  10. I cannot search my contact to call. When i try to search my contact by name or by number the contact stopped automatically showing ‘unfortunately contact has stopped’
    Help me out. Pliz

  11. Hey.. my contact and phone stop working for over 2 weeks now. Tried everything. . Cleared cache, changed time format, checked all applications I even restored factort settings however the problem still exist. Please help

  12. I had the Same problem this will fix your problem .go to your manager application ho to all look for contacts and disable it . Then go to your apps store and download the phone dialer apps and your problem solved.

  13. Good Day.

    Wanted to share with my solution to help someone else.
    I fixed that but enabling LogProvider app. On Galaxy S4:
    It resides in Settings->more tab –> app manager –> turned off tab –> scroll down and find it if thats there.

    Thank you.

  14. Uninstalled updates to Google Play Services… and Contacts worked!
    But landed in another problem …..

    on opening Gmail, it said that it needed Google Play Services updated!!!

    When I get one, I loose the other!

    • My relatives have an old Fly IQ436i Era Nano 9 on Android 4.4.2. A week ago Contacts stopped working for whatever reason. Unfortunately, I got my hands on it only two days ago. I tried everything, nothing helped, even soft reset. Besides it wasn’t possible to clear Contacts Storage there, because the button just wasn’t active.
      Starting the phone in a safe mode and seeing that Contacts is still not working, pretty much confirmed that one of the Google services was causing it. So i tried your solution and it helped. Thanks!

    • I hope someone else find it helpful… So I tried several versions of Google Play Services from apk mirror: up-to-date 12.5.29 or 12.5.27 have this issue, but 12.2.21 doesn’t. Contacts app is stable and other Google apps (including Gmail) work fine. So roll back to 12.2.21 version.

  15. By chance I checked disabled apps and The Logs Provider had been accidentally disabled. I enabled it and VOILÀ the stock dialer/contact app works again. Hope this helps someone out there.

  16. Galaxy S9+ Oreo 8.0 – May 2018 Build
    Contacts Has Stopped, followed by the phone shutting down after 3 minutes (timed)

    Followed every single advise in this thread, even factory reset the damn phone, in the end, I managed to fix it with the following steps:

    1.- Cleared System cache from boot (Press Bixby Button Vol Up and power at same time)
    Clear system cache

    2.- Then booted in Safe mode

    3.- Went to settings > App manager > Clicked on Show system apps > Deleted Google+ App and Disabled Google Contacts Sync App

    4.- Went to Contacts app and Uninstalled updates
    5.- Cleared/deleted Contacts app data and cache

    6.-On Contacts app turned off: Apps that can change system settings

    7.- On Contacts Storage: Cleared Cache

    8.-On Phone app V 1.0: Cleared Cache and Data

    9.-I noticed a 2nd Phone app V1.0 by samsung in my system apps, also cleared cache and data

    10: I noticed a 3rd phone app with a diferent icon (my phone is themed) and this one was a V3.0.00.21, also cleared data and cache.

    11.- Rebooted and cleared again the system cache from boot screen.

    Result: The Phone and Contacts apps by Samsung (Oem preinstalled) no longer crash on startup, no longer crash when used and no longer shutdown the Galaxy S9 Plus with Oreo 8.0 2018 Build and they can be used normally again.

    Now on to fix the damn fingerprint scanner…..because this phone is Plagued with firmware/hardware Issues, and to be honest, for something that expensive, the least you expect from it is to work properly……..

  17. Apparently on the wife’s and my phone we had local contacts that were interfering with our google\Gmail contacts syncing. The trick was to remove all contacts from the phone and setup the Gmail account sync again. I tried to delete the cache\storage but that didn’t work for me.

    Here is what I did:
    1. Install the app “Delete All Contacts” by Little Play Studio
    2. Remove Gmail account, also remove the Google Contacts app if it is installed
    3. Run the “Delete All Contacts” app and delete ALL contacts
    4. Setup your Gmail account again and Google Contacts

    I hope this helps someone.

  18. Also check you have good amount of free space on your mobile phone.
    Google account sync had stopped working and google products drive, keepnotes, contacts had stopped working. I cleared lot of social media and sharing files, then Sync started working fine.

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