Mobile phones are capable of efficiently managing all the people we keep in our address book. With a single touch, we can access not only their phone number but also other information such as their email or address. Sometimes, deleting a number from the phonebook can be a challenge, as it may be “blocked” and display the message “This contact is read-only.” For this reason, let’s see how to fix this error and delete a contact on any mobile with an Android operating system error saving contact.
In the past, we only had a phonebook to store contacts on the SIM card. However, today, in addition to the SIM card, contacts can also be saved in the mobile memory, an external card, cloud services, or applications such as WhatsApp and Messenger.
This can cause third-party software to prevent us from deleting a particular number from the phonebook of our Android device. At this time, the famous message “This contact is read-only” will appear. Therefore, we will also see how we can delete any number in the quickest way possible.
The Android Bug
The Android agenda application can manage agendas that are shared in one place. This means that a person we have saved, say as an example ‘Peter’, with a specific phone number, is saved on the SIM card. This can make that, an app like WhatsApp, comes to recognize this and creates its own agenda, adding Pedro.
Basically, because it has the necessary permissions through our terminal. And is that, in case of removing access to this function, what we will get will be that all we have in the messaging app appear nameless. So, in this case, it is not worth avoiding it, but to know how to delete them when this failure begins to arise.
The other error appears when you start to create duplicate numbers, these are linked together, which causes that in many cases the number is read-only and does not allow us to delete it directly from the app of our terminal. However, sometimes it will be better that they are duplicated than that we have to suffer this failure. However, we will tell you what steps to follow to end either of these two problems on your Android phone.
How do I delete contacts without error saving contact while deleting?
The frustration comes when we try to delete a read-only contact from the phonebook, as the message appears that it is not possible. This happens precisely because the name or number that we have saved exists in several agendas and is linked together. Check below steps to Fix Error Saving Contact:
Unlink them
The easiest method to eliminate the problem and regain control is through the Google application itself. The goal is to get unlink the contacts of those apps or accounts that are causing the blocking, in order to proceed to delete them normally. Therefore, it will be time to follow the following steps from our Android phone:
- We open the Contacts application and select a particular person.
- Then, we open the context menu (the three little dots) and click on View linked contacts.
- Then, click on Unlink.
- Now, click again on the same number and, again, tap on the menu of the three dots.
- By clicking on Delete you should be able to delete the number that was ‘blocked’.
The only drawback that we can find before this solution is that if we want to delete several people at once, the process must be done manually, ie one by one.
With this other trick
If you do not see the above option Unlink on your Android smartphone (as it will depend on the customization layer), calm because we can still get it with this little trick that we are going to explain below. To do this, you must follow the following steps:
- Enter in the app Agenda your smartphone.
- Find the person we want to delete.
- Click on the Edit option (or on the pencil icon).
- Delete the mobile number that appears > Click on Save.
- Go back to the contact and tap on the three dots option.
- Select Delete > OK.
Reset the mobile
Another option to delete them, although it is a much more drastic way, will be restoring the device to its factory settings. In this way will disappear all those that are linked to each other to be deleted from the internal memory of the phone. Therefore, before performing this operation is necessary that you make sure you have saved the contacts that interest you on your SIM card. In addition to making a backup of all the photos, videos and others that you want to keep on your Android smartphone.
Once this is done, we must go to Settings > System > Reset Options > Erase All Data.
Goodbye Contacts Duplicates
For our luck there is a quick way to remove from our phone all the people who have been stored on the Android device more than once. Although we will not delete them as such, but we will combine them in such a way that they are not constantly repeated on the terminal, but only come out only once. To do this, we will have to do the following steps on our smartphone:
- On your Android phone, open the Contacts app.
- At the top left, tap Menu (the three horizontal bars) > tap on Merge & Correct.
- Tap Merge duplicates. If you do not see this option, it means that you have no people that can be combined, i.e. there are no duplicates.
- To accept a duplicate contact suggestion, tap Merge. On the other hand, to accept all duplicate number suggestions, go to the bottom of the screen and tap Merge all.
However, if you prefer to choose which numbers you want to merge, you will have to follow the process explained below:
- Open the Contacts app on your Android device.
- At the top right, tap More (three vertical dots) > Select.
- Choose the numbers you want to combine.
- At the top right, tap again on the three vertical dots > Combine.
FAQ
Why am I getting the “This contact is read-only” error when trying to delete a contact?
This error usually occurs when a contact is saved in multiple locations, such as the SIM card, phone memory, cloud services, or third-party apps like WhatsApp and Messenger. These contacts are linked together, and the system prevents them from being deleted directly from your phone’s contact app.
How do I unlink contacts to delete them?
1. Open the Contacts app on your Android device and select the contact you want to delete.
2. Open the context menu (usually represented by three little dots) and tap on “View linked contacts.”
3. Tap on “Unlink.”
4. Click on the contact again and tap on the context menu.
5. By tapping on “Delete,” you should now be able to delete the previously blocked contact.
What if I don’t see the “Unlink” option on my Android smartphone?
If the “Unlink” option is not available on your device, follow these steps:
1. Open the Contacts app on your smartphone.
2. Find the contact you want to delete.
3. Tap on the “Edit” option (usually represented by a pencil icon).
4. Delete the contact’s phone number and click on “Save.”
5. Go back to the contact and tap on the three-dot menu.
6. Select “Delete” and then “OK.”
Is there a way to delete all duplicate contacts at once?
Yes, you can merge all duplicate contacts in your Android phone’s Contacts app:
1. Open the Contacts app on your Android device.
2. Tap the Menu icon (usually represented by three horizontal bars) in the top left corner.
3. Tap on “Merge & Correct.”
4. Tap “Merge duplicates.” If you don’t see this option, it means that you don’t have any contacts that can be combined.
5. To accept a duplicate contact suggestion, tap “Merge.” To accept all duplicate contact suggestions, go to the bottom of the screen and tap “Merge all.”
Can I factory reset my phone to delete read-only contacts?
Yes, you can restore your device to factory settings to delete all linked contacts. However, this method will also erase all your data, so it is essential to back up the contacts you want to keep on your SIM card and create a backup of your photos, videos, and other files before resetting your device. To factory reset your phone, go to “Settings” > “System” > “Reset Options” > “Erase All Data.”
