iPhone 12 Pro Max Clearing Out Old Contacts How Do I do This? To See If The Numbers are Still Active

[Sossity]

I have moved to my new phone, and I have a lot of contacts with phone numbers I have not used. They were of classmates phone numbers we had to exchange during class projects. These were from a few years ago now. Since then, we have not kept contact. I doubt they even have these numbers anymore.

Is there a way to see or find out if these numbers are still in service? Without having to go through and dial / cold call them, risking bugging them or confusing them, or worse, getting ahold of someone I do not know who has the number now?

 

[0128672]

Sure, you could hire a private investigator. 😉

 

[Sossity]

Sure, you could hire a private investigator. 😉

Uh, Ok, not sure if this is a serious answer or someone being funny. I was just asking.

Anyhow, I think I know what I will do about it now.

 

[shaown]

if they are on iPhones - open a message thread to them and see if its blue - that means its an active iMessage account

 

[russell_314]

Short of texting or calling them I can’t think of a way to verify this.

If they’re people you don’t keep in contact with and have no plans to keep in contact with then just delete the numbers. If you don’t want to text or call them, it doesn’t sound like you have any reason or want to talk to them.

If you’re worried that somehow years later you’ll need to contact them for a class reunion or something, put the names and numbers in a physical notebook or electronic document like a text file.

 

[Sossity]

Short of texting or calling them I can’t think of a way to verify this.

If they’re people you don’t keep in contact with and have no plans to keep in contact with then just delete the numbers. If you don’t want to text or call them, it doesn’t sound like you have any reason or want to talk to them.

If you’re worried that somehow years later you’ll need to contact them for a class reunion or something, put the names and numbers in a physical notebook or electronic document like a text file.

That is what I am going to do. This way the info is somewhere, but even then, by that time, these contacts will probably or already have gotten new phones and phone numbers anyway.

 

[russell_314]

That is what I am going to do. This way the info is somewhere, but even then, by that time, these contacts will probably or already have gotten new phones and phone numbers anyway.

If you want to maintain contact with these people, add them to Facebook or something. Some people change their number frequently and others keep the same one forever.

I think the saving it on the text document or even putting them in Apple notes is the best solution because you won’t stress out about not having those numbers and at some point you’re probably going to think I don’t need this anymore and delete them. It’s like the trash bin on a computer where it just gives you an extra moment to think about it.

 

[Sossity]

If you want to maintain contact with these people, add them to Facebook or something. Some people change their number frequently and others keep the same one forever.

I think the saving it on the text document or even putting them in Apple notes is the best solution because you won’t stress out about not having those numbers and at some point you’re probably going to think I don’t need this anymore and delete them. It’s like the trash bin on a computer where it just gives you an extra moment to think about it.

Yeah, I am connected with some of these people on Facebook, but still do not communicate much. Maybe some people do keep their numbers, but I knew some of these people, and the college I went to, was very transient or what is referred to as a commuter campus, students did not have much of a connection to the school or one another. They were there just to get their diplomas and get out. Most could have cared less about their classmates, and usually forgot them as soon as the semesters were over. There were a few students and professors who stuck together, kind of like high school cliques, but if you were not in on those from the start, you were kind of a floating outsider. Through the years I and other students were told about how you will make lasting friends in college, but that is a romantic notion. In this day and age, for many students it is all about surviving.

Well anyway, that is enough of my venting there.

Is there a way to export these contacts to a text document somehow? If I can find a convenient way to save the contacts, it might be worth it for me, but I think I will be clearing them from my phone at least.

 

[russell_314]

Yeah, I am connected with some of these people on Facebook, but still do not communicate much. Maybe some people do keep their numbers, but I knew some of these people, and the college I went to, was very transient or what is referred to as a commuter campus, students did not have much of a connection to the school or one another. They were there just to get their diplomas and get out. Most could have cared less about their classmates, and usually forgot them as soon as the semesters were over. There were a few students and professors who stuck together, kind of like high school cliques, but if you were not in on those from the start, you were kind of a floating outsider. Through the years I and other students were told about how you will make lasting friends in college, but that is a romantic notion. In this day and age, for many students it is all about surviving.

Well anyway, that is enough of my venting there.

Is there a way to export these contacts to a text document somehow? If I can find a convenient way to save the contacts, it might be worth it for me, but I think I will be clearing them from my phone at least.

Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s the same thing with many situations even at work. If you’re good at networking, you can make friends that could be beneficial later in life but it’s a talent that most people including myself don’t really have.

I found an app on the App Store called Export Contact. It’s free but for the first hundred contacts. I didn’t have over 100 contacts, but I suspect most people do so you can either pay the $1.99 for a one year subscription and just cancel it right after or pay $4.99 and you get to keep the app for as long as you need it. I just tried it and used it to export to Excel, and it made a spreadsheet with all the information and then I saved it to my documents folder on iCloud. It has some other formats, but I haven’t tried those. You could go with the manual method of either writing or typing them by hand but I suspect if you have hundreds of contacts your time might be worth more than $1.99.

 

[Jackbequickly]

It could also be the new owner of that line as phone numbers are reused. No way of knowing unless they respond.

 

[Sossity]

Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s the same thing with many situations even at work. If you’re good at networking, you can make friends that could be beneficial later in life but it’s a talent that most people including myself don’t really have.

I found an app on the App Store called Export Contact. It’s free but for the first hundred contacts. I didn’t have over 100 contacts, but I suspect most people do so you can either pay the $1.99 for a one year subscription and just cancel it right after or pay $4.99 and you get to keep the app for as long as you need it. I just tried it and used it to export to Excel, and it made a spreadsheet with all the information and then I saved it to my documents folder on iCloud. It has some other formats, but I haven’t tried those. You could go with the manual method of either writing or typing them by hand but I suspect if you have hundreds of contacts your time might be worth more than $1.99.

Ok, thanks for the app suggestion.

 

[shaown]

I like IOS 16 pointed out duplicate contacts for me