Your data and privacy

Factory reset

Q: What does a factory reset delete, and what does it keep?

Factory reset (Settings › Advanced) deletes everything ContactZapp holds for you: your contacts, the Deleted list, History, your merge choices, your backups and your settings, which go back to their defaults. It also disconnects all your accounts, and it signs you out. It doesn't delete anything in your Google, Microsoft, Apple or CardDAV accounts. Those keep their contacts as they are now. You keep your billing sign-in and your plan. If you pay for a plan, your subscription keeps running until you cancel it in the billing portal. Your other sign-ins are disconnected from ContactZapp. This can't be undone, so use Export everything first if you want a copy. After you reconnect, contacts you told us not to merge can be suggested again, and duplicates in read-only accounts can come back. We can't do a factory reset while a sync is running. Wait for it to finish, then try again.

Erase everything ContactZapp holds for you and disconnect all your accounts. Your accounts keep their contacts.

A factory reset deletes everything ContactZapp holds for you and disconnects all your accounts. This can't be undone, and nothing can be restored afterwards. It doesn't delete anything in your Google, Microsoft, Apple or CardDAV accounts. They keep their contacts as they are now.

Before you start

If you want a copy of your contacts, export them first. After a factory reset there is nothing left to export. See Export your contacts.

If a sync is running, wait for it to finish.

Steps

Open your account menu and tap Settings. Then tap Advanced.
Find the Factory reset card. It shows what the reset removes: the number of contacts held in this app, duplicates waiting for review, merges you approved, and linked accounts.
Read the list under the counts.
Next to Type RESET to confirm, type RESET.
Tap Erase everything. Or tap Cancel.

Erase everything stays off until you've typed RESET.

What it deletes

Your contacts, including the ones in Deleted.
Your History.
Your merge choices. Contacts you chose Don't merge for can be suggested again at the next sync.
Your settings. They go back to their defaults, so nothing merges until you choose to.
Backups you made in ContactZapp.
Your API keys.
Your forwarded emails and your private Add by email address.
All your linked accounts, connected or not.
Your other sign-ins. They are disconnected from ContactZapp.

What it keeps

The contacts in your connected accounts. Nothing is deleted from them.
Your billing sign-in.
Your subscription, if you have one. It keeps running. To stop paying, cancel it in my billing portal, which the card links to.

What happens next

You're signed out on every device. You see the sign-in page with the message "Factory reset complete. Sign in to reconnect your accounts."

Sign in with your billing sign-in. Then connect your accounts again, and start syncing again. See Connect your first account and Start your first sync.

Read-only accounts never got the merged contacts, so duplicates may come back at the next sync.

If something goes wrong

"A sync is currently running. Wait for it to finish, then try again." Wait for the sync to end. Then try again. Nothing was erased.
"We couldn't complete the reset. Try again in a moment." Tap Erase everything again.
"We couldn't check what this would delete. Try again in a moment." The reset can't go ahead until the card shows its counts. Try again in a moment.
ContactZapp still shows on your list of connected apps at Microsoft or Google. ContactZapp can't remove its own access at Microsoft. It stays on your list of connected apps there until you remove it yourself. For Google, ContactZapp removes its access. If it couldn't, the message says so and links to where you can remove it yourself.
You only want to remove some contacts. Use Delete on the contact. You can restore it. See Restore deleted contacts.

What does a factory reset delete, and what does it keep?

Factory reset (Settings › Advanced) deletes everything ContactZapp holds for you: your contacts, the Deleted list, History, your merge choices, your backups and your settings, which go back to their defaults. It also disconnects all your accounts, and it signs you out.

It doesn't delete anything in your Google, Microsoft, Apple or CardDAV accounts. Those keep their contacts as they are now. You keep your billing sign-in and your plan. If you pay for a plan, your subscription keeps running until you cancel it in the billing portal. Your other sign-ins are disconnected from ContactZapp.

This can't be undone, so use Export everything first if you want a copy. After you reconnect, contacts you told us not to merge can be suggested again, and duplicates in read-only accounts can come back. We can't do a factory reset while a sync is running. Wait for it to finish, then try again.