How to Delete Read-Only Contacts on Android

In this article, we will talk about how to delete read only contacts on Android. Many android users, especially Tecno, Infinix, and itel users, sometimes face challenges deleting their saved contacts. Some users delete their contact all right but later realize it still appears in their contact list others too can not delete it all; they are prompted with an error that reads, “This contact is read-only. It cannot be deleted, but you can hide it.”.

The prompt gives an alternate way to hide, but in our case, we want to get rid of it; we do not need it again.

The reason why you can not delete a contact from your phone is because of many reasons; one is because it is linked to an application on your phone, another cause is it has been synchronized to google contacts, or the contact was added through a third third-party on your phone.

How to Delete Read-Only Contacts from Your Android Phone – Online Method

Follow the steps to delete read-only contacts from your android phone using Google’s online contact platform. To do this, you need to be connected to the internet.

1. Open your phone browser, mostly chrome.
2. Open the website https://contacts.google.com. 
3. Sign in to your Google account if you have not signed in already. Also, you need to use the account that is linked to your android device.
4. Look through the list of contacts and find the number you want to delete.
5. Tap on the number to display it.
6. At the top right corner of the displayed number, tap on the three vertical dots right after the star.
7. Tap on delete on the drop-down menu that will appear.
8. Now, wait for some time for your contacts to be synchronized.
9. Now check your address book and find the contact you deleted. You won’t find the contact if it was done successfully.

How to delete read only contacts from your Android using an offline method.

The first method is that using an internet connection is very effective; however, not everyone will get access to the internet and at times have to do that offline. This guide will show you how to delete this number by linking any third-party application connected to the contact.

1. Open contacts or your address book or your phone book.
2. Look for the number you want to delete.
3. Turn on the image icon of the number or the profile picture of that number.
4. You notice that there are other applications icons beneath the contact. This shows that other applications are selling to other contact or has attached themselves to the contact.
5. At the right corner of the page, tap on the three vertical dots.
6. On the drop-down menu, tap on View Linked Contacts, which usually appears first on that list.
7. You will see two or more contacts. Tap on UNLINK.
8. Now look for the contact and delete it from your contact list.

Now you have successfully deleted the undeletable read only contact from your android device by using any of our two methods. You can also try both together if one doesn’t work.