How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped” error

• Learn how to troubleshoot your #Samsung Galaxy S7 (#GalaxyS7) if it shows the “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped” error message.
• What to do if your phone shows the error when you try to dial a contact, edit, add or even just view it.

The error message “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped,” which haunts some of Samsung Galaxy S7 owners as of recently seemed to have started after a minor update. This, of course, suggests that some files in both the cache and the data partitions may have been corrupted during the update process or became obsolete and are now incompatible with the new system.

However, there were also cases from other owners who said that the error seemed to have occurred without apparent cause as they haven’t updated their devices yet. So, it’s a bit more complicated to fix this problem if we don’t know what caused it. That said, it’s better if we just troubleshoot it thorough so we can discover what the culprit is and how to fix it.

Before going any further, if you have other concerns, please visit our S7 troubleshooting page first and try to find if there are some issues that are similar or related to yours. Feel free to use the solutions or troubleshooting guides we recommended. If you still need further assistance after doing that or if you can’t find anything you can use to fix your problem, then you may contact us by completing our Android problems questionnaire.

Contacts starts crashing after a firmware update

There have been a lot of owners who complained about this problem. According to them the Contacts app started crashing after they updated their device updated to the latest firmware. So, let’s try to troubleshoot this problem by deleting the system cache first:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished wiping the cache partition. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Deleting the system cache is a very effective procedure for minor firmware issues especially ones that occur after an update. However, if this doesn’t fix the problem, I suggest you do the master reset to bring the phone back to its factory defaults.

1. Backup your data.
2. Remove your Google account.
3. Disengage screen lock.
4. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
5. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.

6. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
7. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.

NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.

8. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
9. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
10. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
11. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
12. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Contacts crashes when editing, adding or viewing a contact

This is apparently an issue with the app especially if you didn’t update the firmware. Apps crash all the time for no reason at all, so assuming you haven’t done anything that may have triggered this error, then this is what you’re going to do:

1. Reboot your phone. It might be just a minor glitch in the system or the hardware.
2. Open Contacts again and try to add a new contact or edit an existing one.
3. If the error still occurs, try launching the phone dialer and dial a number from your contact list.
4. If the error shows up, try wiping the cache and data of the Dialer app and then the Contacts app to reset them both. Refer to the steps below.
5. Should the problem persist, then factory reset your phone. Steps below.

Here are the steps in clearing the cache and data of the apps involved as well as how to do the factory reset:

Clearing Cache and Data

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Find and tap on Settings.
3. Touch Applications and then Application manager.
4. Swipe to ALL tab.
5. Find and touch the app in question.
6. Touch the Force Close button first.
7. Then, tap Storage.
8. Tap Clear cache and then Clear data, Delete.

Doing the Factory Reset

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Find and tap Settings and then touch Backup and reset.
3. Tap Factory data reset and touch Reset device.
4. If you have screen lock feature turned on, enter your password or PIN.
5. Touch Continue.
6. Tap Delete all to confirm your action.

I hope that these procedures can help you fix the problem with your phone. Feel free to contact us should need further assistance.

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