Merge contacts when email address removed from iPhone but not iPad

What Likely Happened

When you removed the email account from your iPhone, you also removed the contacts associated with that account(like Gmail, Outlook, etc.). Those contacts weren’t stored in iCloud — they were tied to that specific account’s cloud service.

What You Can Do Now

1. Check Where Your Contacts Were Stored on iPad

• On your iPad, go to Settings > Contacts > Accounts
• Tap the email account (e.g., Gmail) that still has the contacts
• Make sure "Contacts" is toggled ON
• Open the Contacts app to confirm they're still visible there

2. Export Those Contacts (Optional but Safe)

If you want to store them under a different account (like iCloud):

• Go to https://contacts.google.com (if from Gmail) on a computer
• Export them as a vCard (.vcf)

Then:

• Visit https://www.icloud.com/contacts
• Sign in, click the gear ⚙️ in the corner, and choose Import vCard to add them to iCloud Contacts

Now they'll sync to both your iPhone and iPad via iCloud.

3. Set iCloud as the Default Contacts Account

• On both iPhone and iPad:
• Settings > Contacts > Default Account > iCloud
• This ensures all new contacts get saved to iCloud automatically