What Happens When a Large Number of Contacts Are Deleted?

Being in some industries like healthcare, legal, or marketing requires constant deletion of contacts for several reasons like confidentiality, regulatory compliance, or basic data hygiene practices. 

Understandably, users want deletion to be as simple as possible. However, unintentional or unauthorized contact deletion can have dire consequences like interrupted workflow, time-consuming recovery methods, or compliance and legal issues. 

To prevent those unfavorable events, Shared Contacts for Gmail® sends out a deletion warning message when a user deletes more than 10% of the contacts in a specific shared label from Google Contacts. It serves as a critical checkpoint when a large number of contacts are deleted from a label.

In what form does the deletion warning message appear? 

The app displays a pop-up with a deletion warning, and a corresponding email notification is also sent.

The deletion warning message appears as a pop-up in the Shared Contacts for Gmail app. 

The deletion warning message is sent as an email by the app. 

What happens after I select “review”?

You will be directed to the Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard. Further details about it can be found below.

What happens if I press “skip”?

If you press “skip,” nothing new happens. The deleted contacts are no longer visible in your Google Contacts directory and will be unavailable across all your devices—for example, they won’t appear in Gmail’s autocomplete or any integrated messaging app.

However, the deleted contacts will still be visible in your Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard, and to anyone who has access to the shared label. The contacts will remain there until you confirm the deletion in your Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard.

What happens if I ignore the warning message and close the pop-up?

It’s the same thing with “skip”, nothing new happens. The deleted contacts are no longer visible in your Google Contacts directory, and they will be unavailable across all your devices—for example, they won’t appear in Gmail’s autocomplete or in any integrated messaging app but are still available to others who have it in their shared contacts label. 

Who receives the deletion warning message?

  • The user who initiated the deletion (deleter*).
  • The owner of the contact label where the deleted contacts 
  • The admin of the app.

*Any collaborator who has a “Can Delete”, “Manager”, or “Owner” permission level can delete contacts on the shared label. Learn more about permissions here.

How do I stop the pop-up from reappearing?

If you are the deleter, simply confirm or cancel the deletion in the Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard. Otherwise, the pop-up will perpetually appear as you open the app.

If you are not the deleter, you will have to wait for the deleter or the app admin to confirm or cancel the deletion.

Does everyone receive the same type of deletion message?

No. The deleter has the option to confirm or cancel the deletion. This also applies to the admin of the app.

On the other hand, the owner of the shared label will only get a notification to contact the deleter regarding the activity. This happens when the owner is not the one who did the deletion. 

The deletion message as it appears on the Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard of the deleter and app admin.

The deletion message as it appears on the Shared Contacts for Gmail® dashboard contact list owner and app administrator.

Can I delete a large number of contacts in an instant?

Yes, as soon as the deleter confirms the deletion, all the contacts for deletion disappear in the contact list and all the shared labels.

I deleted several contacts, but there was no warning message. Why?

This could be due to one of the following reasons:

  • The number of deleted contacts was less than 10% of the total contacts in the shared label.
  • The deletion was done through the Shared Contacts for Gmail® app or another platform, not directly from Google Contacts.
  • The deleted contacts weren’t part of a shared label.
  • A user deleted the entire label.