[iMore Question]

How can I ensure my phone's current contact list replaces that previously were backed up to iCloud? I had suspended backups to iCloud some time ago in favor of local backups on iTunes. Now when I attempt to return to iCloud, it appears to want to synch my phone first with the old iCloud backup which wipes out contacts added recently.

[Just_Me_D]

Syncing is not the same as backing up. If your contacts are associated with iCloud, any changes you make to them will be reflected immediately among all of your similarly configured devices.

"Your iOS device backup only includes data and settings stored on your device. It doesn’t include data already stored in iCloud. That includes contacts, calendars, bookmarks, mail messages, notes, shared photo albums, iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream, and documents you store in iCloud Drive."

Quoted Source: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519?locale=en_US