I can confirm that this still works (Nov 2018 on a new iPhone model MQ8H2X/A)
iOS 12.1
It's NOT intuitive to turn OFF the iCloud syncing and back on, but it works. The restart after doing this may or may not be requried (I did restart). Oh, and backed up before any of this!
One the process is complete - there is no longer an option to save contacts "To my phone" - which is sensible - and there are no Groups to toggle on and off..
As an additional safety measure, once the contacts synced with the icloud, on a webbrowser, select all the contacts and download as a large set of vcf files..
I think this issue arises when a new hone starts being used without the AppleID set at the main point for all syncing...?
Originally Posted by
Kaleemullah Adil Thanks. This worked for me. -->Settings-->Mail,Contacts,Calender-->Off iCloud Sync(Delete all Option)-->On iCloud Sync.
Post sync, all your iPhone contacs should be available on iCloud aswell. thanks.