Help Deleting Gmail from Moto G6 without losing contacts.

[esseff497]

I don't want a Gmail account on my Motorola G6 any more for various reasons and if I remove it, my phone contacts disappear.
Is restoring to factory settings and physically re-entering my contacts the only solution or can I use the Google back-up without having Gmail installed?
Thanks in advance for replies.

 

[Hadron]

The Google backup will be linked to your Google account, so I doubt that will help.

In your Contacts app's settings there should be an option to "export" your contacts. That will write a vcard file (.vcf) containing them all to your phone's internal storage. Copy that somewhere safe (just on principle). You can "import" them into your Contacts app, or indeed any other contact manager on any device (vcf is a standard format) - the app should ask you when importing which account you wish to attach the contacts to (none, i.e. device only, should be an option as well).

I've known some devices which exported contacts from different accounts separately, so if anything asks which account to export I guess it's the Google one (unless you are planning to do a reset, in which case export any unsynced contacts as well, separately if needed, and make sure you copy them somewhere safe before resetting).

 

[esseff497]

Thanks for that, Hadron, it's very helpful. I'll try it tomorrow and report back.
Cheers!

 

[puppykickr]

I have the same issue, and wound up trying the .vcf method as @Hadron describes above.

It did not work for me, and I wound up just entering them manually.

As big a PITA as that was, it still took less time than I had already wasted trying to do it in any other way.

 

[Hadron]

Interesting. What didn't work? I tested on my own phone that when I exported contacts from Google it did ask me which account I wished to associate them to on import (with device only as an option), but not wishing to duplicate everything I didn't actually do the import.

It may depend on the contacts app, of course.

 

[esseff497]

Everything worked as you outlined, Hadron. Many thanks for your time. I removed my SD card during the reset just to be doubly sure that the contacts didn't disappear.
At which stage did you run into a problem, puppykickr?

 

[puppykickr]

I exported all contacts to a .vcf and then stored it.

Removed my Google account, and all (most) contacts vanished.

Imported the .vcf file, and got some error that I do not remember (half page toast message that dissapears before it can all be read).

I am not using the stock contacts app nor the stock dialer, messaging, or any other.

My most recent attempt was with another device that never has had a Google account on it, and using the same replacement apps (Simple Mobile Tools) I tried the .vcf from the other device with the same results.

It was much faster to just enter everything manually because I was without any stored contacts for many days while I was doodling around trying to find a solution.

This is my typical experience with anything Google, and that is why I avoid anything Google.

 

[iBowToAndroid]

I don't want a Gmail account on my Motorola G6 any more for various reasons and if I remove it, my phone contacts disappear.
Is restoring to factory settings and physically re-entering my contacts the only solution or can I use the Google back-up without having Gmail installed?
Thanks in advance for replies.

If by "Gmail account", you're referring to a Google account, then no, you cannot use Google's backup feature without having a Google account on the phone. If it's just Gmail itself (the email app/service) that you don't like, you're under no obligation to use it

 

[esseff497]

If by "Gmail account", you're referring to a Google account, then no, you cannot use Google's backup feature without having a Google account on the phone. If it's just Gmail itself (the email app/service) that you don't like, you're under no obligation to use it

It's not that I don't like Gmail, iBow, (I've got it on my desktop and a tablet) but I don't want to chance anyone getting access to it if the phone gets lost or stolen. I don't want the annoyance of having to enter a password whenever it's timed out either. I'm retired, rarely go more than five miles from home these days, so I don't need mobile email access any more.

 

[puppykickr]

Well, in that case, just leave Google apps active, except for G-Mail.

Disable G-Mail, and delete the data.

The issue would be that if someone did gain access to the device, all they would need to do is enable G-Mail and it would work again- if the device were still logged in to your Google Account.

 

[puppykickr]

Well, in that case, just leave Google apps active, except for G-Mail.

Disable G-Mail, and delete the data.

The issue would be that if someone did gain access to the device, all they would need to do is enable G-Mail and it would work again- if the device were still logged in to your Google Account.

G-Mail has little to do with your contacts, those are there because your Google account is active on the device.

 

[esseff497]

Well, in that case, just leave Google apps active, except for G-Mail.

Disable G-Mail, and delete the data.

The issue would be that if someone did gain access to the device, all they would need to do is enable G-Mail and it would work again- if the device were still logged in to your Google Account.

Thanks, puppykickr. I haven't signed in to anything at all since the factory reset so there shouldn't be any trace of my Google/Gmail account on the phone.

 

[puppykickr]

Thanks, puppykickr. I haven't signed in to anything at all since the factory reset so there shouldn't be any trace of my Google/Gmail account on the phone.

Did you remove the account before you did the reset?

If not it is still there.

At any rate, like I said before, I had wasted more time trying to find a 'simple' solution to this than it took for me to just break down and enter them all manually.

Did it suck?
Yup.
Was it a good chance to sort out dead and unused entries?
Sure was.

My guess is that you could have been done in the amount of time that has passed already.

 

[esseff497]

The factory reset wiped everything; there was no trace of any of my accounts afterwards.
Now, all is bliss.