How to Change an Emergency Contact on iPhone

What to Know

  • Once you've set up your emergency contacts, you can add, edit, or delete that contact information at any time.
  • The Emergency SOS system will alert emergency contacts to your location if and when you use the feature. 

iPhone's Emergency SOS system really does save lives. The feature allows iPhone users to quickly call for help, alert their emergency contacts, and ping their location. If you've already set up your emergency contacts but want to change, edit, or delete emergency contact information, it's a relatively simple process. Here's how to change emergency contacts on your iPhone.

How to Change Emergency Contact on iPhone

Once you've learned how to set up your emergency contacts in the Health app, you may eventually need to update that information. If you want to change the emergency contacts' titles, add another emergency contact, or delete an old emergency contact, you can do so by going to the Health app. You can go to Settings to view a list of your emergency contacts, but you can only edit and update the information in the Health app. 

  1. On your iPhone, open the Health app.

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  2. Tap Summary.

    how to change emergency contact
  3. Tap your profile icon in the top right corner.

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  4. Tap Medical ID.

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  5. Tap Edit.

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  6. To change the title of your emergency contacts, tap the word.

    emergency iphone contact
  7. You can choose from a long list of titles.

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  8. To delete an emergency contact, tap the red minus button.

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  9. Tap Delete.

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  10. To add an emergency contact, tap Add Emergency Contact.

    how to change emergency contact on iphone
  11. From here, you can select a person from your contact list.

    how to make someone an emergency contact

And that's how you change emergency contact information on your iPhone. If you need to change the phone number or email address of your emergency contact, go to the Contacts app and edit that person's contact information. If you like learning about your iPhone settings and features, sign up for our free Tip of the Day Newsletter!

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FAQ

  • Where are emergency contacts on iPhone? You can find your emergency contacts listed in both the Health app and in Settings under Emergency SOS. However, you can only edit your emergency contacts in the Health app.
  • How many emergency contacts can I have on iPhone? You can have up to three emergency contacts for the Emergency SOS system.
  • How do I set emergency settings on my iPhone? To edit or adjust your Emergency SOS settings, open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap "Emergency SOS". 

And that's how you change emergency contact information on iPhone. Once you know where to find emergency contacts in the Health app, updating this information is a breeze!

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Author Details

Rachel Needell's picture

Author Details

Rachel Needell

Rachel Needell is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life, and a poet and author. With 10-plus years of experience working with Apple devices, she specializes in all-things iPad and is a Notes App expert, having worked on both the 2023 iPad Guide and the Notes App Guide. You can usually find her writing in the Daily Tip newsletter as one of our senior Tip writers. Rachel received her Master’s degree in English Literature in 2021 and her most recent work appears in the Winter ’21 edition of New Note Poetry. When she’s not obsessing about Apple products, you can find her voraciously reading fantasy books with her cat in Asheville, North Carolina.