In the next paragraphs, I will explain how to transfer phone numbers from one mobile to another easily and quickly, whether you’re moving from Android to Android, from iPhone to iPhone, or even changing ecosystems completely (from Android to iPhone or vice versa). I will illustrate various methods, from synchronization via Google or iCloud accounts, to exporting and importing VCF files, to using dedicated apps like iOS Transfer or Android Switch, which make the process even smoother. I assure you that transferring your precious contacts will be truly simple, as long as you carefully follow the “tips” I will give you shortly, thus avoiding losing even a single contact during the transfer.
So, are you ready to get started? Yes? Perfect! Get comfortable, take both of your devices (the old one and the new one), make sure you have a stable Wi-Fi connection, and take all the time you need to focus on reading this tutorial. Don’t worry if you’re not tech-savvy: I have prepared clear and detailed explanations for every type of transfer, with screenshots and step-by-step instructions that will guide you throughout the process. You’ll see that you will be able to transfer all your contacts without losing even one and be able to communicate with friends and relatives in no time. Enjoy your reading!
Table of Contents
- How to Transfer Phone Numbers from an Android to Another
- How to Transfer Phone Numbers from One iPhone to Another
- How to Transfer Phone Numbers from an Android Phone to an iPhone
- How to Transfer Phone Numbers from an iPhone to an Android Phone
How to Transfer Phone Numbers from an Android Phone to Another
If you have purchased a new Android smartphone and want to know how to copy over the phone numbers from your previous smartphone, which is also powered by Google’s operating system, here are the instructions you need to follow. You can proceed either by synchronizing the contacts online or by manually transferring them. Here’s everything explained in detail.
Synchronizing with Google Account
The easiest way to transfer phone numbers from one mobile to another, in the case of Android smartphones, is through synchronizing the address book via a Google account.
This synchronization allows you to have the same address book on all devices associated with the same Google account, without having to manually transfer contacts from one device to another and with the advantage of seeing any changes made on any of the involved phones automatically reflected on all the others.
Android smartphones can be linked to Google accounts during the initial setup or later by accessing the settings menu. To see if your old Android smartphone is already linked to a Google account and automatically synchronizing contacts with “Big G’s” address book, open the Settings (the gear icon found on the Home screen or in the apps drawer), select Additional Settings, and then tap on Accounts & Sync.
In the Accounts section, tap on Google, select your Gmail address, and make sure there’s a checkmark in the circle next to Contacts. I also recommend pressing the refresh icon to start the manual synchronization.
Considering that each manufacturer provides its own user interface, the path may vary. In this case, my suggestion is to use the search function integrated into the settings to find what you need.
If you do not see any Google account in the Accounts menu, it means that the device has not yet been tied to a Google account: to fix this, tap on the Add Account option in the Accounts & Sync screen, select the option for Google from the next screen, and log in using your account credentials (or, if you do not have one, create it right away by tapping on Create an account and filling out the forms that are presented).
Once you have linked your old smartphone to Google and enabled contact synchronization, do exactly the same thing on your new smartphone, linking it to the same account: you will then have the address book synchronized on both devices. Convenient, don’t you think?
Manual Transfer of Phonebook
If you do not want to synchronize the address book with Google (or perhaps you are using a device that does not support the services of the Mountain View giant, such as Huawei smartphones with AppGallery), you can proceed with the manual copying of contacts using a .vcf file.
To proceed in this way, I suggest you use the Google Contacts app, available for free on both the Play Store and alternative stores: after installing it on your old smartphone (by finding it in the phone’s store, selecting it from the search results, and pressing the Install button), launch it and, if necessary, give it all the permissions needed for its operation.
At this point, press the Organize menu at the bottom right and, from the This Device section, tap Export to a file. Select the account under Select account to export (e.g., Google Contacts) and press the Export button at the bottom right. After that, choose the save folder from the file manager, optionally customize the name in the field at the bottom, and conclude the operation by pressing the SAVE button at the bottom right.
Now use any file manager for Android (e.g., Files by Google) to navigate to the folder where the recently obtained .vcf file is located, rename it to contacts.vcf (if needed), and share it via email app or cloud storage app, so that you can access it on your new smartphone.
For example, if you chose to use Files by Google as your file manager, navigate to the folder where you saved the VCF file, long press on it and press the icon of the three dots connected by three lines at the top right (the share icon). At this point, for instance, you can use Google Drive to upload the file and then download it on the new Android smartphone.
From the horizontal list of applications (in the share menu), simply press Drive. From Save to Drive, optionally customize the name in the File Name field, select the save location from the dropdown menu in Location (e.g., My Drive. In this case, tap on the path and press the Select button at the bottom right to choose it) and proceed with the upload by pressing the Save button at the top right.
Now, switching to the new Android smartphone, open Google Drive, log in to the same Google account used on the old device to upload, press File at the bottom right and, from the My Drive tab, navigate to the folder where you stored the VCF file. Once found, press the three dots next to it and select Download from the proposed menu. You will find the file in the Download folder.
In conclusion, you just need to switch to the new smartphone and download, in a folder of this one, the .vcf file that was just shared from the old phone. After that, open the Google Contacts app (also on the new phone), press the Organize menu at the bottom right and, from the This Device section, select Import from file. Choose the saved path (e.g., Google Contacts) from Save imported contacts in, navigate to the folder where the VCF file is present from the file manager (e.g., Download) and tap it to import the address book.
By doing this, you will bring the contacts from your old Android smartphone onto the new one but be careful, you will not have synchronization between the two devices: the changes made on one address book will only remain on that specific address book.
Note: in case you want to copy only some numbers from the Android address book instead of all at once, open the Google Contacts app, perform a long tap on the first contact to export, select the others, press the share icon that appears at the top (the three dots connected by a line) and choose the app with which to share the .vcf file with the contacts.
How to Transfer Phone Numbers from One iPhone to Another
You have just changed your iPhone and would like to know how to transfer the contacts from the address book of your old “iPhone”? Nothing could be simpler: now I will explain how to proceed both through synchronizing the contacts with iCloud and manually, by creating a .vcf file of the address book.
Synchronizing with iCloud
The easiest way to transfer phone numbers from one iPhone to another is through synchronizing the address book with iCloud, Apple’s online platform.
First of all, you should know that you have most likely already connected an Apple ID (the account that allows you to use iCloud) to your old iPhone and you have also activated the synchronization of contacts online: these are operations that are usually done during the initial setup of the smartphone.
In any case, I recommend verifying this by going to the Settings menu of your old iPhone (the gear icon found on the Home screen), pressing on your name, then the iCloud option, then tap Show All next to Saved on iCloud and activate, if necessary, the switch for Contacts.
If instead of your name you see the text Sign in to your iPhone, it means you have not yet linked the phone to an Apple ID: to remedy this and thus activate contact synchronization, tap on the mentioned text, sign in to your Apple ID (or create one, if you don’t have one yet) and activate the switches for contacts as mentioned earlier.
Now all you have to do is follow the same instructions on your new iPhone, linking it to the same Apple ID as the old smartphone and also activating the switch for Contacts on it. Easy, right?
Note: if you have configured more than one account for synchronizing the address book on your iPhones, make sure that in the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu of both devices iCloud is selected as the Default Account (to save new contacts to the iCloud address book and not to other services).
Manual Transfer of Phonebook
If for one reason or another you do not want to use iCloud synchronization? In this case, you can create a vCard (.vcf) file with all the contacts in the address book of your old iPhone and transport them manually to the new phone.
To proceed in this way, open the Apple Contacts app (the one with the icon of a little person that you find on the Home screen or within the app library) and tap on the Lists option at the top left. Now, if it’s a single contact, select the address book you are interested in (e.g., All (iCloud)), perform a long press on the contact and select Share. In the case of multiple phone numbers, perform a long press on All Contacts and select Export.
Now, in both situations, select all fields from the Share Contact screen and then press Done at the top right. From the share menu that appears, select the method by which you prefer to send the VCF file. For example, you can use AirDrop, a functionality from Apple that allows you to quickly transfer files, videos, photos, contacts, and other content between nearby Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac, using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
After correctly performing the activation on the new iPhone, simply press on the name of your new “Apple” device from the share menu (e.g., iPhone 16 of Alessio) or alternatively press AirDrop from the horizontal list of applications and then tap on the name of the iPhone under My Devices. Just wait for the transfer of the vCard file.
Regardless of the method used for the transfer, press on the received VCF file (if you used AirDrop, it will open automatically), possibly tap the share icon at the bottom left (the one with a square and an arrow pointing upwards inside) and complete the operation by pressing the Add all (n) contacts option.
Of course, in this way you will have only copied contacts from the old to the new iPhone; you will not achieve synchronization of the address book between the two devices; this means that if you make changes on one phone, they will only remain on that phone.
To overcome this, if you do not want to use iCloud, you might consider using synchronization offered by other services, such as Google: you can find more details about this in the next chapter of the guide.
How to Transfer Phone Numbers from Android Phone to iPhone
Have you switched from an Android smartphone to an iPhone or, in any case, do you use both devices and would you like to know how to transfer contacts from one to the other? No problem, I’ll explain it right away.
Using Move to iOS
If you are in the initial setup phase of your new iPhone, you can utilize Move to iOS. This is an app created directly by Apple that allows you to transfer data from an Android device to an iPhone quickly and easily. Among the various features offered, Move to iOS also allows you to transfer contacts.
Its operation is really very simple. Once you have downloaded the application from the Google Play Store on your old Android smartphone, select the option Migrate data from Android. At that point, the iPhone will create a unique code to enter in the Move to iOS app on the device with the “green robot”. Once you have selected the data to transfer, wait for the procedure completion.
Synchronizing with Google Account
If you want to synchronize the address book of Android and that of iPhone, so as to have the same contacts on both devices while keeping all changes synchronized, you can use the cloud platform of Google.
To start, enable contact synchronization on Android by following the instructions I provided earlier in the chapter dedicated to copying numbers from Android to Android.
After this, take your iPhone, go to the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu, and select Add Account. From the proposed screen, press on Google, allow the opening of the Google login page, and log in to the Google account set up previously on Android.
Once done, ensure that in the next screen the switch for synchronizing Contacts is active and press the Done button to complete the procedure.
If you had already configured a Google account on your iPhone, you can check if contact synchronization is active by going to the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu, pressing on Contact Accounts, selecting Gmail, and possibly activating the switch next to Contacts.
Now you have activated the synchronization of Google contacts on your iPhone, so the numbers you have saved on Google’s cloud will automatically download to your “iPhone”. To ensure that the next contacts you create on iPhone are also synchronized with Google’s address book, go to the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu of iOS and set Gmail as the Default Account.
Also, note that synchronizing with the Google account does not upload the contacts already present on iPhone to Google’s cloud (and consequently to Android); to also copy those into Google’s address book, you need to manually export the contacts from iPhone and import them into Google Contacts: you will find all the details about this later, again in this tutorial.
Manual Transfer of Phonebook
If you prefer manual transfer of the address book from Android to iPhone, you only need to export a .vcf file from the Android smartphone’s address book and import it into the Apple one.
The procedures you need to refer to are the same as those I outlined in the previous chapters: those on how to export contacts from Android and how to import .vcf files to iPhone.
Importing via SIM
Did you know that you can use your SIM to transfer contacts from your old Android smartphone to the new iPhone? The entire operation consists of using a free application available for download from the Google Play Store called Copy to SIM Card. It is an application created to manage contacts on the SIM, facilitating backup and transfer between devices.
After downloading and installing from the Google storefront, launch Copy to SIM Card, allow access to contacts by pressing the Allow button and accept the terms and conditions of use. From the PHONE CONTACTS (N) tab at the top, select the numbers you wish to transfer using the SIM by simply pressing the empty square next to each. You can also directly press the empty square for Select All at the top right to choose all numbers.
Once done, press the COPY button that appears at the bottom right to start transferring the contacts to the SIM card. Once completed, remove this from the Android smartphone and insert it into the iPhone, open the iOS Settings and first select Apps at the bottom and then Contacts from the list of installed applications.
Now just press on the Import SIM Contacts option at the bottom of the screen and select the account to import into (e.g., Google) from Import SIM Contacts into the account.
How to Transfer Phone Numbers from One iPhone to an Android Phone
You have switched from iPhone to Android and you need to transfer contacts from the Apple smartphone to the one powered by the green robot operating system? Then keep reading: you will find all the necessary indications just below.
Using Android Switch
If you are in the initial setup phase of your new Android smartphone, you can utilize the Android Switch app. Created directly by Google, it allows you to transfer photos, videos, contacts, events, and much more without using any cable. Just install the app on your old iPhone and proceed with the migration.
Synchronizing with Google Account
If you want to synchronize the address books of iPhone and Android, you can configure a Google account on both devices and use the latter to achieve your goal.
To activate the synchronization of the address book with the Google account, you just need to follow the instructions I already provided earlier: here are the Apple ones, while here you can find those for Android. However, there is an important preliminary step to perform on iPhone.
Since, as explained earlier, Google synchronization with iPhone does not take into account contacts already present in the Apple smartphone’s address book, to also copy those to Google’s cloud (and consequently to Android), you must manually export them into a .vcf file and import them into the Google Contacts service, operating from a browser.
So, proceed to export the iPhone contacts as a .vcf file, as explained in one of the previous chapters of the tutorial; then connect to the Google Contacts service from a browser (preferably from a PC), log in with the Google account you intend to use to synchronize the address book, and press the Import option present in the left sidebar.
Then click the Select File button, choose the .vcf file exported from the iPhone (which you can download to the PC, for example, via email or cloud storage services) and press the Import button to start importing the data.
Now enable address book synchronization with the Google account on both iPhone and Android and you’re all set; however, I warn you that the entire procedure could lead to the creation of duplicate contacts on your smartphones. To remedy this, try using the duplicate removal feature of Google Contacts (Merge & Fix, in the left sidebar).
Manual Transfer of Phonebook
Do you prefer to transfer contacts manually from iPhone to Android? In that case, you need to export the .vcf file with the address book from the iPhone, download it to Android, rename it to contacts.vcf (if necessary), and import it via the Google Contacts app.
For all necessary indications, you can refer to what I wrote in the previous chapters of the tutorial: those on how to export contacts from iPhone and how to import .vcf files to Android.
iCloud
If you have an iPhone and want to transfer contacts to an Android device, you can leverage iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage service. To do this, you must export contacts from iCloud.com in the form of a .vcf file and import them into Android, using the Google Contacts website.