Did you just buy a new iPhone but all your contacts are still saved on your old Android smartphone? Don’t worry, this happens to many when switching from one operating system to another. Transferring contacts might seem complex and tedious, especially if you’re not tech-savvy, but I assure you that with the right tools, it is easier than you think. Whether you want to transfer a single number or your entire address book, you’ve come to the right guide at the right time!
In the upcoming sections, I will detail all the available methods to learn how to transfer contacts from Android to iPhone, from the simplest solutions like syncing with your Google account or using the Move to iOS app, to alternative methods such as exporting through VCF files or SIM card. Not only that, but you’ll also discover how to use WhatsApp to transfer contacts between the two devices. I guarantee that by carefully following the procedures I’ll illustrate, you will manage to complete the transfer in a few minutes without losing a single phone number!
So, are you ready to start? Yes? Perfect! Get comfortable, hold both smartphones in hand, and prepare to follow step by step all the instructions you find in this guide. You will see that by the end of the tutorial, you will be able to manage the contact transfer like a true expert and can finally start using your new “iPhone” with all your contacts at your fingertips. Enjoy your reading!
Table of Contents
- How to Transfer Contacts from Android to iPhone
- How to Transfer Photos and Contacts from Android to iPhone
- How to Transfer WhatsApp Contacts from Android to iPhone
How to Transfer Contacts from Android to iPhone
To transfer the contacts from Android to iPhone, you can utilize several solutions. In the following chapters, I will explain exactly how to do this, depending on whether you want to transfer a single contact or all the numbers in your Android smartphone’s contacts.
In particular, I will explain how to export a simple vCard file and then perform the import, how to use your Google account and sync it, how to utilize the SIM card (saving the contacts on it), or how to use the Move to iOS app.
How to Transfer a Single Contact from Android to iPhone
Your goal is to download a single contact from your Android smartphone and then pass it to your iPhone to import it into Apple’s Contacts app. In this case, if you don’t know how to proceed, you will find everything explained in the following lines. In the end, you will have a file in VCF format that you can import into your “iPhone’s” address book.
To start, grab your Android smartphone, open the Google Contacts app, and search for the phone number you’re interested in exporting, either scrolling through the proposed list or using the Search contacts field at the top. Once identified, press and hold it to select it, and then tap the icon with three dots (the sharing icon) in the top right corner.
From the Share screen, select the desired sharing method. For example, you can use WhatsApp, Telegram, or Gmail. After sending it via WhatsApp, open the conversation on your iPhone and tap on the Save contact option found in the message box. From Select an action, tap Create new contact, optionally customize the proposed fields (e.g., Name and Surname), and finish the process by pressing Save at the top right.
If you chose Telegram, always open the chat on your Apple smartphone, tap on the received contact, and then select Create new contact. Optionally modify the fields and complete the operation by pressing Create at the top right.
Did you choose Gmail? Open the received email, tap the attachment (which is the contact card), press the square icon with an upward arrow in the lower left and select the Apple Contacts app from the horizontal list of applications. If you don’t see it, first tap on More and then on Contacts. Finish by pressing Save at the top right.
How to Transfer All Contacts from Android to iPhone
If your aim is to transfer all contacts at once, then choose one of the methods I will discuss shortly. For example, synchronizing your Android smartphone’s address book with the online Google Contacts service and then repeating the same action on iPhone will allow you to transfer the Android address book over to the Apple smartphone while keeping both phones synced. This way, any changes made to contacts on Android, iPhone, or the Google Contacts web panel will automatically reflect across all devices.
If you have associated a Google account with your Android smartphone (this usually happens during the initial setup of the device), you should already have contact synchronization with “Big G”‘s cloud activated. To check this setting, go to Settings on Android (the gear icon on the Home screen or in the app menu) and press on the option related to Accounts; then select Google, choose your Google account from the next screen, and ensure the switch for contacts is on (otherwise turn it on and wait a few minutes for synchronization to complete).
If you have a Xiaomi smartphone, open Settings, go to Additional Settings, and select Accounts & sync. From the Accounts section, tap on Google and make sure there is a check inside the circle next to Contacts. If not, tap to add it. Then wait for the automatic synchronization to finish or tap the refresh arrow icon to enable manual synchronization.
If you have not yet associated a Google account with your Android smartphone, go to the menu dedicated to accounts, press the option to add a new account, select the Google logo from the screen proposed, enter your Google account credentials in the login form, and finally make sure that contact synchronization is active as explained earlier. On Xiaomi, from the Account and sync screen, tap on Add account, select Google, enter the required credentials, and wait for the synchronization to finish.
Once the Android contacts are synchronized with the Google Contacts service, you need to associate your iPhone with the same service. So, take your “iPhone”, access the Settings menu (the gear icon on the Home screen), tap on Apps, and find the Contacts app from the proposed list or by using the search field at the top.
Then, select Contacts Account, tap on Add Account (found in Settings > Mail or Settings > Contacts from iOS 14 to iOS 17) and press Google. Authorize the opening of the login form and log into your Google account in the screen that opens. Finally, turn on the switch for synchronizing contacts, press the Save button (at the top right), and you’re done.
Afterward, to set the Google address book as the default address book on your iPhone, so that all new contacts created on the smartphone are saved on it, go to the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu on iOS and set the default account to Gmail.
If you have already associated a Google account with your iPhone but don’t know if contact synchronization is active, go to the Settings > Apps > Contacts menu (found in Settings > Mail or Settings > Contacts from iOS 14 to iOS 17), select the option related to Gmail, and check if the switch for Contacts is on (if not, turn it on yourself).
Very good: now the contacts on Android and iPhone are synchronized. However, keep in mind that the contacts you previously had on the Apple smartphone will not be loaded into Google Contacts.
If you are not interested in synchronizing contacts between Android and iPhone but just want to pass contacts from Android to iOS, you can export a VCF file with Android contacts, send it to yourself via email, WhatsApp, or other sharing systems on the iPhone and then import it into the “iPhone” address book. I assure you it’s a piece of cake!
To start, if you don’t already have it, I recommend downloading the free Google Contacts application from the Play Store or, if you are using a device without Google services (e.g., a Huawei device with AppGallery), from alternative stores. In both cases, simply open your phone’s store, search for Google Contacts in it, tap on the application icon in the search results, and then tap the Install button.
Once the installation is completed, simply launch the Google Contacts app, tap Organize at the bottom right, and from the This device section, press on Export to a file. Select the Google account from Choose an account to export and press the Export button at the bottom right. After that, select the folder where to save the VCF file via the file manager, optionally customize the name via the field at the bottom and finish by tapping the SAVE button at the bottom right.
After waiting for the export of all numbers to finish, open the default file manager on your Android smartphone (e.g., Files by Google), open the folder where you saved the contacts file, tap the three dots next to it, and select Share from the menu that appears. Then choose the application you want to use for sending (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram, or Gmail).
The final step is to import the VCF file with the contacts into the iPhone. So, take your “iPhone”, open the Mail client (if you sent the VCF file via email), WhatsApp, or any other app you decided to use and open the message (or folder) that contains the contacts file.
To conclude, tap on the contacts.vcf file icon, tap the Add all [number] contacts option, and that’s it: all the contacts in the selected file will be added to the iOS address book.
This operation, as mentioned, does not involve any synchronization with the Android address book or Google. This means that to replicate any changes to the contacts made on Android or in the Google address book on your iPhone, you will have to repeat the entire procedure.
Another method I suggest for passing contacts from Android to iPhone is simply to use the SIM card. However, in this case, you will need to install the Copy to SIM Card app on your Android device. This application is designed to manage contacts on the SIM card. With it, you can copy contacts from the phone to the SIM and vice versa, facilitating the backup and transfer of the address book between devices. Additionally, it offers features for deleting or modifying contacts on the card.
After downloading and installing Copy to SIM Card from the Google Play Store, launch it by tapping the corresponding icon on the Home screen or in the apps drawer. Allow access to contacts by tapping the Allow button and accepting the terms and conditions. Now, from the PHONE CONTACTS (n) tab at the top, select the contacts you want to transfer by simply tapping the empty square next to each. Alternatively, tap the empty square next to Select all (at the top right) to select them all.
Finally, press the COPY button that appears in the bottom right corner and wait for the operation to complete, which consists of copying the selected contacts to the SIM card. Now, remove the SIM from your Android smartphone and insert it into the iPhone (if you don’t know how, follow my two dedicated guides), open the iOS Settings (by tapping the gear icon on the Home screen or in the App Library) and first select Apps and then Contacts.
Complete the operation by tapping the Import SIM contacts option (at the bottom of the screen) and selecting the account to import into (e.g., Google) from Import SIM contacts into account. Wait for the import to complete.
Among the various features offered by the Move to iOS app (developed by Apple to facilitate data transfer from an Android device to an iPhone), there is also the option to transfer contacts. After setting up the app on the “green robot”, ensure that you check the Contacts option and complete the operation by following the guided procedure.
How to Transfer Photos and Contacts from Android to iPhone
How to transfer photos and contacts from Android to iPhone? After transferring the phone numbers to your new iPhone, you may now want to transfer the photos as well. To perform this operation, you can follow various paths. The one I recommend the most is to use Google Photos.
Surely you have heard of it, as it is the default Gallery app on many Android smartphones. Anyway, it is a cloud-based photo storage and management service offered by the tech giant from Mountain View. It allows you to easily and quickly save, organize, edit, and share photos and videos.
In addition to being available on Android, iOS, and iPadOS, Google Photos is also conveniently accessible from the Web via the official site. Every Google account has 15 GB of free space (shared with Gmail and Google Drive) to archive your favorite multimedia files.
To get started, download Google Photos from the Play Store (by pressing the Install button) and, once finished, launch the app. Log into the Google account that has the photos to be transferred to the iPhone and enable the automatic backup to the cloud by following the guided procedure.
Alternatively, tap the initial of the name or the profile photo at the top right, tap Backup disabled and activate the option Automatically back up photos and videos on this device, sliding the dedicated switch to ON. You will see the message The backup is active.
If you want to manage other settings regarding the upload, tap the gear icon in the top right and, from the Settings section, tap on Backup quality. From here, you can choose between Original quality (backs up without modifying quality) or Storage saver (stores more content at a slightly lower quality).
Furthermore, you can also choose which folders to back up. Just tap on Back up device folders and activate Back up all folders via the switch or tap on the one for your favorite folders (e.g., Downloads).
Once all photos are successfully synced on Google Photos, install Google Photos on your “iPhone” from the App Store and start it. If a Google account (for example, if you use Gmail) is already present on your iPhone, possibly activate the option Automatically back up photos and videos on this device and then press the Start button.
If it is not there, log in by entering the required credentials and possibly activate the option Automatically back up photos and videos on this device. The application may ask you for full access to the photos and videos on your iOS device. Press the Continue button to proceed. You just need to follow the same steps you saw for Android to enable backup and customize the other options.
How to Transfer WhatsApp Contacts from Android to iPhone
WhatsApp, the well-known instant messaging application developed by Meta, includes a very convenient feature that allows you to send contacts easily and quickly. You can use this very feature to pass one or more contacts from Android to iPhone.
To start, open WhatsApp on your Android device, select the conversation that interests you from the list in chat or tap the cloud icon with the + symbol at the bottom right (then scroll the proposed list or use the magnifying glass at the top right to search for the person you are interested in).
After that, press the paperclip icon in the Message field and select Contact. Search for the phone number you want to send by scrolling through the contact list or press the magnifying glass at the top right to search it. Tap to select it and do the same with any other contacts you want to send. Just press the right arrow button at the bottom right and then the paper airplane button at the bottom right to send the message containing the contact.
On iPhone, start WhatsApp and open the received message. If it is a single contact, tap on Save contact in the message box, tap Create new contact from Select an action, optionally customize the proposed fields, and finalize the operation by tapping Save at the top right.
In the case of multiple phone numbers, tap on View all in the message box, tap the first contact to save, and choose Create new contact. Check the fields and proceed with saving by pressing Save at the top right. Repeat the same steps for the other numbers to be added to the address book.