How to Transfer Contacts from iPhone to Android

6 best ways to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android

Last Updated :  |  Author: Dev Team

How to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android

Although mobile phones have come a long way from simply being used to make calls, Contacts are still incredibly important.

The problem arises when you are switching phones and you want to take your contacts with you. What should be an easy task can often turn into an evening of hairpulling and exasperation.

If you are moving from iPhone to Android, you're in the right place. Did you know that Android is the most popular mobile operating system at over 72% of the market share in 2022? (iPhone's iOS is only at around 27%)

So, to make it easier for you, we've investigated a number of different methods for transferring contacts from iPhone to Android. After testing each method, we've covered the 6 best ones in this article.

Jump straight to:

Method 1: Transfer Contacts from iPhone to Android directly using Contact Transfer

For complete control of your contacts, without the use of syncing via cloud services, you could use an app for Windows like Contact Transfer.

Using Contact Transfer, you can copy contacts between iPhone and Android locally using your computer.

Before we start, you'll need:

  1. Open Contact Transfer on your Windows PC.
  2. Select “iOS Device” as your Source device, and “Android device” as your Destination. Click Continue.
    Contact Transfer device selection
  3. Connect your devices:
    • Connect your iPhone using your USB cable.
    • Connect your Android by opening the Contact Transfer Android app and scanning the QR code displayed on your PC screen.

    Selecting contacts to transfer from iPhone to Android.
  4. Select the contacts you wish to transfer or click “All” to select the entire list.
  5. Click “Transfer” to transfer the contacts from iPhone to Android.

Pros

  • Fast and Efficient.
  • Secure, Local Transfers - does not require cloud services.
  • Ability to select exactly which contacts you want to transfer.
  • Supports the transfer of contacts between iOS, Android and PC.
  • Competitively priced app.

Cons

  • You will need a Windows PC to facilitate transfer of contacts between your mobiles.

Method 2: Transfer Contacts from iPhone to Android using Google Drive

Google Drive is a great free way to transfer your contacts from iPhone to Android. This method will transfer your complete address book in one fell swoop. Here's how...

  1. Get the free Google Drive app on your iPhone and sign in with your Google account.
  2. Tap the menu icon in the top-left corner of the app, then tap “Settings”, and finally tap “Backup”.
    Back up iPhone contacts to Google Drive 1
  3. Here, tap Contacts and ensure that “Back up to Google Contacts” is toggled on (you can also enable Calendar and Photos & Videos if you wish).
  4. Tap the back arrow, then hit “Start Backup”.
    Back up iPhone contacts to Google Drive 2
  5. The backup may take some time, depending on how much content you are backing up. When the backup is complete, you'll simply need to open your Contacts app on your Android device to see your contacts! (the Android device will need to be signed into your same Google account)

Pros

  • Quick, Easy and Free.

Cons

  • Google Drive has a storage limit, so keep an eye on that if using your storage for other media.
  • Inability to choose which contacts you want to transfer.

Method 3: Sync Contacts from iPhone to Android using your Google Account

Syncing with your Google account is great, but it will only transfer your Gmail contacts - to transfer contacts from other accounts you'll need to use another method in this guide.

For this method, you'll need to have a Google account. If you do not yet have one, you can create an account. This will be required for use on your Android device anyway.

You can then transfer your contacts by enabling Gmail contacts in your iPhone settings:

  1. On your iPhone, open Settings > Contacts > Accounts.
  2. Tap your Gmail account (or use Add Account if you've not yet added it)
  3. Tap to toggle Contacts to the On position.
    Sync contacts from iPhone to Android with Google
  4. Your contacts will now be syncing with your Google Contacts.
  5. On your Android device, ensure you are using the same Google Account. This will ensure that you will automatically see your synced contacts in your Contacts app!

Pros

  • Fast and Free.

Cons

  • Only transfers contacts from a Gmail account, so many contacts may be left behind.
  • Inability to choose which contacts you want to transfer.

Method 4: Transfer Contacts from iPhone to Android using TouchCopy.

Contact Transfer (Method 1) is your best third-party app option for transferring contacts directly from iPhone to Android. However, you can achieve a full contact transfer by exporting your iPhone contacts to your computer, then importing them to Google or your Android device.

TouchCopy is an app which allows you to copy all kinds of content from iPhone to Windows PC or Mac.

With TouchCopy, you can save your iPhone contacts as vCard or CSV to your computer. Here's how…

  1. Download and install TouchCopy on your PC or Mac.
  2. Open TouchCopy and connect your iPhone using your USB cable.
  3. Select the Contacts section in TouchCopy to view all your iPhone contacts.
    Copy iPhone contacts to computer using TouchCopy
  4. Select the Contacts you wish to copy or use ctrl+A (PC) or cmd+A (Mac) to select all contacts in the list.
  5. Choose how to save your contacts (vCard, CSV, Windows Contacts, Outlook, Mac Contacts).

Saving as CSV will create a single file containing all your selected contacts. We recommend using this method if you intend to import all of those contacts to your Android.

Saving as vCard on the other hand will create multiple files each containing a single selected contact.

How to Import Contacts from CSV to Google Contacts for use with Android

Now you have your contacts exported in a CSV file on your computer, you can import them into your Google account.

  1. Open your internet browser on your computer and go to Google Contacts.
  2. From the menu on the left, click Import.
  3. Click Select File, navigate to your exported CSV file, and click Open.
  4. Finally, click Import.
    Import contacts to Google via CSV file

Once your contacts have been imported to Google Contacts, you can simply open the Contacts app on your Android device to view those contacts - just make sure that you are logged in with your Google account on the Android.

If you would prefer to export as vCard, you can manually import those contacts to your Android device.

Pros

  • Save iPhone contacts to PC or Mac.
  • Export contacts as vCard or CSV, allowing you to import to Android or a contact manager app.
  • Transfer directly to a contact manager like Outlook, Windows Contacts or Mac Contacts.

Cons

  • Unable to directly transfer contacts from iPhone to Android device.

Method 5: Manually Transfer Contacts from iPhone to Android using iCloud

If you'd like to transfer your contacts without syncing between iPhone and Android, and without the help of third-party apps, you can download your contacts to your computer and then import them to your Android device.

To do this, first, download your iPhone contacts from iCloud:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap your user profile.
  2. Tap iCloud, then toggle ON Contacts if it is not ON already. This will upload your iPhone contacts to your iCloud account.
    Sync contacts from iPhone to iCloud
  3. Now on your computer, open an internet browser and go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
  4. Select Contacts > click the gear icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen > Click Select All.
  5. Click the gear icon once more and select “Export vCard”.
    Export contacts from iCloud to computer

Then, you can import your saved vCards to your Android device:

  1. Transfer your copied vCards to your Android device. There are a number of ways you can do this. The easiest would be to simply connect the device to your computer via USB, then copy those files to your internal storage / SD Card.
  2. Open the Contacts app on the Android, tap the menu icon > Settings > Import.
  3. Select “.vcf file”, then choose the account you wish to import the contacts to.
  4. Select your vCard files to import.
    Import contacts on Android.

Pros

  • Requires no additional apps or services.

Cons

  • Inconvenient - many more steps needed to achieve the same results of other steps in this guide.

Method 6: Send contacts from iPhone to Android via email or messaging

If you only have a few key contacts to transfer, you can quickly send them from iPhone to Android using email or messaging services.

Although this method is not ideal for large quantities of contacts, you can quickly send a few contacts…

  1. Open the Contacts app on your iPhone and select the contact you wish to send to your Android.
  2. Tap “Share Contact”.
  3. Choose the means by which you want to send the contact. E.g. Email, Gmail, WhatsApp, etc. and send the contact to yourself.
    Send iPhone contacts to Android
  4. On the Android device, open the email/message and tap to open the vCard file.
  5. Choose to save your contact to your Google account or to your Device.

Pros

  • Quick and free.

Cons

  • Only able to send a single contact at a time, so not recommended for large batch transfers.

Takeaways

There you have it, the top 6 methods for transferring contacts from an iPhone to an Android device.

As you can see, each method has its merits, so where one method may be best for one person, a different method may be best for a person in a different situation.

The standout methods here are:

  • Contact Transfer, for if you want quick and efficient transfers. The power here is that you can choose exactly which contacts to transfer and perform direct transfers from device to device without the use of cloud services.
  • Backing up your iPhone contacts using the Google Drive app will allow you to simply open the Contacts app on your Android device, and your contacts will be there. However, this will transfer all contacts, so this method will not be suitable for those who wish to select which contacts to transfer (to avoid clogging up your new Android with contacts you won't need!).

Thanks for reading!


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