How to Transfer Contacts from iPhone to iPhone

It is a routine action after purchasing a new iPhone to swiftly transfer contacts from the old phone to the new one. See how to transfer contacts between iPhones using iCloud, iCloud Sync, iTunes, SIM card, and Airdrop in this post. The directions in this post are for iPhones running iOS 9 or above. Follow the guidelines below carefully.

Best Way to Transfer Contacts from iPhone to iPhone

There are several ways to transfer contacts from one iPhone to another, going from a basic SIM card swap to using iCloud and iTunes to move stuff from one iPhone to another.

You can apply any of the methods listed below if they are available or appropriate in your situation.

How to Transfer Contacts From iPhone to iPhone With iCloud

1. Make sure both iPhones are connected to Wi-Fi and logged in with the same Apple ID.
2. Open Settings on both phones, select your name and then tap iCloud.
3. Slide the Contacts slider to the on/green position. If your contacts aren’t already in iCloud, this step will upload them. It could take a long time to back up a large number of contacts.
4. If a notice comes offering to merge the contacts, select that option to ensure that none of the contacts are lost. You must sync all of your contacts to both devices since the info from both phones first uploads to iCloud and then syncs to both phones.

Transfer Contacts from iPhone to iPhone with iCloud Sync

iCloud may build a backup of your iPhone’s data and then restore that backup onto a new iPhone, in addition to the contact synchronization method described in the previous section. Here’s how to do it:

• Connect the iPhone to the Internet via Wi-Fi. Backing up to iCloud necessitates a large amount of data. Instead of using the cellular data included with your phone plan, use Wi-Fi.
• Tap Settings > (your name) on the iPhone containing the contacts. Log in with your Apple ID if required. Your name may not appear on this screen on older devices.
• Select iCloud > iCloud Backup from the drop-down menu.
• Select Back Up Now after turning on/greening the iCloud Backup slider. If you see a notification that your iPhone is no longer automatically backing up to your computer when you sync with iTunes, hit OK.

Your contacts and other data are uploaded to iCloud via the iPhone. This will take some time because it backs up the entire iPhone.

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How to Transfer iPhone Contacts Using iTunes

Use iTunes instead of iCloud to back up your iPhone to your PC. Here’s what you should do:

1. Connect your old iPhone to the computer that you use to sync it.
2. Open iTunes and go to the screen where your iPhone is displayed. Click the Phone icon if it doesn’t open automatically.
3. Click This Computer in the Backups column, then click Back Up Now. If you’re requested to encrypt the backup to make your iPhone safer, you can do so using either the Encrypt Backups button or the Encrypt Backups button. You can opt-out by choosing Don’t Encrypt. This is a setting that you can alter later.
4. Wait for the iPhone to sync with the computer. Keep an eye on the blue progress bar at the top of iTunes to see how far you’ve come.
5. After the backup is finished, remove the old iPhone and replace it with the new one.
6. Select Restore Backup and follow the prompts to restore the new iPhone from the backup.

If iTunes tells you that you need to disable Find My iPhone before restoring the backup, do so in the Settings app under iCloud > Find My iPhone.

Export Contacts from SIM Card to New iPhone

If you know that any of the Contacts on your old iPhone are kept on the SIM Card, you can utilize this method.

1. Remove your old iPhone’s SIM card and insert it in the new iPhone. Then go to Settings > Contacts and select Import SIM Contacts from the drop-down menu.
2. Contacts from your SIM card will be transferred to your new iPhone in a matter of seconds.

Transfer Contacts via Airdrop

You can easily AirDrop Contacts from one iPhone to another if you only have a handful.

• Go to Settings > General > Airdrop on both iPhones and pick the Everyone option.
• Then, on your old iPhone, open the Contacts app, choose the contact you wish to AirDrop, and press the Share Contact option.
• Select the AirDrop option from the Share menu that opens.
• On your new iPhone, you should now notice an AirDrop transfer request. Accept it, and the Contact will be transferred to your new iPhone.
• Because AirDrop only allows you to transfer one contact at a time, you’ll have to repeat the procedures above for additional contacts.

Alternatives

One popular way is to transfer iPhone contacts with Email or via Bluetooth. You can also transfer contacts from iPhone to Android devices.