You have a new iPhone and want to transfer your contacts from your old phone to the new one? You can easily do that with iCloud or iTunes, but there are other options, too. Here’s how you move contacts from iPhone to iPhone.
Transfer contacts from iPhone to iPhone with iCloud backup
One easy way to transfer your contacts from an iPhone to another iPhone is by using an iCloud backup. If you are setting up a new iPhone for the first time, this is also a good way to copy all your other data and preferences.
- Make sure your old iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi.
- Open the “Settings” app.
- At the top of your screen, you’ll see your name. Tap it and type your password, if required.
- Tap “iCloud”.
- In the list you see now, make sure the “Contacts” toggle is on. Then scroll down and tap “iCloud backup”.
- Turn on and set up your new iPhone. Just follow the onscreen instructions.
- If your iPhone has already been set up, you will have to reset it. Open the “Settings” app, tap “General” and then “Reset” at the bottom of the screen. Tap “Erase All Content and Settings”. Your iPhone will restart and now you can set it up by following the onscreen instructions.
- When you reach the “Apps & Data” screen, tap “Restore from iCloud backup” and sign in with your Apple ID.
- Select the newest backup (it should be the one you’ve just made on your older iPhone).
- Your data (including the contacts) will be copied to your new iPhone.
- Follow the remaining onscreen instructions in order to finish setting up your iPhone.
Use iCloud sync to copy your contacts from an iPhone to another
There’s also another way to use iCloud for transferring contacts. This method is best suited if you want to copy the contacts to an iPhone that you are already using and you don’t want to reset.
- Connect both iPhones to Wi-Fi and make sure you are logged into the same Apple account on both devices.
- On both devices, open the “Settings” app and tap your name.
- Tap “iCloud” and activate the “Contacts” option on both iPhones.
- You’ll get a message asking if you want to merge contacts. Tap “Merge”.
- Wait for your iPhone to sync the contacts.
- Refresh the contact list on the new iPhone. The data from the source iPhone will now appear on the new one.
Transfer contacts using iTunes
If you don’t want to use iCloud to sync your contacts on the two iPhones, you have the possibility to do that via iTunes:
- Download the latest iTunes version to your computer.
- Open iTunes.
- Connect the old iPhone to the computer. Follow the onscreen instructions, if you get a message about accessing your iPhone.
- On the upper left side of the screen, select your device.
- In the list on the left side of the screen, click “Info”.
- Check “Sync Contacts”.
- Click “Apply” and then “Sync” at the bottom of the screen.
- Unplug the old device and connect the new iPhone to your computer.
- In the top toolbar, select the new device.
- Click “Info” again and check “Sync Contacts”.
- Scroll down to “Advanced”. Under “Replace information on this iPhone”, check “Contacts”.
- Click “Apply” to sync the contacts.
Import contacts from SIM card
New iPhones don’t store contacts on the SIM card. But there were older versions that supported this option. If you have contacts stored on a SIM card, this is how you transfer them to a new iPhone:
- The size of the iPhone SIM cards changed over time. First, you must check if the old SIM card fits and if you can use it with your new iPhone.
- Replace your new SIM card with the one where the contacts are stored.
- Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone and tap “Contacts”.
- Tap “Import SIM Contacts” and wait for the contacts to be imported.
