The fastest way to transfer contacts is through iCloud during setup
When you turn on a new iPhone for the first time, Apple walks you through a setup screen that asks if you want to restore from your old phone or from iCloud. If you choose to restore from iCloud and sign in with the same Apple ID you used on your old phone, your contacts transfer automatically — usually within a few minutes. This is the method most people use because it requires almost no action on your part.
If you've already finished setup on your new phone without restoring, you can still pull contacts from iCloud by going to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud, turning on Contacts, and waiting for them to sync. This works as long as your old phone's contacts were backed up to iCloud in the first place.
The one catch: if your old phone was an Android device, iCloud won't have your contacts yet. In that case, you'll need to use one of the other methods below.
Key Takeaways
- Restoring from iCloud during initial setup transfers all contacts automatically if you sign in with the same Apple ID.
- If setup is already complete, turn on iCloud Contacts in Settings to sync contacts you've already backed up.
- Switching from Android requires either a Google account transfer, a manual CSV file import, or using the Move to iOS app.
- Contacts stored only in your phone's local storage (not synced to iCloud or Google) will not transfer unless you back them up first.
- You can verify contacts transferred by opening the Contacts app and checking that names, phone numbers, and email addresses appear.
Transferring contacts from an Android phone using Move to iOS
Apple provides a free app called Move to iOS specifically for switching from Android. Download it on your Android phone from the Google Play Store, open it, and follow the prompts. The app will ask you to sign in with your Apple ID and choose which data to transfer — you can select Contacts along with messages, photos, and other information.
The transfer happens over a local wireless connection between the two phones, so keep them close together and don't use either phone during the process. It typically takes 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many contacts you have. When it's done, your Android contacts will appear in the Contacts app on your new iPhone.
One limitation: Move to iOS only works if your Android phone is running Android 6.0 or newer. If your old phone is older than that, you'll need to use the Google account method instead.
Syncing contacts from a Google account
If your Android contacts were synced to a Google account, you can add that same Google account to your iPhone and sync the contacts directly. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account, select Google, and sign in with your Google email and password. When prompted, toggle on Contacts so they sync to your iPhone.
This method works whether you're coming from Android or if you simply have contacts stored in Google Contacts. The contacts appear in your iPhone's Contacts app within a few minutes. If you later want to remove the Google account from your phone, the contacts will stay — they'll just be stored locally on your iPhone instead.
If you have contacts in multiple Google accounts, you'll need to add each account separately and turn on Contacts for each one.
Importing contacts from a CSV or VCF file
If you've exported your contacts as a file (usually a .csv or .vcf file), you can import them into your iPhone through iCloud.com. On a computer, go to iCloud.com, sign in with your Apple ID, open Contacts, click the settings icon (gear symbol), and select Import vCard. Choose your file and upload it. The contacts will sync to your iPhone within a few minutes.
This method is useful if you have a backup file from an old phone or if you've manually exported contacts from another service. It's also the only way to transfer contacts if you don't have access to your old phone anymore.
Make sure the file format is correct before uploading — most contact export tools produce .vcf or .csv files that iCloud accepts, but some older or third-party apps may use formats that don't work. If the import fails, try opening the file in a text editor to check that it contains standard contact fields like name, phone, and email.
Manually adding contacts if you only have a few
If you're only transferring a handful of contacts, you can add them by hand. Open the Contacts app on your new iPhone, tap the plus icon, and enter the name, phone number, email, and any other details. This takes longer than automated methods but works if your old phone is broken or if you only need to keep a few important numbers.
You can also ask someone to text you their contact information and add them that way, or look up phone numbers online if you remember people's names.
Troubleshooting contacts that didn't transfer
If some or all of your contacts didn't appear on your new iPhone, the most common reason is that they were stored only on your old phone and never synced to iCloud, Google, or another backup service. Contacts stored locally don't transfer automatically — they need to be backed up first.
Check your old phone to see if iCloud Contacts or Google Contacts was turned on. If it wasn't, those contacts are stuck on the old device. If your old phone still works, you can turn on syncing now and wait for the contacts to upload, then sync them to your new iPhone. If the old phone is broken or gone, those local-only contacts cannot be recovered.
If you used iCloud or Google but contacts still aren't showing up, try signing out of the account on your new iPhone and signing back in. Sometimes the sync gets stuck and needs to be refreshed. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Sign Out, then sign back in and wait a few minutes for contacts to appear.
Verifying your contacts transferred correctly
After transferring, open the Contacts app and scroll through to make sure names, phone numbers, and email addresses are all there. Pay special attention to contacts with special characters or non-English names, since some transfer methods occasionally have trouble with those.
If you notice that some contacts are missing email addresses or phone numbers even though they had them on your old phone, the transfer method may have dropped certain fields. In that case, you can add the missing information by hand or try transferring again using a different method.
It's also worth checking that duplicate contacts didn't appear — sometimes if you transfer the same contacts through multiple methods (like both iCloud and Google), you'll end up with two entries for the same person. The Contacts app has a Merge Contacts feature you can use to combine them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my contacts transfer if I don't have my old phone anymore?
Yes, as long as your contacts were backed up to iCloud or Google before the old phone was lost or broken. Sign in with your Apple ID or Google account on the new iPhone and turn on contact syncing. If contacts were stored only locally on the old phone, they cannot be recovered.
Can I transfer contacts from an iPhone to another iPhone without using iCloud?
Yes. You can export contacts as a VCF file from your old iPhone using a computer and the Finder app, then import that file into your new iPhone through iCloud.com. You can also add a Google account to both phones and sync through Google Contacts instead of iCloud.
What happens to contacts if I sign out of my Apple ID on the new iPhone?
Contacts synced through iCloud will stay on your phone even after you sign out — they become local contacts stored on the device. However, any new contacts you add after signing out won't sync to iCloud or appear on other devices using the same Apple ID.
Do I need to delete contacts from my old iPhone after transferring them?
No. Transferring creates a copy of your contacts on the new phone; it doesn't remove them from the old one. You can keep them on both devices or delete them from the old phone if you prefer.
Can I transfer contacts to an iPhone if I don't know my Apple ID password?
You can still transfer contacts using a Google account or by importing a VCF file, but you won't be able to use iCloud restore during setup. If you need to recover your Apple ID password, visit iforgot.apple.com on a computer.