The fastest way: use iCloud during setup

When you turn on a new iPhone for the first time, Apple walks you through Quick Start, which copies your contacts automatically if you sign in with the same Apple ID you used on your old phone. This is the method most people should use because it requires almost no work on your part — the new phone pulls your contacts from iCloud while you watch.

Here's what happens: you hold your old iPhone next to the new one, tap "Transfer Manually" or "Use iCloud" when prompted, sign in with your Apple ID on the new phone, and wait for the transfer to finish. Your contacts arrive along with your photos, messages, apps, and settings. The whole process takes 15 to 45 minutes depending on how much data you have and your internet speed.

This method works only if you have an Apple ID and have turned on iCloud sync on your old phone. If you skipped that step or don't have an Apple ID, you'll need to use one of the other routes below.

Key Takeaways

  • Quick Start during setup copies contacts automatically if you sign in with the same Apple ID, and is the easiest method for most people.
  • If you've already finished setup on the new phone, you can still restore from an iCloud backup or use a computer with Finder or iTunes.
  • You can export contacts as a file and email them to yourself, then import them on the new phone if you don't want to use iCloud.
  • If your old phone is broken or unavailable, restoring from an iCloud backup is usually faster than manually re-entering contacts.

Restoring from iCloud backup if you've already set up the new phone

If you've already completed setup on your new iPhone and didn't transfer your contacts during Quick Start, you can still pull them from an iCloud backup. This erases everything currently on the new phone and replaces it with what was backed up, so only do this if the new phone is still mostly empty.

Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings on the new phone. When it restarts, you'll see the setup screen again. Follow the prompts until you reach "Apps & Data," then tap "Restore from iCloud Backup." Sign in with your Apple ID, choose the backup from your old phone, and wait for the restore to finish. Your contacts will be there along with everything else that was backed up.

This method works only if you've been backing up to iCloud on your old phone. If you haven't, you won't see a backup to restore from.

Using a Mac or Windows computer with Finder or iTunes

If you have access to a computer, you can connect your old iPhone with a USB cable and create a backup there, then restore that backup on the new phone. On a Mac running Catalina or later, open Finder, plug in your old iPhone, and click it in the sidebar. Click "General" and then "Back Up Now." On a Windows computer or older Mac, use iTunes instead — the steps are similar.

Once the backup is done, disconnect the old phone and connect the new one. Choose "Restore Backup" and select the backup you just created. The new phone will restart and pull everything from that backup, including your contacts.

This method is useful if your old phone is damaged or you don't trust iCloud, but it's slower than Quick Start because you have to physically connect cables and wait for the computer to process the backup.

Exporting contacts as a file if you want to keep them separate

You can save your contacts as a single file and move that file to your new phone without transferring anything else. On your old iPhone, open the Contacts app, tap "Groups" in the top left, make sure "All Contacts" is selected, then tap "Edit" and "Select All." Tap "Share" and choose "Mail." This creates an email with all your contacts attached as a .vcf file.

Send that email to yourself, then open it on your new iPhone and tap the attachment. A dialog will ask if you want to add these contacts to your phone — tap "Add All" and they'll be imported. This method is slower than Quick Start but useful if you're switching from iPhone to Android or if you want to keep your contacts in a file for backup purposes.

Some third-party apps like Google Contacts also let you export and import contacts, though you'll need to download the app on both phones and sign in with the same account.

What to do if your old iPhone is broken or unavailable

If your old phone won't turn on or you no longer have it, your contacts are still in iCloud if you were syncing them. During setup on the new phone, sign in with your Apple ID and choose to restore from your most recent iCloud backup. Your contacts will appear even though the old phone is gone.

If you weren't syncing to iCloud and the old phone is truly inaccessible, you've lost those contacts unless you have a backup on a computer. This is why turning on iCloud sync early matters — it's your safety net if something happens to the physical phone.

If you have neither an iCloud backup nor a computer backup, you can try contacting your phone carrier or checking if they keep backups, though this is rarely available and usually only works within a short window after you stop using the old phone.

Checking that your contacts actually transferred

After any transfer method, open the Contacts app on your new phone and scroll through to make sure your contacts are there. If you transferred thousands of contacts, spot-check a few names you know rather than counting them all.

If contacts are missing, check that you signed in with the correct Apple ID — if you used a different ID on the old phone, those contacts won't transfer. You can also go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and toggle Contacts on and off to force a sync, which sometimes brings in contacts that didn't appear immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need WiFi to transfer contacts?

Yes, all methods except using a computer require WiFi or cellular data. Quick Start and iCloud restore both need internet to download your contacts from Apple's servers. If you're using a computer with a USB cable, you don't need WiFi, but the computer itself needs internet to verify your Apple ID.

Will my contacts transfer if I use a different Apple ID on the new phone?

No. Contacts sync through iCloud using your Apple ID, so if you sign in with a different ID on the new phone, you won't see contacts from the old ID. If this happens, sign out and sign back in with the correct Apple ID, then go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and make sure Contacts is toggled on.

Can I transfer contacts from an iPhone to an Android phone?

Yes, but not through Quick Start — that only works between iPhones. Export your contacts as a .vcf file by emailing them to yourself, then open that email on the Android phone and import the file. Alternatively, sign into Google Contacts on your iPhone, add your contacts there, then sign into the same Google account on Android and they'll sync automatically.

What if I only want to transfer some contacts, not all of them?

Quick Start and iCloud restore transfer everything, so those won't work if you want to be selective. Instead, open Contacts on your old iPhone, tap individual contacts, tap "Share," and email them to yourself one at a time or in small groups. On the new phone, open those emails and tap each attachment to import them.

How long does the transfer take?

Quick Start usually takes 15 to 45 minutes depending on how much data you're transferring and your internet speed. Restoring from iCloud backup can take longer if you have a large backup — sometimes an hour or more. Exporting and importing contacts manually takes only a few minutes if you have a small number of contacts, but much longer if you have thousands.