How do I export iPhone contacts?

My goal is to make a back up of my iPhone contacts, preferably in a printed list.


I figured the way to do that would be to somehow merge my phone contacts into my Google Contacts on my MacBook (however, I do not want to merge my Gmail Contacts into my phone, as there are 100s of contacts there I do not want/need on my phone, so I am proceeding cautiously).


Under Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar >iCloud I have Contacts "On" (but have not done an iCloud backup FWIW because I am not sure my data is less than 5gb). Doing this alone does not help.


Can anyone advise me of the best way to achieve this goal without making a big mess?


Thanks in advance.

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4.3.3, version 4.3.5

Posted on Mar 23, 2012 11:07 AM

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Posted on Mar 23, 2012 11:32 AM

You could use the free app My Contacts Backup, which has the option to export your iPhone contacts as a csv (Excel) file which can then be printed. It also will backup to a vcf file, which can be imported to another iOS device or mac Address Book.

36 replies

Mar 28, 2014 7:36 AM in response to Andvari

Slightly different situation

Inherited my wifes work iphone which she wants to keep all the contacts from. She no longer can access itunes log in - former company so no access to email that was tied to it for PW recovery. The one we had written down isn't working.


I want my contacts on teh iphone but not mixed up with hers - ideally if one could have two address books !! however...


So I want to extract hers and keep them somewhere safe so we can re import if required.


Cheers

Mar 28, 2014 7:58 AM in response to Andvari

Slightly different situation

Inherited my wifes work iphone which she wants to keep all the contacts from. She no longer can access itunes log in - former company so no access to email that was tied to it for PW recovery. The one we had written down isn't working.


I want my contacts on teh iphone but not mixed up with hers - ideally if one could have two address books !! however...


So I want to extract hers and keep them somewhere safe so we can re import if required.


Cheers


Reply to this one not the other - I won't see the email notification ( two Apple ID's)

Aug 31, 2014 9:12 PM in response to Andvari

As I understand your contacts are not on iCloud, but just synced locally with your Mac. What I do is to share them to Gmail from your Mac: Preferences > On my Mac > synchronize with Google.


That way you'll have two ways syncing between Gmail and your Mac + your Mac will sync with your iPhone.


Also, I've tried iPhone Transfer mentioned in another post, and it can transfer contacts from iPhone easily.

Nov 1, 2015 11:56 PM in response to Andvari

Hi all,


I have a similar-but-different problem.


My mother's old iPhone 3 was really playing up with txts - losing txts, refusing to play any noise for incoming txts. My father bought her a new iPhone 5, and did the whole rigmarole of transferring all the photos and contacts and so on. When she started using the new iPhone 5 she found it had simply inherited the same problems - lots of problems with txts.


We took the new iPhone 5 to the Apple shop, and they tried a 'Restore' which wiped out all the recent txts, but didn't fix the problem. "Oh," said the helpful Apple employee, "It shouldn't have done that." He explained that the txting database must be corrupted, and the next thing we must try is a full erase and Restore. he told us to back up the phone first.


I can't synch the phone on my computer. It tells me I don't have a new enough version of iTunes, but when I try to get a newer version it tells me my computer can't use a newer version. So my choice is to find another way of backing up or buy a new computer. i can't afford a new computer.


I've backed up all the photos to iPhoto. I hope I'll be able to reload those if we get the phone working, but it isn't all that important whether they're on the phone or not.


The next problem is how do I back up the contacts in such a way that I can reload them onto an iPhone 5, if we get it working? I've tried various links to software in this thread and others, but some of the software is PC-only, some requires a 'jailbroken' phone, some can download Contacts but don't say they can upload.


Can anyone suggest a programme that definitely can both download/backup the Contacts *and* put them back on an iPhone 5 after it's done an Erase and Reset?

Thanks very much if you can help.


Apr 6, 2016 12:36 PM in response to Granma Rocks

Granma Rocks wrote:


Changing PAYG SIM from EE to O2, and want to sync contacts from iPhone 5 using iTunes on PC before change over. Looked in iTunes but cannot find any instructions. How do I do this please?

Simple language because a bit of a dunce.

You have several options:

Sync your iPhone to a Contact app on your computer using a USB cable

  • Connect the phone to a USB port on your computer
  • If iTunes doesn't launch, launch it
  • Click on the iPhone icon in the top bar of iTunes
  • Click on Info in the left menu
  • Choose an app to sync contacts to
  • Click the Sync button


Back up the phone to iTunes - You should do this regularly, in addition to any other sync option

  • Connect the phone to a USB port on your computer
  • If iTunes doesn't launch, launch it
  • Click on the iPhone icon in the top bar of iTunes
  • Click Back up now
  • This will not save contacts in a useable form, but it will allow you to restore all of the phone's content back to the phone


Use iCloud Sync

  • On the phone, go to Settings/iCloud and turn on Contacts
  • This will sync your contacts to iCloud. You can see them on your computer by going to https://icloud.com and logging in with your Apple ID and password
  • If you have a Mac you can also turn on Contacts in System Preferences, iCloud and they will appear in your Contacts app.


Use gmail contacts sync

If you have a gmail account go to Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap on the gmail account, and turn on Contacts


Use Microsoft Office contacts sync

If you have a Microsoft Exchange account or Office 365 account go to Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap on the Office or Exchange account, and turn on Contacts

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How do I export iPhone contacts?

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