Transfer data from personal phone to work phone

Question

Level 1

8 points

Transfer data from personal phone to work phone

Hi,

I have two identical iPhones 4S'. One has been my personal phone for years now, the other is a phone provided to me by my employer. As fate would have it, I can't afford to keep my personal phone line anymore (I would if I had to, but I don't have to pay for my work phone, so there's really no point in paying for my personal line). My personal phone is AT&T with 4G, while the work phone is Verizon with 3G. My personal phone has all of my contacts, personal e-mail, photos, music, apps, etc. My work phone, until now, has only been used for just that; work. No apps, music, photos, etc., but it is linked to my work email and has a few contacts.

What I'm looking to do is transfer all of my personal data (contacts, email, photos, music, apps, etc.) to my work phone (ultimately making it both my work and personal phone). Is it possible to do this without having to re-setup the work phone (mostly because setting up the work email is a hassle)? My work phone does not have an Apple ID linked to it, currently. I was planning on just using my existing one (this one) if that helps.

Also, what happens to the text messages on my personal phone? Do the conversations just simply transfer over? There are conversations that I'd like to keep when transferring.

Thanks.

iPhone 4S, iOS 7

Posted on Aug 28, 2014 8:30 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 28, 2014 8:42 AM in response to vV Ajax Vv

You can enter your Apple ID in:
Settings > Messages > Send & Receive

Settings > FaceTime

Settings > iCloud

Settings > iTunes & App Store

Once you sign into iCloud, your contacts, etc. should come back if you merged those with iCloud when you set it up on the personal phone. If you synced with iTunes on your computer, you would have to connect the work phone to iTunes and sync to get your music, apps, and other media. Otherwise: Download past purchases

You can go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, to add your email.

Existing text messages cannot be recovered without restoring the phone and then loading a backup of your personal phone, which you said you didn't want to do because of the hassle of setting up the work email.

EDIT: Of course you should check with your employer first as KTim said.

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

232,130 points

Aug 28, 2014 8:37 AM in response to vV Ajax Vv

Before you spend any more time thinking about 'how' to do this, you need to talk to your employer and find out if you are 'permitted' to do this.

Also keep in mind that in the US, any personal data that you store on a company owned device, including a company provided phone, becomes the property of the company. They can inspect it at any time. Anything deemed inappropriate or in violation of company policy could be grounds for disciplinary action or termination.

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Answer 3

vV Ajax Vv Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 28, 2014 8:42 AM in response to KiltedTim

Way ahead of you. I am aware this, and this is permitted. In fact, my supervisors have been wondering why I still have my personal phone when I have a phone for free. My coworkers (other managers like myself) all use their work-provided phones as personal phones.

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Answer 4

vV Ajax Vv Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 28, 2014 8:52 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

Okay, thanks, stevejobsfan0123. That sounds like it will work. I'll be giving it a shot in the next couple of days, once I cancel my personal phone line. I'll keep you apprised as to the outcome.

Thanks, again.

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Answer 5

Shomax

Level 1

20 points

Aug 28, 2014 8:59 AM in response to vV Ajax Vv

There is a method, however, to save your messages without using a backup and restore process, but this is done using a third party app. One example is an app called PhoneView. Unfortunately, you can't copy your messages back to the Messages app- you can only retrieve them (to your PC for example), so you can use this if you're interested in saving a critically important conversation for future reference. If you are, all steps of this process are in a page called 'Transfer text messages from one iPhone to another' in the webstie: macworld.co.uk

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