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Level 1

11 points

Transfer contacts from one iPhone to another

I would like to transfer the contacts I have on my iPhone 4s to my wife's iPhone 4s but cannot find how to do it. I have read numerous articles on doing a transfer but they all talk about resetting the phone first which I don't want to do, and are usually for someone replacing an old iPhone with a newer one.

I also read an article on using iTunes to do the transfer and went into iTunes and the left side has almost everything but contacts listed. There is Music, Movies, TV shows, books etc etc but no contacts. I also went to backup however it asks what I want to sync the contacts with and one of them is Windows, however I don't want to sync them with my Windows contacts or any other contacts for that matter, I just want to make a copy of the ones on my iPhone and then copy them back onto my wife's iPhone. I thought this would be a pretty simple process but have now spent more time reading and trying different things than I likely would have been able to manually input them all by now, so would really appreciate if someone could tell me if I am missing the obvious and there is a simple way to accomplish this?

Thank you

iPhone 4S, iOS 8.3

Posted on May 2, 2015 1:15 PM

Best reply

SergZak

Level 6

10,338 points

Posted on May 2, 2015 2:36 PM

Another way (which is the way I personally use) is to download a free app called My Contacts Backup on the device you wish to get the contacts from. You run the app, it then compiles the contacts on the device into vCard or CSV (configurable in the app but it defaults to vCard) format. Afterwards, it will allow you to email the file (using the Mail app on your device) to yourself or any email address.

On the receiving device, you open/access the email account that the vCard file was emailed to, tap on the attached vCard file and the device will prompt you to install (replace or merge) the contacts on the device. The app will also allow an easy way to wipe out the contacts on the device (useful to prevent duplicates) as well before importing the contacts from the file. This feature is accessed by scrolling all the way down on the main app screen.

You can also archive this vCard file on your PC or just keep the attachment in your email.

I prefer this way of transferring contacts over using iCloud since the devices do not need to be using the same iCloud account. Give it a try.

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16 replies

Jan 8, 2016 3:55 AM in response to SergZak

Okay, this was so easy it's stupid. After spending an hour or so researching, trying fixes, messing with iCloud, etc, I found this suggestion. I downloaded the app and had every contact on my new phone in about 30 seconds. Thanks for the info. Very much appreciated.

If anyone else is looking to transfer contacts from one phone to another, don't mess with anything else. Get this app and be done with it in no time.

Transfer contacts from one iPhone to another