How to transfer phone contacts to new phone

Introduction

Getting a new phone can be an incredibly exciting time, however it can quickly become stressful when you want to transfer data from your old phone to your new one.

To alleviate the stress and ensure a stress-free migration, this article will cover 6 easy ways to transfer contacts from Android to Android.

Here are the six contact transfer methods that we tested and reviewed:

Check out our other article if you need to transfer contacts from iPhone to iPhone instead.

Transfer Contacts from Android to Android: Contact Transfer

First up, we have the quickest and easiest method we could find - the Contact Transfer software. This nifty app really packs a punch, providing a full set of contact management tools.

With it, you can easily transfer your contacts between Android and Android, iPhone to iPhone, between the two platforms, or even backup contacts from your mobile to your computer!

The beauty of this method is that all transfers happen locally on your PC. As such, you don't have to worry about uploading your contacts online, or syncing them between accounts.

Contact Transfer is software for Windows 10 PCs. You'll also need to get the free Contact Transfer Android app on your phones in order to connect with the software. Let's see how it's done...

1. Download and install Contact Transfer on your PC, then launch it.
2. Choose "Android" for both the Source and Destination of your transfer. Then click Continue.
   
   
3. Get the Contact Transfer Android app from the Google Play Store on each of your Android devices.
4. Ensure that both your PC and Android devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
5. Open the Contact Transfer app on your Android device which has all your contacts that you want to copy. Tap "Scan Contact Transfer QR Code". This will open your device's camera. Hold up the camera to the QR code shown under "Source" on your PC.
   
   
6. Once your source device is connected, you can repeat the same process by scanning the "Destination" QR code with the Android which you want to transfer contacts to.
   
   
7. Now that your devices are connected, you can browse your contacts and select which ones you want to transfer. If you want to select all contacts from your source device, simply click the "All" checkbox.
8. To copy your selected contacts from the source to the destination, click "Transfer"!
   
   

Summary (Contact Transfer):

✔ Wireless file transfer
✔ Secure local transfers
✔ User-friendly interface
✔ Complete contact management tool
✔ Device to Device
✔ Feature-rich software

Get the Contact Transfer Android app:

Try Contact Transfer free ▼

Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:

Note: We respect your privacy. We won't share your Email address with anyone else, or send you spam.

Backup and Restore Android Contacts: Droid Transfer

Our most powerful method comes next - Droid Transfer software. This option is for users who wish to have an all-in-one Android manager. Using Droid Transfer, not only can you easily transfer contacts from Android to Android, but you can copy other stuff like Messages, Photos, Calendars, Music and more to your computer.

Droid Transfer on your PC connects to a free app "Transfer Companion" on your Android device. Then, you can transfer anything you like from Android to PC. Transfer contacts from Android to Android - Here's how:

1. Download Droid Transfer on your PC and launch it.
2. Get the free Transfer Companion App on both of your Android phones.
3. With the phone that contains your contacts, scan the Droid Transfer QR code with the Transfer Companion App to connect Android and PC.
4. Click "Contacts" to view the Android contacts.
5. Click "Backup & Restore", then "Backup".
6. Choose to backup all contacts or select certain contacts, then hit "Backup".
   
7. Once the backup is complete, disconnect your Android device, and connect the new Android that you want to transfer the contacts to.
8. Click "Backup & Restore" again, then "Restore".
9. Locate and select your saved contact backup file from step 6.
10. Choose to restore all contacts, or select contacts, then hit "Restore".
    

Droid Transfer will then transfer contacts from the backup into your Contacts app on your new phone!

See it in action...

You can even copy your Android contacts to your PC as vCard or CSV, or directly into Windows Contacts or Microsoft Outlook! Find out how to copy Android contacts to PC >

Summary (Droid Transfer):

✔ Wired or Wireless file transfer
✔ Secure local transfers
✔ User-friendly interface
✔ Transfer of many different data types
✔ Locally stored data
✔ Feature-rich software

Get the Transfer Companion app for Android:

Droid Transfer (PC):

Try Droid Transfer free ▼

Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:

Note: We respect your privacy. We won't share your Email address with anyone else, or send you spam.

How to Sync Contacts from Android to Android: Google Account

One of the easiest ways to transfer your contacts from Android to Android is using your Google account. You can use Google's Cloud to upload your contacts (and other information like Calendars if you wish), then you can access the information on any device with which you are signed into your Google account.

This is a great way to share information across multiple devices, however if you prefer for your information not to be stored in the cloud, you may want to consider Method 1 instead.

Let's see how to sync contacts from Android to Android using your Google Account:

1. Grab your old Android phone and open the Settings app.
2. Find and tap "Accounts" in the list, then tap "Google".
3. Tap your Google account.
4. If "Contacts" is disabled, tap to enable it.
5. Start your new Android device and sign-in to your Google account.

If "Contacts" was not already toggled "ON" on your old device, it may take some time to upload your contacts to Google's cloud. Once complete, your contacts will also appear in Gmail.

When you start up your new Android device and sign-in with your Google account, your contacts (as well as any other information you have chosen to sync with Google) will be synced to your new Android phone.

Summary (Google Account):

✔ Quick and Easy
✔ Free
✔ Transfer of many different data types
✖ Requires internet connection
✖ Data must be stored in cloud

If both Android devices use Android 6 or higher, you can copy contacts between them using the Nearby Share feature. This feature will already be available to use on your devices, so you don't need to download an extra app for this.

You'll firstly need to Turn on Nearby Share on your Android devices. To do this, navigate through
Settings > Google > Devices and Sharing > Nearby Share, and tap to toggle Nearby Share ON.
Here you can also make changes to your Device visibility and how you'd like to share your contacts (Wifi, Bluetooth, mobile data, etc.).

Now let's take a look at how to share contacts using Nearby Share...

1. Open the contacts app on the Android containing your contacts.
2. Tap the 3-dot icon to access contacts Settings.
3. Tap Import/Export > Share contacts.
4. Select the contacts you wish to copy, or tap 'Select all'.
5. Tap Share, then choose Nearby Share.
6. Select the name of your destination Android device when it is found.
7. You'll finally need to tap accept the file share on your destination device.

Summary (Nearby Share):

✔ Different wireless transfer types available
✔ Free
✔ Quick and Easy

Manually Export your Contacts and Import on a new Android

If you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty, you can back up your contacts on your current Android phone, then restore them on your new Android phone.

The exact steps required for this method may vary, depending on which version of Android you are using, the app you use for Contacts, and the make and model of your phone. However, you should be able to achieve this effect by following steps similar to the below:

1. Launch the Contacts app on the Android containing your contacts.
2. Open the menu (an icon with 3 dots, or 3 lines usually).
3. Choose to Export your contacts. You may need to tap Settings before seeing an option to export.
4. You Contacts app will save all of your contacts as a VCF file on your phone.
5. You'll now need to copy or move the VCF file to your new Android. You can do this by connecting your devices to a PC and copying the file to the new device, or by sharing the file using a cloud service like Google Drive.
6. Once the VCF file is saved to your new Android, open the Contacts app, tap to open the menu, and find the Import option. Select the VCF file to import your contacts into the Contact app!

Summary (Manually Exporting and Importing):

✔ Local or Online transfers possible
✔ Free
✘ Can be time consuming

Device-Specific apps

The final method I'd like to briefly talk about is device-specific apps. By this, I mean apps created by the manufacturer of a device to help you switch your device to it. For example, Samsung created the "Smart Switch" app to help users with a new Samsung device transfer across their data from their old device.

Smart Switch offers a number of transfer options to suit any setup: device to device using Wi-Fi or USB, and from PC or Mac to your Android.

Depending on the make of your new Android device, there may be a device-specific app which could help you migrate your information you your new device.

Summary (Samsung Smart Switch):

✔ Direct device to device transfer
✔ Wired or Wireless transfer
✔ Free
✔ No need to store info online
✔ Transfer of many different data types
✖ Limited by device make

Transfer other files from Android to Android

So, you've mastered how to transfer contacts to a new device, but do you hunger for more? How do I transfer everything from Android to Android? Find out how to transfer photos, calendars, files, messages and music >

Publisher: Wide Angle Software

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