How To Transfer Contacts From Android to Android [3 Working Methods]

Wouldn’t switching to a different phone get inconvenient if you weren’t able to transfer important data such as contacts? With advancements in the software industry, you can now clone your entire phone to another device that runs on the same operating system. (However, in some cases, you can’t fully clone, but you still can transfer most of the important information such as contacts, photo & videos, messages, etc.)

There is no need to manually enter contact information from your old Android Phone into a new Android Phone. Most Android phones now have the capability to simply synchronize or export the entire database of contacts from one device to the other with complete information including personal details such associated emails, contact pictures, etc. There are numerous ways to approach this and the following guide intends to cover most, if not all the ways.

1. Our Favorite: Using Google Sync

1. Head into settings on your old device.
2. Go to Accounts and Sync.
3. If you have a Google Account which you haven’t logged into or don’t have a Google account altogether, tap on Add Account.
4. Select Google from the available list of options.
5. Log into your account or create a new one.
6. Once you’re done with that, you’ll find the new account under the Accounts and Sync tab. Tap on your account.
7. Check the box which says Sync Contacts.
8. Tap on the overflow icon which looks like three vertical dots and select Sync.
9. Once the process is over, use a similar method to connect your new Android device to the same Google Account and you’ll find all the contacts from your old phone here.

You can also use this same method to transfer loads of other things including your Calendar, your App Data and much more.

This is the easiest way to transfer contacts from one android to another. However, in the event that you do not wish to own or use a Google Account, don’t have an active internet connection, or you old phone does not have Android 6.0 or higher, fret not. There are various other means to transfer your contacts to a new phone.

2. Exporting contacts to the Android device

Exporting contacts is a feature which has existed ever since the days of feature phones. However, the main issue which arises is transferring these contacts into the new phone is how to transfer them in the first place. While we will be covering how you can transfer contacts from one Android device to another, know that similar steps based on the same principle can also be used to transfer contacts from one android device to iPhones and countless other devices and vice versa.

In order to export contacts, you must follow these steps:

1. Head over into contacts.
2. Tap on the overflow icon. This looks like three vertical dots.
3. Choose Export contacts.
4. Select Export to SD Card and save them someplace where you will remember them.
5. Upon navigating to that location, you’ll see that you have your Contacts file there with the .vcf extension. It will be Contacts.vcf by default unless you were given the option to rename it.

Now to transfer them to the new Android device. A few good methods to do it are as follows.

2.1. Export Using the external SD Card

If your old Android device has an external SD Card which you’re looking to place in your new Android device, then this method is going to be the most useful one for you. You can export your contacts to your SD card and then import them in the new phone from the same SD card. Just follow the steps below:

1. Make sure your SD Card is mounted on your old phone.
2. Export the contacts and make sure that they are saved in our external SD Card.
3. Eject the SD card and mount it in your new Phone.
4. Go to contacts and tap on the overflow icon.
5. Select Import Contacts and browse for your .vcf file.
6. Select the file and tap on import.
7. Once the process is done, you’ll find that your new Android device now has all the contacts from your old device.

2.2. Export Using Bluetooth

It is possible that your new or old Android Device does not have accommodations for an external SD card. In such cases, you will have to look for ways to transfer contacts via Bluetooth. The basic steps remain the same.

1. Export the contacts to your Internal Storage.
2. Now navigate to the saved .vcf file and long press it to select it.
3. Once selected, or once more options pop up, tap on the Share button. This is the which looks like two dots on the right connected to one dot on the left.
4. Select Bluetooth from the given list of options.
5. Turn on the Bluetooth on your new device, pair with it and begin the transfer.
6. Now you can simply head into contacts on your new device.
7. Tap on the overflow icon and select Import Contacts.
8. Navigate to the .vcf file which you just received via Bluetooth and select it. You should normally find it in Bluetooth > Received.
9. Your new phone will now have all your contacts once the import process is over.

2.3. Export using your PC

Another way of transferring your contacts is by storing them on the PC. With this method, you can even distribute contacts from one phone to multiple other phones. All you need to do is export the.vcf file to the PC via a USB cable. Simply follow the steps below.

1. Export your Contacts to the Internal Storage.
2. Connect your phone to the PC.
3. Head to the location where you have saved your Contacts.vcf file via the PC.
4. Simply copy the .vcf file and save it in a secure location on your PC.
5. Now connect your other Android device to the PC.
6. Copy and paste the Contacts.vcf file to any location within the new phone.
7. Head over into Contacts on your new Android device and tap on the overflow icon.
8. Select Import contacts and choose the .vcf file which you copied from your PC.
9. Once this process is over, you will find all your contacts in your new Android device.

2.4. Using NFC

NFC is a technology similar to Bluetooth where two devices in close proximity to each other can connect to each other and exchange data. However, the obvious prerequisite is to make sure that both devices should be NFC enabled. Simply follow the steps below.

1. Export your Contacts to the internal storage of your old device.
2. Enable NFC and Android Beam on both devices. Your devices should be able to sense each other if they are in close proximity. Try gently bumping them together otherwise.
3. Once your new Android device has been recognised, simply navigate to the location where you saved your .vcf file on your old Android Device.
4. Long press the .vcf file and bump your old device into the new.
5. The screen of your old device will then tell you to touch your screen to start beaming. Touch your screen.
6. Now separate the devices and wait for the transfer to complete.
7. Head into Contacts in the new device and tap on the overflow icon.
8. Select Import Contacts and choose the file which you just obtained via NFC.
9. Your new Android device will have all the contacts as soon as the importing process is over.

2.5. Uploading them to the internet

Another way of transferring contacts from one Android to another includes uploading it to the internet and downloading it from there on your new device. You can use your own Mail, your own cloud drive, or simply use instant messaging services to send it to yourself or some trusted person in your contacts. Make sure that you have an active internet connection for this.

1. Export your contact to the Internal Storage.
2. Long press on the Contacts.vcf file and tap on the share icon. This is the one which looks like two dots on the right connected to one dot on the left.
3. From here, you are free to choose your method. Choose your mail client if you wish to mail it to yourself. You can upload it to the cloud drive. You can simply use your instant messaging client to send it to yourself.
4. Open the destination where your .vcf file was uploaded in the new Android device. This will be your mail if you mailed it to yourself, the drive if you uploaded it there, and so on and so forth.
5. Download the file.
6. Head into contacts and tap on the overflow icon.
7. Tap on import contacts and navigate to your downloaded .vcf file. It should ideally be in the downloads directory.
8. Select the file. Once the import process is complete, you will have your contacts as they were stored in your old device.

2.6. Using Third Party Applications

There are many third party applications out there that are meant to transfer more than just files and pictures between android devices. For not, we’ll focus on transferring contacts from Android to Android using ShareIT. Just follow the steps below.

1. Make sure ShareIT is set up on both devices.
2. Export your Contacts to the Internal Storage.
3. Open ShareIT on both devices.
4. Head over to Send on your old device and click on files.
5. Navigate to the proper location and select the .vcf file.
6. Tap on receive on your new device while tapping on send on your old one.
7. Let the old device find the new one to send the file to.
8. Once found, simply tap on the new device and your contacts will soon be sent.
9. Simply tap on the .vcf file to open it.
10. In a while, you will find all contacts in your new device as well.

2.7. Using the SIM card

While you can use the SIM card to transfer contacts and it seems to be the most obvious way to do it seeing how you’re probably going to transfer your SIM card to your new Android Device, this method is also has its own drawbacks. First, the SIM card is designed to store very few contacts. This means that depending upon the design of your SIM card, you can only store from fifty to a hundred contacts there. Secondly, the SIM card can only store one parameter of your contact per entry. This means that if your contact has three numbers, an email address, a home address, and a picture, your SIM card will create four separate contacts under the same name, three with their numbers and one with their email address. SIM cards cannot hold contact pictures.

As a result, while you can opt for this way, you should only use this as a last resort.

1. Go over to contacts.
2. Tap on the overflow icon. It looks like three vertical dots.
3. Choose Export Contacts.
4. This time, tap on Export to SIM Card and choose the desired SIM card.
5. This might take a while, but your SIM will now have all the contacts.
6. Take your SIM Card out of your old phone and transfer it to the new phone.
7. As soon as your put the SIM Card into your new device, you will find all of your contacts already present there.
8. You can go the extra mile and import all of the contacts from the SIM card. However, it isn’t necessary and all phones don’t support it.

This will inevitably make it a mess of your contacts. However, if there is no other way, you might as well opt for this option.

3. Using 3rd Party Applications

There are numerous third party applications which you can use in order to transfer your contacts from one android device to the other such as dr.fone or Gihosoft Mobile Transfer, or outright cloning your entire device by using CloneIT. However, for demonstration purposes, we’ll be focusing on how to transfer contacts from android to android using dr.fone. Follow the steps below:

1. Simply download and install dr.fone from the link above.
2. Open the application and click on switch on the main interface.
3. Connect both phones to your PC at the same time.
4. Select contacts from the list of items to transfer including whatever else you want to transfer.
5. Once ready, simply click on ‘Begin Transfer.’ Your new device should now have everything that you selected from your old phone.

In the even that you don’t want to involve your PC in the matter, you can simply download the mobile version of dr.fone Switch and follow the instructions on screen.

The application is one of those things which can be used to almost clone entire devices. You will find your messages, call logs, calendar, contacts, music, pictures, and much more in your new Android Device. If it was anymore powerful, the application would probably be illegal.

As mentioned before, there are many other applications such as this one. CloneIT is another application which is quite popular and comes from the makers of ShareIT.

With this, we come to the end of the guide. Hopefully, one of the given ways has proved helpful to you and helped you transfer your contacts from your old phone into your new phone. There are so many ways to go about this, that human creativity seems to be the only limiting factor. However, in the event that we have helped you we are grateful for the opportunity to do so.