Years ago, people have to write down contacts on an address book, and add them one by one to another device when they need the contacts.
However, technology is changing our life.
Now, you just need to extract contacts from iPhone to another device directly with some apps, instead of paper writing.
In this tutorial, we share the best 5 ways to help you export iPhone contacts and save them to computer, iTunes, iCloud, Gmail, Android phone as vCard/VCF/CSV file directly.
- Part 1. How to copy contacts from iPhone to computer as CSV/VCF/HTML (Easiest)
- Part 2. How to export iPhone contacts to vCard on PC via iCloud
- Part 3. How to transfer iPhone contacts to Gmail/computer (vCard/VCF file)
- Part 4. How to export iPhone contacts to computer with iTunes
- Part 5. How to export contacts from iPhone to Android/iPhone
Part 1. How to copy contacts from iPhone to computer as CSV/VCF/HTML (Easiest)
According to our lab testing and users' research, we summarized several factors are necessary to the best method about exporting iPhone contacts to computer. From this point, we recommend Apeaksoft iPhone Transfer, because it has more benefits than other iPhone contacts transferring solutions.:
4,000,000+ Downloads
Transfer contacts from iPhone to computer.
Manage iPhone contacts, like de-duplicate, delete, add, edit, etc.
Export iPhone contacts to another iPhone.
Compatible with iPhone 16/15/14/13/12/11/X, etc.
Step 1. Install the best iPhone contact transferring application
Download the right version of iPhone Transfer based on your operating system.
There is one version for Windows and another version for Mac computers. Double click the installation file and follow the onscreen instructions to install it on your computer. Plug your iPhone to the computer using the Lightning cable came in the box when you got your iPhone. Launch the application. It will detect your device automatically.
Step 2. Preview iPhone contacts for backup
On the home interface, click your iPhone's name at upper left corner and then select the "Contacts" option on left sidebar. Now, you can preview all contacts on your iPhone on the right panel. Before backing up iPhone contacts, you can edit them first.
To add photos on a contact, for example, click the contact and hit the "edit" button below the photo sector. You can change the phone number and other information for the contact. If you want to delete duplicate contacts, click the "De-duplicate" button on top of the window, select a match type and click "Merge" to merge duplicated contacts.
Step 3. Export contacts from iPhone to computer in one click
Tick the checkbox in front of each contact you want to back up to computer from iPhone, locate to the top ribbon, unfold the "Export to" menu and choose "Export to PC" or "Export to Mac". On the popup dialog, choose a destination to store iPhone contacts to computer and start the process. When it is done, remove the iPhone from your computer.
The only defect of exporting iPhone contacts is the free trial version of this software supports limited numbers and times for contacts transfer.
Part 2. How to export iPhone contacts to vCard on PC via iCloud
One of the free tool offered by Apple is iCloud. You can easily backup iPhone contacts to iCloud, and download iCloud contacts to your computer easily.
The process sounds a little complicated? Let's show you the details step by step.
Step 1. Unlock your iPhone, connect it to a Wi-Fi network, go to "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud", make sure to put the switch of "Contacts" to the "ON" position. This is to sync your iPhone contacts to your iCloud account.
Step 2. Now, power on a computer, put icloud.com into the address bar of any browser and hit the "Enter" key. Input your Apple ID and password, answer security questions or enter the verification code displaying on your iPhone.
After opening the iCloud home page, click "Contacts" and then select all contacts you want to export to computer.
Step 3. Locate to the bottom left corner, click the "settings" button and select "Export vCard" on the menu bar.
Step 4. You can do one more step to import contacts to Gmail.
Access Gmail website, log in your username and password, hit the "Gmail" menu at top left corner and select "Contacts";.
Unfold the "More" option and select "Import". On the popup dialog, hit the "Choose File" button and locate the vcard file exported from iCloud.
Congratulations! All your iPhone contacts have been synced to your Gmail account and you can export contacts from iPhone to computer.
The cons you cannot miss through iCloud to export contacts from iPhone are as following:
1. It will backup all contacts, not picked contacts to iCloud.
2. You need to enable iCloud backup on iPhone and then log in www.icloud.con online to download contacts on computer.
Part 3. How to transfer iPhone contacts to Gmail/computer (vCard/VCF file)
Google's Gmail is one of the most popular email services around the world. One Gmail account to access all Google services for free. Here, we will show you how to sync iPhone contacts to Gmail and then you can export contacts from iPhone to computer via Gmail at any time.
Step 1. On iOS 10.2 or earlier, you can head to "Settings" > "Mail, Contacts, Calendars". If you have updated to iOS 10.3 or later, go to "Settings" > [your name] > "Contacts" > "Account". Then tap "Add Account" and choose Google on the list.
Step 2. Enter your Gmail username and password and make sure to turn on the "Contacts" option. After setup, every time when your iPhone connect to a Wi-Fi network, the contacts on your iPhone will be synced to your Gmail account automatically.
In this way, you are able to sync iPhone contacts to Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc.
Step 3. When you want to export contacts from iPhone to computer, open your Gmail on your browser, go to "Gmail" > "Contacts", select the iPhone contacts you want to export, click "More" and select "Export". Gmail allows you to export contacts in vCard and VCF formats.
The disadvantages of exporting iPhone contacts to Gmail are as below:
1. The Google cloud backup storage is limited.
2. You need to create Gmail account for using.
Contacts on Gmail is lost or deleted accidentally? Just restore contacts from Gmail here.
Part 4. How to export iPhone contacts to computer with iTunes
Another free utility introduced by Apple is transferring iPhone contacts to computer via iTunes.
Step 1. Hook up your iPhone to your computer via a USB cable and open the iTunes app. Make sure to update it to the latest version. You can go to "iTunes" menu on Mac or "Help" menu on Windows, and click "Check to Update" to find and get the update.
Step 2. After iTunes finding your iPhone, click the "Device" button and then the "Summary" tab. Locate to the Backups section on right panel, select This computer and click the "Back Up Now" button to trigger the process.
Step 3. Wait for the process to finish, remove your iPhone from the computer and quit iTunes. After saving contacts from iPhone to computer, you can change or edit them on your device as you wish.
The demerits of exporting iPhone contacts to computer with iTunes are as following:
1. iTunes does not support to selectively backup iPhone contacts, but the whole iPhone data including contacts, photos, videos and other data and settings.
2. When restoring contacts, contact backup will erase the existing contacts on iPhone.
3. The contacts backup will not feasible on computer, unless you use third-party apps to view and restore iTunes backup.
Part 5. How to export contacts from iPhone to Android/iPhone
Last but not the least method of moving contacts from iPhone is copying contacts into another phone device.
Phone Transfer is the tool that you will need.
Phone TransferIt exports contacts from iPhone to Android/iPhone with keeping both old contacts and new contacts intact. Moreover, it gives you option to replace the existing contacts with the exported contacts on target device directly.
4,000,000+Downloads
Step 1. Connect both Android and iPhone
Download and install Phone Transfer to your Windows computer. Connect both Android phone and iPhone to your computer using the USB cables.
Note: If you want to export iPhone contacts to Android phone, just make sure iPhone is in the Source Device box and Android phone is in the Target Device area. If not, just click "Switch".
Step 2. Move contacts from iPhone to Android phone
Tick the checkbox of "Contacts". If you do not want to interrupt contacts on iPhone, uncheck the box said Remove the chosen data on Target Device before copy.
Click "Start" to copy contacts from iPhone to Android.
People also read:
- How to Transfer Photos from Android to iPhone
- How to Transfer Files from Android to iPhone
- How to Transfer Photos from Samsung to Samsung
Conclusion
Now, you should grasp 5 free ways to transfer and backup iPhone contacts to computer. iTunes , iCloud and Gmail are the free tool that can transfer iPhone contacts to computer/cloud, however, they all have the obvious weaknesses. iPhone Transfer and Phone Transfer are the two tools that work better. Decide the best one method for yourself to export contacts on iPhone.
