4 Proven Ways to Backup Contacts on iPhone - Qiling  

How to Backup Contacts on iPhone in 4 Proven Ways

Updated on Jun 19, 2024 | by Woodward

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To ensure your iPhone contacts are safe, it's crucial to back them up regularly. This can be done by using the built-in iCloud or iTunes backup feature, or by using a third-party app to export your contacts. This way, you can easily recover your contacts if your iPhone is lost, stolen, or damaged, and also transfer them to a new device.

Making multiple backups of your important files and data can provide a sense of security and peace of mind, especially in the event of a disaster or loss of data. While it may require a bit more effort and time upfront, the benefits of having multiple backups can be significant.

Part1. How to Back up Contacts on iPhone Locally

To ensure data safety, it's recommended to make a copy of important data in both local storage and cloud service, eliminating the risk of data loss. You can achieve this by using either iTunes or a third-party program to create a local backup, providing a secure and reliable way to safeguard your data.

Using a third-party program to change the default browser has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it is a simple and straightforward process, and many programs can do it in just a few clicks. On the other hand, it may not be as secure as other methods, and some users may not like the idea of installing an additional program just to make a change.

Option 1. How to Back up iPhone Contacts with Qiling MobiMover

Our top recommended backup solution is Qiling MobiMover, an iPhone data transfer tool that allows you to selectively export wanted data to a computer for safekeeping or back up your entire device to the computer safely, giving you access to and the ability to view backed-up data, a superior option to iTunes.

To backup contacts on iPhone:

Step 1. To back up your iPhone, connect it to your PC with a USB cable, then launch Qiling MobiMover. Unlock your iPhone and click "Trust" in the prompt that appears. Once connected, select "Phone to PC" and click "Next" to initiate the backup process.

Step 2. Click "Contacts" and select the default path to set a custom storage path if needed, then click "Transfer".

Step 3. When the transfer process is complete, you can access your backed-up contacts on your computer and transfer them back to your iDevice as needed.

Contacts backed up to a PC or Mac will be saved as an HTML file, which can be viewed with a browser and transferred back to the iPhone from the computer.

Option 2. How to Back up iPhone Contacts with iTunes

To back up iPhone contacts using iTunes, first connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. Then, select your device from the top left menu and click on "Summary". Next, click on "This computer" under the "Backups" section and select the type of backup you want to create (e.g.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch iTunes.

Step 2. Unlock your iPhone and trust the computer.

Step 3. Tap on the Summary.

Step 4. Click on the "Back Up Now" from the right pane.

How to backup contacts on iPhone with iTunes

Part 2. How to Back up iPhone Contacts to Cloud

Backing up iPhone contacts to the cloud is a great way to keep them safe. For iOS users, using iCloud is the most convenient and easy option, but if you want to try something different, Google is also a good choice. To do this, follow these steps: [insert steps to backup iPhone contacts to iCloud or Google].

Option 1. How to Back up iPhone Contacts via iCloud

Before getting started, note that every iCloud account comes with a standard 5GB of storage. If you have a larger number of contacts to back up, you may need to upgrade your iCloud storage plan to accommodate them.

Step 1. Open Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2. Go to [your name] and select "iCloud."

Step 3. Tap on "Contacts" to turn it on.

Step 4. Then, your contacts will be backed up to iCloud.

Note: When you delete a contact on your iPhone, it will also be removed from iCloud, effectively deleting it from all your Apple devices that use iCloud syncing. This means that if you delete a contact on your iPhone, it will no longer be visible on your iPad, Mac, or other Apple devices that have the same iCloud account set up.

Back up iPhone Contacts via iCloud

To sync all contacts to iCloud, you can back up your whole device to iCloud. To do this, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup and turn on iCloud Backup. Then, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Contacts and turn on Contacts.

Step 1. Go to Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2. Tap on [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup.

Step 3. Enable iCloud Backup and then click "Back Up Now."

Step 4. Then, your contacts and other data will be backed up to your iCloud.

Option 2. How to Backup iPhone Contacts to Google

To backup iPhone contacts to Google, export your iPhone contacts as a VCF file using iCloud, and then import it to Google.

To export iPhone contacts as a VCF file:

Step 1. To enable iCloud Contacts on your iPhone, go to the "Settings" app, tap on your name, then select "iCloud" and toggle the switch next to "Contacts" to the right. This will sync your contacts across all your Apple devices.

Step 2. On your computer, open a browser and visit iCloud.com.

Step 3. To access the Contacts feature on your Apple device, enter your Apple ID and password as required, and then select "Contacts" from the options provided.

Step 4. To backup contacts from your iPhone, select the contacts you want to export, click the "Gear" icon, and then tap "Export vCard" to save them as a .vcf file.

How to export iPhone contacts

Then to import iPhone contacts to Google:

Step 1. To access Google Contacts, go to the website https://www.google.com/contacts/ and sign in with your Google account credentials.

Step 2. To import contacts, select "Import Contacts..." from the sidebar and then click on "Choose File" in the resulting pop-up window.

Step 3. Import your exported contacts from your computer to Google Contacts by going to Google Contacts, clicking on the three horizontal lines on the top left corner, selecting "More", then clicking on "Import". Select the exported contacts file (.vcf) from your computer and follow the prompts to complete the import process.

How to import iPhone contacts to Google

By exporting your iPhone contacts to Google, you can successfully transfer them. If your iPhone contacts aren't syncing with Gmail, you can try the solutions provided in the related article or explore alternative methods to back up your iPhone contacts.

The Bottom Line

To ensure your iPhone contacts are safe, it's a good idea to make two copies of them in the cloud or a local storage. This way, you won't lose your contacts in case something happens. You can use any of the backup solutions we discussed to make these copies.

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