Pinning a contact puts it at the top of your contact list so you see it first
Pinning moves a contact to the top of your phone's contact app, above all the others. You still see your full list below it — pinning does not hide anything. It is a way to keep the people you call most often, or need to reach in an emergency, visible without scrolling. The steps differ slightly between Android and iPhone, but both take about 10 seconds.
Pinning is different from blocking or muting. It does not change who can reach you, what notifications you get, or how your phone stores the contact. It only changes the order you see them in. You can pin as many contacts as you want, and unpin them just as easily.
Key Takeaways
- Pinned contacts appear at the top of your contact list, separated from the rest, so you can find them without scrolling.
- On iPhone, open the contact, tap Edit, then tap the pin icon; on Android, long-press the contact name and select Pin.
- Pinning does not change privacy settings, notification settings, or who can call you — it only changes the order contacts appear in your app.
- You can pin as many contacts as you want and unpin them at any time by reversing the same steps.
How to pin a contact on iPhone
Open the Contacts app and find the person you want to pin. Tap their name to open their full contact card. At the top right, tap the word "Edit" in blue text. Scroll down slightly and you will see a pin icon — it looks like a pushpin. Tap it once. The icon will fill in with color to show the contact is now pinned. Tap "Done" at the top right to save.
The pinned contact will now appear in a separate section at the very top of your Contacts list, above the alphabetical list. If you pin multiple contacts, they stack in that top section in the order you pinned them.
How to pin a contact on Android
Open the Contacts app and find the person you want to pin. Long-press their name — hold your finger on it for about two seconds until a menu appears. Tap "Pin contact" from the menu. The contact moves to the top of your list when ready. You do not need to tap anything else to save.
On some Android phones, the menu option might say "Add to favorites" instead of "Pin contact" — both do the same thing. Check your phone's version of Android in Settings to see which language your device uses, or just try long-pressing and see what options appear.
Where pinned contacts appear and how to find them
Pinned contacts sit in their own section at the top of your Contacts app, separated from the rest of your list by a faint line. They stay there even when you search for other contacts. If you open the phone dialer and start typing a number or name, pinned contacts appear first in the results, which makes them faster to call.
The pinned section does not appear in your text message app or email app — pinning only affects the Contacts app itself. If you want a contact to show up first in Messages or Mail, those apps have their own pinning or favoriting features, which you set up separately.
How to unpin a contact
On iPhone, open Contacts, find the pinned contact, tap Edit, tap the filled-in pin icon to empty it, then tap Done. On Android, long-press the contact name and tap "Unpin contact" or "Remove from favorites." The contact moves back into the alphabetical list and no longer appears in the pinned section.
Unpinning does not delete the contact or change any of their information. It only removes them from the top section. You can pin and unpin the same contact as many times as you want.
What pinning does and does not do
Pinning changes only the order contacts appear in your app. It does not affect notifications, call blocking, message filtering, or any privacy setting. A pinned contact can still be blocked, muted, or silenced — those are separate controls. Pinning does not make a contact more or less able to reach you, and it does not change what information they can see about you.
Pinning also does not sync across devices. If you pin a contact on your iPhone, it will not be pinned on your iPad or Mac. Each device keeps its own pinned list. If you use iCloud to sync your contacts, the contact information itself syncs, but the pin status does not.
Why you might pin a contact
People usually pin contacts they call or text most often — family members, close friends, or work colleagues. Some people pin emergency contacts like a doctor's office, poison control, or a trusted neighbor, so they can reach them quickly without scrolling. Others pin a contact they call regularly but do not have memorized, like a car repair shop or their bank.
Pinning is also useful if you have a long contact list and want to reduce scrolling. If you have 500 contacts but call the same five people every week, pinning those five saves you time every single day. It is a small change that adds up over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pin a contact to my home screen?
No, pinning in the Contacts app only affects the order within that app. To create a shortcut to call or text someone directly from your home screen, use a different feature: on iPhone, long-press the Contacts app icon and select "Create Shortcut," or on Android, long-press an empty space on your home screen and add a Contact widget. Those are separate from pinning.
If I pin a contact, can they see that I pinned them?
No. Pinning is a setting on your phone only. The other person has no way to know whether you pinned them, and it does not send them any notification or change what they can see about you.
Do pinned contacts stay pinned if I back up my phone?
On iPhone, pinned contacts do not transfer to a new phone when you restore from backup — you will need to pin them again. On Android, it depends on your phone manufacturer and backup service; check your device's backup settings to see what transfers. Either way, the contact information itself always transfers; only the pin status may not.
Can I pin a group or a distribution list?
On iPhone, you can pin a group contact. On Android, it depends on your phone model and version — some allow it, some do not. Try long-pressing the group name and see if the pin option appears. If it does not, you can still call or text the group, just not from the pinned section.
What is the difference between pinning and marking as favorite?
On most phones, pinning and marking as favorite are the same thing — the terms are used interchangeably. Both move a contact to a special section at the top of your list. Some older Android phones used "favorite" instead of "pin," but the function is identical.