The fastest way to move contacts between iPhones

The simplest method is to use iCloud during setup. When you turn on a new iPhone and sign in with the same Apple ID you used on your old phone, iOS will ask whether you want to restore from a backup. If you choose "Restore from iCloud Backup," your contacts come over automatically as part of that backup — along with your photos, messages, and app data. This takes 15 to 45 minutes depending on how much data you have and your internet speed.

If your new phone is already set up, or if you want to move contacts without restoring everything else, you can use AirDrop or iCloud's web interface instead. Both methods are straightforward and take just a few minutes.

Key Takeaways

  • Restoring from an iCloud backup during setup moves all your contacts automatically and is the fastest method if you have not yet configured the new phone.
  • If your new iPhone is already set up, you can send contacts through AirDrop by selecting them in the Contacts app and tapping Share Contact.
  • You can also sign into iCloud.com on any computer, read your contacts as a file, and import them into the new phone through the Contacts app.
  • Contacts stored only in your phone's local storage (not synced to iCloud) will not transfer unless you back them up first — check your Contacts settings to see what is syncing.

Using iCloud backup during initial setup

This method works only if your new iPhone has not been fully set up yet. When you power on the new phone, you will see a series of setup screens. One of them asks "Apps & Data" — this is where you choose to restore from a backup.

Tap "Restore from iCloud Backup," then sign in with the Apple ID that was on your old phone. iOS will show you a list of available backups, usually with the date and device name. Select the most recent backup from your old iPhone. The phone will then read and restore everything, including your contacts, during the setup process. You do not need to do anything else — your contacts will be there when setup finishes.

If you have already completed setup on the new phone, you cannot use this method. Move to one of the other approaches instead.

Sending contacts through AirDrop

AirDrop works when both phones are near each other (within about 30 feet) and both have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on. Open the Contacts app on your old iPhone, then select the contact or contacts you want to move. Tap "Share Contact" at the bottom of the screen.

A menu will appear with sharing options. Look for the other iPhone's name in the AirDrop section at the top. Tap it, and the contact will send when ready. On the new phone, a notification will appear asking you to accept. Tap "Add" and the contact goes into your Contacts app.

If you want to move many contacts at once, you can select multiple contacts by tapping "Edit" in the Contacts app, then tapping each contact you want to include. Tap "Share" and send them all through AirDrop together. This is faster than sending them one at a time, though it works best with groups of 10 or fewer contacts.

Downloading contacts from iCloud.com

This method works from any computer and does not require the phones to be near each other. Go to iCloud.com in a web browser and sign in with your Apple ID. Click the Contacts icon (it looks like a person's silhouette).

You will see all your contacts listed. To select all of them at once, press Ctrl+A on Windows or Command+A on Mac. Then look for a gear icon or menu button — click it and choose "Export vCard." This downloads a file containing all your contacts to your computer.

On the new iPhone, open the Mail app and send yourself that vCard file as an attachment, or use AirDrop to send it from your computer to the phone. When the file arrives on the iPhone, tap it. A dialog will ask whether you want to add these contacts to your phone. Tap "Add All" and they will import into your Contacts app.

Checking whether your contacts are actually syncing to iCloud

Contacts only transfer if they are stored in iCloud, not just on your phone's local storage. To check, open Settings on your old iPhone, tap your name at the top, then tap iCloud. Scroll down and look for Contacts — if the toggle next to it is green and turned on, your contacts are syncing. If it is off or gray, they are only stored locally and will not move to the new phone unless you turn this on first.

If Contacts is turned off, tap the toggle to turn it on. iOS will ask whether you want to merge your local contacts with iCloud. Tap "Merge" — this adds your phone-only contacts to iCloud so they can transfer. Wait a few minutes for the sync to complete before moving to the new phone.

If you see a message saying "Waiting for iCloud Contacts to load," your phone is still syncing. Leave Settings open and wait a minute or two, then check again. Once the toggle is on and the status clears, your contacts are ready to move.

What to do if contacts are missing after the transfer

If you completed the transfer but some contacts are not showing up on the new phone, the most common reason is that those contacts were stored only on the old phone and never synced to iCloud. Check the old phone's Contacts settings again — if the toggle was off when you checked it, those contacts may not have had time to sync before you switched phones.

You can still recover them. On the old phone, turn on iCloud Contacts syncing if it is not already on, wait 10 minutes, then use one of the other methods (AirDrop or the vCard export) to move them. Alternatively, if you have a backup of the old phone on your computer from iTunes or Finder, you can connect the old phone to that computer and restore the backup to recover the missing contacts, then sync them to iCloud.

If the new phone is showing duplicate contacts (the same person listed twice), this usually means the contacts synced from iCloud and then were added again through another method. Open the Contacts app, tap "Edit" in the top left, select the duplicate, and tap "Delete" to remove it.

Transferring contacts from an Android phone to iPhone

If you are switching from Android instead of another iPhone, the process is different. On the Android phone, open Settings, find Accounts or Users, and select your Google account. Look for Contacts or Sync options and make sure Contacts are syncing to Google. Then on the new iPhone, go to Settings, tap Mail, then Accounts, and add your Google account. Choose which data to sync — make sure Contacts is turned on. Your Android contacts will then appear in the iPhone's Contacts app.

Alternatively, you can export contacts from Android as a vCard file (the method varies by phone model), email the file to yourself, and open it on the iPhone to import them the same way described in the iCloud.com section above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move contacts if I do not have the same Apple ID on both phones?

Yes. The iCloud backup method requires the same Apple ID, but AirDrop and the vCard export method work with different Apple IDs. You can also create a new Apple ID on the new phone and use AirDrop or the vCard method to transfer contacts, then switch to a different Apple ID afterward if you want.

Will my contacts move if I just sign into my Apple ID on the new phone without restoring a backup?

Only if they are already syncing to iCloud on your old phone. If Contacts syncing is turned on in iCloud settings, signing in with the same Apple ID on the new phone will read those contacts automatically within a few minutes. If syncing was off, the contacts will not appear.

What if my old iPhone is broken and I cannot turn it on?

If you have an iCloud backup from before the phone broke, restore from that backup on the new phone during setup. If you do not have a backup, contacts may be lost unless you had them synced to iCloud before the phone stopped working. Check iCloud.com to see if your contacts are there — if they are, you can read them and import them to the new phone.

Does moving contacts through AirDrop use data or Wi-Fi?

AirDrop uses a direct connection between the two phones and does not use your cellular data or Wi-Fi internet. It works even if neither phone is connected to the internet, as long as both have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios turned on.

Can I move just some contacts instead of all of them?

Yes. With AirDrop, select only the contacts you want to move before tapping Share. With the vCard method, you can select specific contacts on iCloud.com before exporting — hold Ctrl (or Command on Mac) and click each contact you want, then export. With iCloud backup, all contacts restore together, so this method does not let you choose individual contacts.