The fastest way: use iCloud during setup

When you turn on a new iPhone for the first time, Apple walks you through a setup process that can copy your contacts automatically. If you sign in with the same Apple ID you used on your old iPhone, your contacts will read to the new phone within a few minutes. This is the simplest route because you do nothing extra — the transfer happens as part of normal setup.

To use this method, you need to know your Apple ID and password before you start. Your Apple ID is the email address you use to sign into iCloud, the App Store, or any Apple service. If you are not sure whether your old iPhone's contacts are already in iCloud, open Settings on the old phone, tap your name at the top, then tap iCloud. Look for Contacts in the list — if the toggle next to it is green, your contacts are already backed up.

During setup on the new iPhone, when you reach the screen that says "Apps & Data," choose "Restore from iCloud Backup" or "Migrate Data from iPhone." Sign in with your Apple ID, select your most recent backup, and wait for the transfer to finish. This can take 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many contacts you have and your internet speed.

Key Takeaways

  • The iCloud method during setup is fastest because contacts transfer automatically when you sign in with your Apple ID.
  • If you have already finished setup on the new iPhone, you can still turn on iCloud Contacts in Settings to read them.
  • AirDrop works only if both phones are in the same room and you want to send contacts one at a time or in small groups.
  • Exporting contacts as a file works when you need a backup copy or want to move contacts to a non-Apple phone.
  • If contacts do not appear after setup, check that iCloud Contacts is turned on and that you signed in with the correct Apple ID.

Turn on iCloud Contacts if setup is already done

If you have already completed setup on your new iPhone without transferring contacts, you can still get them from iCloud. Open Settings, tap your name at the top, then tap iCloud. Scroll down until you see Contacts, and turn the toggle green. Your phone will read all contacts stored in your iCloud account within a few minutes.

This works only if your old iPhone was syncing contacts to iCloud in the first place. If you never turned on iCloud Contacts on the old phone, or if you turned it off at some point, those contacts will not be in iCloud to read. In that case, you will need to use one of the other methods described below.

Use AirDrop to send contacts between phones in the same room

AirDrop lets you send contacts wirelessly from one iPhone to another if both phones are nearby and have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on. This method works best when you have a small number of contacts to move or when you want to send specific contacts rather than all of them.

On your old iPhone, open the Contacts app and find the contact you want to send. Tap the contact's name to open their card, then tap Edit in the top right. Scroll to the bottom and tap Share Contact. A menu will appear with AirDrop at the top — tap it, and your new iPhone should appear in the list. Tap your new iPhone's name, and the contact will send when ready. On the new phone, a notification will appear asking you to accept the contact. Tap Add, and it will save to your Contacts app.

To send multiple contacts at once, open Contacts, tap Edit in the top left, select several contacts by tapping the circle next to each name, then tap Share at the bottom. Choose AirDrop and your new iPhone. This is faster than sending them one by one, but you can only select contacts that appear consecutively in your list.

Export contacts as a file for backup or moving to Android

If you want a permanent backup of your contacts or need to move them to a non-Apple phone, you can export them as a file. The iPhone Contacts app does not have a built-in export button, so you will need to use a computer or a third-party app to do this.

On a Mac, open Contacts, select the contacts you want to export (or press Command-A to select all), then go to File menu and choose Export. Save the file as a vCard, which is a standard format that works on most phones and services. On a Windows computer, you can use iCloud.com: sign in with your Apple ID, click Contacts, select the contacts you want, click the gear icon, and choose Export vCard.

If you do not have access to a computer, apps like Contacts Backup or My Contacts Backup let you export contacts from your iPhone directly. These apps create a file you can email to yourself or save to cloud storage, then import on your new phone or a different device.

Check that contacts synced correctly after transfer

After you transfer contacts, open the Contacts app on your new iPhone and scroll through to make sure they all arrived. If you are missing contacts, the most common reason is that you signed in with a different Apple ID than the one your old phone used. Check Settings by tapping your name at the top — the email address shown there is your current Apple ID. If it is different from the one on your old phone, your iCloud contacts will not match.

If contacts are missing and you used the same Apple ID, turn off iCloud Contacts and turn it back on. Go to Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, find Contacts, turn the toggle off, wait 10 seconds, then turn it back on. Your phone will re-read contacts from iCloud. If some contacts still do not appear, they may not have been synced to iCloud on your old phone — in that case, use AirDrop or the export method to move them manually.

Duplicate contacts sometimes appear after transfer if the same contact exists in both iCloud and on your new phone's local storage. To remove duplicates, open Contacts, tap Edit in the top left, find two copies of the same contact, tap one, then tap Merge at the bottom. Repeat for any other duplicates.

What to do if you cannot sign into iCloud on the new phone

If you forgot your Apple ID password, you can reset it on any web browser by going to iforgot.apple.com. Enter your Apple ID email, answer your security questions or use a recovery key if you have one, and follow the steps to create a new password. Once you have reset it, sign into iCloud on your new iPhone with the new password.

If you do not remember which email address is your Apple ID, check your old iPhone. Go to Settings, tap your name at the top, and the email shown there is your Apple ID. If you have a recovery key saved somewhere, you can use that instead of answering security questions. If you have lost access to your Apple ID entirely, you will need to contact Apple Support — they can help you regain access or set up a new Apple ID.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my contacts transfer if I do not have Wi-Fi during setup?

No. The iCloud transfer during setup requires an internet connection. If you skip the setup transfer, you can still turn on iCloud Contacts later once you have Wi-Fi, and your contacts will read then. This may take a few minutes depending on how many contacts you have.

Can I transfer contacts from an Android phone to an iPhone?

Yes, but not through iCloud. Export your contacts from Android as a vCard file, email it to yourself, then open the file on your iPhone to import them. Alternatively, some Android phones let you sync contacts to Google, and you can sign into Google on your iPhone to read them. The exact steps depend on your Android phone model.

What happens to contacts on my old iPhone after I transfer them?

Contacts remain on your old iPhone. Transferring copies them to the new phone — it does not remove them from the old one. If you want to erase your old iPhone, you can do that separately through Settings without affecting the contacts on your new phone.

Do I need to turn off iCloud Contacts on my old phone before setting up the new one?

No. You can leave iCloud Contacts on in both phones at the same time. Any new contacts you add to either phone will sync to iCloud and appear on both. If you want to stop syncing between them, turn off iCloud Contacts on the old phone after you have confirmed the transfer worked on the new one.

Why do some contacts show only a phone number with no name?

This usually means the contact was saved with a phone number but no name attached. To fix it, open the contact in your Contacts app, tap Edit, and type a name in the name field. Tap Done to save. This is common with old text message contacts or calls from unknown numbers that your phone saved automatically.