How to move Google contacts from Android to iPhone

So you just got your new, I even assume the first-ever, iPhone. You’re overwhelmed with excitement that you would normally feel for getting a pair of headphones, let alone the most premium phone in the world. But the excitement quickly turns into panic when you realize how much work is ahead of you.

One of the first things you’ll want to do is moving all your contacts to the iPhone. Although Google and Apple aren’t the brightest examples of professional cooperation, moving your contacts from Android to iOS is actually easier than you’d expect. You’ll just have to follow a few rules.

I’m going to show you what you need to do here. Just follow the instructions, and you’ll move your contacts from one ecosystem to another without any fuss.

Sync contacts using Gmail

The most straightforward way to move your contacts to iOS is by simply installing Gmail. Once you install Google’s email client, it will automatically bring all your synced contacts with it. Assuming you backed up your contacts to your Google Account first (in case you haven’t, just take a look at this article).

Once you install Gmail, just make sure the sync is enabled, and contacts will appear. In case you’re not sure how to do that, here’s a step-by-step explanation:

1. Go to the App Store and install Gmail.
2. Open Gmail and login with your Google Account.
3. Now, head over to Settings > Passwords & Accounts.
4. Tap Gmail, and make sure Contacts is selected.

Enabling this option will surely sync all your Google contacts with your new phone. However, there’s a chance those contacts won’t show in the Contacts app. If you still can’t see your contacts in the app, just do the following:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap Groups.
3. Make sure the All Gmail option is selected.

That’s about it. Although Apple and Google usually make it harder for their respective users to use the other company’s services, transferring contacts doesn’t fall into this category.  You can get the job done in a matter of minutes.

Import from SIM

Many people don’t know this, but Apple doesn’t let you import contacts from your phone or iCloud to your SIM card. It’s a security thing, you wouldn’t get it. However, the opposite way works.

If your SIM card already has contacts stored on it, you can seamlessly export them to iCloud or even your Google Account. Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to Settings > Contacts.
2. Tap Import SIM contacts.
3. Choose the account you want to import your contacts to.

There you go, importing the existing contacts from your SIM card is maybe even the easiest way to go.

On the other hand, you should keep in mind that no new contacts you save on your current iPhone will be stored on your SIM card. So, relying on your SIM card for transferring contacts across Apple devices may not be the best solution in the long run.

Move Google contacts to iCloud

It’s important to keep in mind that syncing Google contacts using the above-mentioned method will only show contacts in the Contacts app. Your Google contacts won’t be automatically uploaded to iCloud.

If you want to literally transfer your contacts from Google to iCloud, you’ll have to do some extra work. To complicate the situation even further, you won’t be able to do that on your iPhone. You’ll have to export your contacts in the browser on your computer, and then manually upload them to iCloud.

Here’s how it looks like:

1. Open your browser, and go to the Google Contacts website.
2. Select the contacts you want to export.
3. Go to Export, and choose vCard (for iOS Contacts).
4. Now, switch to the contacts section of your iCloud.
5. Click Settings (the gear icon), and choose Import vCard.
6. Choose the vCard you just exported.

That’s about it, all your contacts are now safely stored on your iCloud account. When you do this, you don’t even need to sync Gmail contacts with your iPhone, because the new iCloud contacts will now appear in the app.

I know the whole process probably requires more time than it should, but you also can’t say it’s too complicated. Whether Apple of Google will change something remains to be seen. If that happens, we’ll update this article accordingly.

In case you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, make sure to leave them below.