How to Import iPhone Contacts to Android Phone

Switching phones should not mean starting your address book from zero, retyping numbers, or losing years of saved contacts because you moved from iPhone to Android. Learning how to import iPhone contacts to Android phone is genuinely simple once you know which method fits your situation, but most guides either skip Google’s own official switching tool entirely or bury it under outdated advice. This guide covers every real method, starting with the one built specifically for this exact move, and goes further than most by explaining duplicate contacts, contact photos, and what to do when a transfer does not go as expected.

Fastest method for most people: Google’s own Switch to Android app handles contacts, photos, and calendar events directly from your iPhone to a new Android device, wirelessly or with a cable, without needing a computer.

Table of Contents

Pick Your Method in Ten Seconds

Method	Needs a computer	Cost	Best for
Google Switch to Android app	No	Free	Setting up a brand new or freshly reset Android phone
Google account sync	No	Free	Contacts already saved in Gmail or iCloud
Google Drive backup	No	Free	A complete one time transfer of your whole address book
Manual iCloud export and import	Yes	Free	Avoiding third party apps entirely
Third party transfer software	Yes	Paid	Selecting specific contacts, or moving other data types too

Method 1: Google Switch to Android App

This is Google’s own official tool built specifically to import iPhone contacts to Android phone, and it is genuinely the best starting point for most people, especially if you are setting up a brand new Android device.

Download the Switch to Android app from the Apple App Store onto your iPhone before you start setting up your new Android phone.
Power on your new Android device and follow the on screen setup prompts until you reach the option to transfer from an iPhone.
Choose to transfer wirelessly, or connect both devices with a USB-C to Lightning cable for a faster, more stable transfer.
Select Contacts along with any other data types you want to bring over, such as photos and calendar events.
Wait for the transfer to complete, then open the Contacts app on your Android device to confirm everything arrived.

One important limitation to know upfront: the newest, most expanded version of this migration, which also moves your Google Account, saved passwords, WiFi credentials, and even your eSIM, is currently rolling out on select Google Pixel and Samsung devices running Android 17, with wider device support expected over time. On other Android phones, the classic version of the app still reliably transfers contacts, photos, and calendars, just without those newer extras.

If you already went through initial setup and skipped this step, do not worry, the remaining methods below work just as well on an Android phone that is already up and running.

Method 2: Sync Contacts Through Your Google Account

This method works whether or not your Android phone is brand new, and it keeps your contacts continuously synced going forward rather than just moving them once.

On your iPhone, open Settings, then tap your name at the top, then iCloud, and confirm Contacts is turned on.
Still in Settings, go to Contacts, then Accounts, and either tap your existing Gmail account or select Add Account to sign into Google.
Toggle Contacts to on for that Google account. Your iPhone will begin uploading your contacts to Google Contacts.
On your Android phone, make sure you are signed into that exact same Google account under Settings, then Accounts.
Open the Contacts app on your Android phone. Your synced contacts should appear within a few minutes.

The one real limitation here is that this method only syncs contacts you have connected through a Google or Gmail account. Any contacts stored purely under On My iPhone, meaning they were never linked to iCloud or Gmail in the first place, will not transfer through this method and need one of the manual options below instead.

Method 3: Back Up Contacts With Google Drive

This method moves your entire address book at once, and it does not require you to already have Gmail syncing set up on your iPhone.

Install the Google Drive app on your iPhone and sign in with your Google account.
Tap the menu icon, then Settings, then Backup.
Tap Contacts and confirm Back up to Google Contacts is switched on.
Go back and tap Start Backup, then wait for it to finish.
On your Android phone, sign into the same Google account, then open the Contacts app to see everything.

Method 4: Manually Export From iCloud and Import to Google

This route needs a computer but avoids installing any extra app on either phone, which some readers prefer.

On your iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and make sure Contacts is turned on.
On a computer, open a browser, go to iCloud.com, and sign in with your Apple ID.
Open Contacts, click the gear icon in the bottom left, and choose Select All.
Click the gear icon again and select Export vCard, which downloads a single file containing every contact.
Open Google Contacts in a browser, click Import in the left sidebar, select the downloaded file, and click Import.
Sign into that same Google account on your Android phone, then open Contacts to confirm they appear.

Should You Use Paid Transfer Software?

Dedicated transfer apps, sold as standalone Windows or Mac software, exist specifically to move contacts between an iPhone and Android device, and a few genuinely earn their price for a specific reason: they let you select exactly which contacts to transfer rather than moving your entire address book, and some handle other data types like messages or photos in the same session. For most people simply moving contacts, the free methods above cover the job completely, so treat paid software as a convenience purchase for very specific needs, like a large business contact list where you only want a curated subset, rather than a requirement.

Fixing Duplicate Contacts After a Transfer

This is one of the most common follow up problems, and almost no guide addresses it. If you try more than one method, or if a contact already existed in your Google account before an import, you can end up with the same person listed twice. Google Contacts has a built in fix for this. Open Google Contacts in a browser or the app, look for the Duplicates or Merge & fix section in the menu, and Google will suggest matching pairs to merge automatically. Review the suggestions rather than accepting them all blindly, since two different people with the same name can occasionally get flagged as a false match.

Do Contact Photos Transfer Too?

In most cases, yes, but it depends on the method. Google account sync, Google Drive backup, and the Switch to Android app all carry contact photos over along with the name and number, since photos are stored as part of the same contact entry. Manually exported vCard files also include embedded photos in most cases, though very old or oddly formatted contact entries can occasionally lose an attached photo during export. If a specific contact loses its photo after transfer, simply re adding it manually on the Android side takes only a few seconds.

What About Contacts Stored on a SIM Card?

Older contacts, especially numbers saved years ago, sometimes live on a physical SIM card rather than in iCloud or an app. iPhones can still read SIM stored contacts. Open the Phone app, go to Contacts, tap the plus icon, and check whether an Import SIM Contacts option appears, which pulls them into your iPhone’s main contact list first. From there, any of the methods above, especially the Google Drive backup or account sync, will carry them over to Android along with everything else. It is worth checking this before you transfer, since SIM only contacts are easy to miss entirely if you jump straight to syncing without first confirming everything is consolidated on the iPhone itself.

Do Contact Groups and Labels Carry Over?

Custom groups you created on iPhone, such as Work or Family, generally do not transfer automatically through most of the methods above, since Android’s Contacts app organizes labels differently than iOS does. Individual contact details like phone numbers, emails, and notes transfer completely, but you should expect to recreate custom groups manually on the Android side using Google Contacts’ own Labels feature, which functions similarly once you know where to find it under the app’s side menu.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Contacts sync toggle is greyed out	You are not signed into any Google account on the iPhone yet	Add your Google account under Settings, Contacts, Accounts first
Contacts do not appear on Android after syncing	Different Google account signed in on each device	Confirm both devices use the exact same Google account
Only some contacts transferred	Some were stored as On My iPhone only, never linked to iCloud or Gmail	Use the manual iCloud export or Google Drive backup method instead
Duplicate contacts appear	More than one method was used, or the contact already existed	Use the Merge & fix duplicates tool inside Google Contacts

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to import iPhone contacts to an Android phone?

For a brand new or freshly reset Android device, Google’s own Switch to Android app is the easiest method, since it transfers contacts directly during setup with no computer required.

Do I need a computer to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android?

No. The Switch to Android app, Google account sync, and Google Drive backup all work entirely from your phones. A computer is only needed for the manual iCloud export method or for most third party transfer software.

Will I lose any contacts during the transfer?

Contacts already linked to iCloud or Gmail transfer reliably through any of the methods above. Contacts saved only as On My iPhone need to be included in an iCloud export or Google Drive backup specifically, since account sync alone will not catch them.

Can I choose which contacts to transfer instead of moving all of them?

The free built in methods move your whole address book at once. If you specifically need to select individual contacts rather than transferring everything, dedicated transfer software is the method built for that.

Conclusion

Knowing how to import iPhone contacts to Android phone comes down to picking the method that matches how you are setting up your new device. If it is brand new, start with Google’s official Switch to Android app before anything else. If your Android is already running, Google account sync or a Google Drive backup will move everything in a few minutes with no computer needed. Whichever path you choose, take a moment afterward to check for duplicates and confirm your contact photos came through, and your new phone will feel like home almost immediately.