4 Ways on How to Back up Contacts on iPhone

Jerry Cook
Updated on 2021-06-01 to iPhone Backup

It's necessary to develop a habit of backing up data on iPhone to avoid losing important information, especially the contacts. So now comes to the question, how to backup contacts on iPhone XS/XR/X/8/7/6s?

Way 1: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone Without iTunes
Way 2: How to Back up Contacts on iPhone to iCloud
Way 3: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone with iTunes
Way 4: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone to Google

Way 1: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone Without iTunes

Compared with iCloud or iTunes, UltFone iOS Data Manager enables you selectively back up contacts on iPhone 6 without space limitation. This is the backup method adopted in "Backup & Restore". You can also back up iPhone to computer. We will guide you to use the software step by step.

Free Download For Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP

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Free Download For macOS 10.15 and below

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Step 1. Launch the program, then connect your iPhone to computer, select "Backup & Restore" option. All types of files are displayed in the list view and are selected by default. You can selectively back up the file you need.

Step 2. Click on "Backup" button, then it will start to back up the selected files on your device.

Step 3: After the backup is completed, you can click "View Backup Data" option at the bottom of the page.

Extra Tip:

With the help of UltFone iOS Data Manager, you can back up contacts on iPhone 7 in just a few quick steps. You don't even need to know any professional knowledge. Actually, as an all-in-one iOS data manage, this software also performs well in the function of transfer, data management, and even iOS system repair. This software enables you easily complete the following things.

Way 2: How to Back up Contacts on iPhone to iCloud

iCloud is a good backup solution, you may wonder: how to take backup of contacts in iPhone XS/XR/8/7/6? In fact, it's very easy to operate on your iPhone. Once you sign in iCloud on your iPhone, contacts will be synced and automatically backed up. The "Contacts" option is On by default when using iCloud. The following will guide you through the steps.

Step 1: Go to settings > Your name > iCloud, Check if the Contacts button is On or not. If not, just turn on it. (Note: Please make sure that your iCloud is set up.)

Step 2. Scroll down, you will see the "iCloud Backup" option, click on it, then tap on "Back Up Now"

Extra Tip: How to View Contacts from iCloud.com

Step 1. Go to iCloud.com and Sign in your iCloud account. Then click on the "Contacts" icon on the home page.

Step 2. At the contacts page, you can view all of your contacts you backed up before and edit your contacts or export contacts to computer or Mac.

Here are the drawbacks of this method:

Small storage space. Although iCloud service is free, it provides only 5GB of free storage space. If you want to get more storage space, you need to purchase additional storage fee.
iCloud doesn't support selectively back up data, so you can't back up only contacts.

Way 3: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone with iTunes

There is also a tool to back up your contacts, that is, iTunes. So how do I backup contacts on iPhone? Here are the steps you need to take.

Step 1. Turn on iTunes, and connect your iPhone to computer/Mac. (Please make sure that you have updated to the latest version of iTunes.)

Step 2. Select your iPhone XS/XR/8/7/6 when it appears in iTunes screen.

Step 3. Just click "Back Up Now"

After the backup is finished, you can go to the Summary screen in iTunes to check if the backup completed successfully. If succeed, you can find the latest backup time. But the drawback of using iTunes to back up is that it is unable to back up data separately, so you cannot back up only contacts on iPhone. In addition, if you want to restore the backup on your iPhone, it will overwrite your current data, which lead to more data loss.

Way 4: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone to Google

Have you ever tried to back up contacts to Google? Here are two options for you. You can operate it directly by downloading Google Drive on your iPhone or use computer to import the contacts files into Google Contacts.

Option 1. Sync Your Contacts to Google Drive Directly on Your iPhone

Step 1. Download Google Drive on your iPhone, then launch the App.

Step 2. Sign in with your Google account. Tap Menu in the top left of the screen, go to Settings > Backup.

Step 3. You can select which content you want to backup or simply backup everything. Then hit "Start".

Note: If you back up many times, it will also overwrite the previous contacts backup.

Option 2. Back up iPhone Contacts to Google via iCloud.com on Computer/Mac

This method is a little bit troublesome, because you have to export the contacts from iCloud.com before importing contacts to Google Contacts. Here are the detailed steps to export contacts from iPhone XS/XR/8/7/6 to Google.

Step 1. Visit your iPhone Settings > iCloud > turn on "Contacts", then it will sync all contacts to iCloud automatically.

Step 2. Go to iCloud.com on your computer and enter your Apple ID and password.

Step 3. Click on the Setting button in the bottom left corner, select "Export vCart", then A .vcf file will be downloaded.

Step 4. Open Google Contacts, click Import Contacts at the bottom left corner, then import the file you just downloaded from iCloud.com. All your contacts will be backed up to Google.

Tip: What if contacts are not synchronized, how should you do? Try these steps below:

Please make sure that your iCloud Contacts is available.
Check if you use the the last iCloud backup file.
Check if there is latest update for your iPhone.
Check if you use the same Apple ID to sign in to iCloud.com and your iPhone.

Bonus Tips: How to Recover Deleted Contacts on iPhone without Backup

After reading this article, believe that you have learned several methods to back up contacts on iPhone. What if you delete your contacts by accident but unfortunately you doesn't back up before? Don't worry, we are here to help you. With UltFone iOS Data Recovery, you can find and get back deleted contacts and other important files without backup. Refer to this article, How to Recover Deleted iPhone Photos，How to Recover Contacts without Backup. Here are the detail steps

Step 1. After installation, launch the program and then connect your iPhone to computer.

Step 2. Choose the file type you want to restore, than click "Start Scan".

Step 3. When scanning is completed, all the files are in the list. You can preview those files and then select the data you need to restore. Simply click on the "Recover" button.

Conclusion:

In this article, we share 4 ways on how to back up contacts on iPhone XS/XR/8/7/6. All of solutions mentioned above can help you back up contacts on iPhone, but apart from way 1, the rest of 4 ways are unable to selectively back up contacts on iPhone. The best way to back up contacts on iPhone XS/XR/8/7/6 is UltFone iOS Data Manager which has no storage space limit and also allows you to selectively back up your contacts on iPhone. Highly recommended!