A contact list is of great importance to many people, and its loss can lead to serious losses in business and personal relationships. In order to avoid such a risk, it is important to know how to save contacts in iCloud and prevent records from being lost from contact book.

If a phone breaks or is lost, in addition to financial difficulties, a person also loses critically important information, which is part of his life. These are photographs he took, notes, messages from friends and, of course, a list of contacts. You can protect yourself from such troubles by storing information in the cloud. For Apple product users best service Data storage is iCloud.

The basis cloud technology in storing information not on the device itself, but in another place. For the iPhone owner, these are servers Apple: he just has to copy his data to them. When accessing the Internet from any device running iOS user gets access to his contacts and other information, that is, now it is saved in a safe place.

Transferring contacts to a cloud service

Typically, contacts are stored as a vCard - this is the standard for most mobile devices and applications.

Instructions on how to transfer contacts to iCloud from an Android phone via a computer:

1. Log in to the Google mail interface.
2. Click on the Gmail inscription and click on the tab in the menu that appears Сontacts.
3. Click on the item first "Additionally", and then click on "Export".
4. Mark the data to be copied, and select the format for saving as vCard..
5. After pressing the button "Export" is created contacts.vcf, it needs to be transferred to iCloud
6. Open Apple's cloud storage site in a browser icloud.com.
7. Import and then specify the path to the contacts.vcf file.

All that remains is to find out how to sync iPhone with iCloud.

Sync iPhone and iCloud

To fully take advantage of the Apple cloud, you need to understand how to sync contacts from iCloud to iPhone.

Here step-by-step instruction for this:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Open the iCloud panel and sign in using Apple data ID.
3. Install the engine "Contacts" to the active position.
4. Click on "Merge."

The process is completed, now all contacts are visible to the user via iCloud from any device. If you choose to transfer other information, it will also end up in the cloud.

Let's figure out how to synchronize iPhone with iPhone via iCloud. Will need to be created on one iPhone backup copy data, and then load it on another. The time it takes to complete this operation depends on the Internet connection speed of both devices.

Sometimes you need to synchronize your iPhone with your computer via iCloud.

Order:

• V apple menu go to " System Settings »;
• open iCloud window;
• enter Apple ID;
• mark the data you want to save.

Now you should learn how to disable iCloud synchronization on iPhone if the need arises.

Need to:

• in the panel "Settings" on iPhone, click on the Apple ID;
• scroll down the window and click "Go out";
• in the tab that appears, enter the password to log into your account;
• press the button "Disable";
• set the switches to green for data to be saved and to white for data to be removed.
• click on "Exit";
• confirm your step-by-step actions.

How to Recover Contacts on iPhone

One of the main iCloud features– saving information if you lose your smartphone.

If this does happen, then here’s how to return contacts to iPhone from iCloud:

• in the settings of the new iPhone, go to the iCloud tab;
• activate checkbox Сontacts, and if it is already activated, turn it off and on again. If you are asked what to do with old data, you should delete it;
• connect iPhone and cloud by pressing the appropriate button;
• make sure that necessary files and the documents are moved where they need to be.

Now let's talk about how to download contacts from iCloud.

Step by step instructions for Mac:

• launch iCloud on your computer;
• in the action menu click on " Choose all» to copy all existing contacts;
• click on " Export vCard » to create a vcf file.

If necessary, it is converted to a CSV file. There are other ways to get contacts from iCloud.

Possible problems

Despite the fact that this cloud is one of the best, sometimes difficulties arise when working with contacts. For example, when two-factor authentication is enabled, iCloud often does not sync from a new iPhone. To solve the problem on the old device, the keychain is turned off, the device is rebooted and turned on again in the cloud settings.

One more common problem is the appearance of overlapping contacts. On Mac, this is resolved through the contact book settings. In the card tab, you need to click “Find duplicates”, and after they are found, combine them.

Hi all! Recently I received a call from a friend whose contacts had disappeared from her iPhone 6, and she did not understand how this happened and why. As a result of questioning, it turned out that his old iPhone She gave 5 to her mother... Has anyone already guessed what could have happened to her address book? If not, then I’ll explain - she just gave her phone to her mother without removing hers from the device account iCloud, and my mother, as a lover of cleanliness and order, decided to delete all unnecessary contacts from her “new” iPhone, thereby deleting contacts from iCloud and from all devices linked to the account! Let me now tell you in more detail about iCloud contacts, and how to avoid such troubles!

iCloud backup

How is an iCloud backup created?

If I understand everything correctly, then if the copy was created at night, for example at 1:00, and at lunch you decided to delete a couple of contacts, and then realized it, then you can freely reset the settings and restore the data from the last and only (!! !) copies. “Why the only one?” - you may ask, because copies may also be on iTunes. But now we are talking about one of the most common methods (which I use myself) - creating a copy only in iCloud.

The most sad thing in the situation described above is the following: what if you deleted your contacts in the morning, at 8:00, and then came to work and connected your iPhone to charger, iPhone already found and became friends with your worker WiFi network and you left it for a couple of hours, and only after lunch decided that remote contacts might still be useful to you? There is no point in restoring from a copy, since your last and only (!!!) copy dates back 8+N hours (when you put your iPhone on charge at work) and no longer there deleted contacts! As they say, hit or miss... Moreover, what we described with contacts also happens with calendars, notes, etc.

What if there is data left on the iPad?

Only 2 things can save you from the father of Russian democracy - if, suddenly, somehow there was a copy of the necessary data on another device - a computer or iPad, or there was a local copy of contacts on the computer. Again, if the iPad has this data and is connected to the Internet, then it has already disappeared there (via iCloud sync occurs within a few seconds or minutes). Although, if the Internet suddenly disappeared at home, the iPad was discharged before the data was deleted, or it was turned off altogether, then getting the data out will not be difficult, the main thing is to be careful - The device must not connect to the Internet! If you turn on the device, turn it off home WiFi router and remove the SIM card so that the device cannot access the Internet and synchronize, thereby deleting the necessary data!

I keep thinking - what, it’s difficult to implement an analogue Time Machine for iCloud? (Hurray, it turns out that there is such a function, and you can look. True, not everything I dreamed of is implemented there, but more on that a little later...) Do not create copies and copies of everything there, but only what is most important - contacts, notes, Safari bookmarks, a bunch of keys, etc.

What I mean? Time Machine has latest copy, as well as a weekly copy, monthly, etc. What prevents you from making several copies of lightweight data in iCloud, such as contacts/notes, and also allowing you to manually select the necessary data? The most interesting thing is that it would take up very little space - a copy of contacts, notes, Safari pages takes up a maximum of 100 MB. Yes, mail may take up a little more space, but there is a separate basket there, in case of an error :)

How to save contacts from iCloud?

Save Contacts on Mac

I’ll start with Mac :) First, you need to make sure that iCloud service connected to a Mac and contacts synchronization is enabled there. If not, then go to System Preferences -> iCloud and enter your Apple ID and password for iCloud there, or go to the next point (if the Mac is not yours, or you just don’t want to create an account on it). If you have created an iCloud account on your Mac, then calmly go to the Address Book program (Mac OS 10.7, 10.8) or Contacts (Mac OS 10.9, 10.10, 10.11). If you see all your contacts in the program, then everything is going as it should, otherwise, go to the iCloud settings on the Mac and check that your contacts are included in synchronization.

So, the Contacts program is open (I show it using OS X 10.10 as an example), and to save you need to select all contacts, and you can do this by holding the CMD+A key combination on your keyboard. Or you can select one or more contacts by clicking on them while holding down the CMD key. After selecting contacts, you need to go to the File - Export menu and there select “Export vCard...” or “Contacts Archive...” In the new window, select a location to save and click Save. That's it, your contacts are saved on your computer in separate file, and no matter what, you can always restore your address book. Personally, at the moment of saving, I turn on the paranoid mode and make a copy both in the vCard and in the Address Book Archive - believe me, it’s better to be safe! 🙂 By the way, the paranoid mode is not unfounded - if you suddenly need to transfer contacts to Gmail or iCloud, then you can download the vCard file through the sites, and not the Address Book Archive.

Save the generated files in mail, the cloud and many other places, so that if necessary, they are always at hand!

Save contacts via iCloud website

If you have a Mac or computer with Windows or Linux at hand, you can simply go to the site through a browser and save all your contacts from there. First you need to go to the same iCloud website, enter your Apple ID and password for iCloud. After you have entered your name and password, a window will appear with a set of services - mail, contacts, calendars, etc. We need contacts:

After entering contacts, you can also select one, several or all contacts, as in the previous paragraph. You can select all contacts by pressing CMD+A or clicking on the gear in the lower left corner and selecting Select all. Once the necessary contacts are selected, you can begin saving them to your computer. To do this, click on the gear icon and select Export vCard:

If for some reason the download does not start, try another browser (mine is Google Chrome It’s not the first time that contacts are saved from iCloud)... Through Safari, contacts are saved almost instantly. Maybe this is a problem in my Mac, I don’t know, the main thing is to know a backup option :)

Save contacts in Windows

Everything is very simple here - either you need to install iCloud for Windows and tinker with something there (forgive me, friends, but I don’t know what is there and how to do it - I don’t like Windows), or just go to the site through a browser and there you are do as in the previous paragraph! I hope that you will forgive me for this arbitrariness and be able to save contacts through the browser :) The problem with Windows is that in different versions Outlook, Contacts (Windows) everything is done differently, and I have no desire to sort through +100500 options. Besides, most of my readers work with OS X and iOS :)

If you have a backup copy of your contacts, you can restore them from the archive at any time by opening them on desired device, or by uploading them to Google or iCloud services... For example, an address book in vCard format can be uploaded to Google Contacts, after which they will appear on all linked devices. You can also upload the same vCard file to iCloud or synchronize with Nokia, for example...

AND little advice from mine personal experience- Back up your contacts to your computer whenever you want to make changes to your address book. Sometimes I review my address book to make sure the data is up to date, sort contacts into groups, and every time before I start the process, I create a copy on my computer, as well as a copy after all the changes! It’s like the old joke - it’s better to shoot, reload and shoot again than to shine a flashlight and ask “who’s there?” 🙂

One of the most common stumbling blocks that newbies who buy an iPhone face is transferring contacts from an old device to it. Difficulties in this procedure are imposed by two main factors:

1. Mismatch in SIM card sizes;
2. Apple’s manic desire to force the user to look at the world differently (including in performing this seemingly primitive operation).

There are hundreds of sites on the Internet describing dozens of ways to solve the problem of importing contacts. From primitive - non-working, to perversely - complex. We will analyze the simplest and effective ways how to transfer contacts to iPhone from various devices, as well as how to synchronize your contact book from cloud storage.

1. Transfer contacts to iPhone from SIM card

Largely inconsistency SIM size cards are not so a big problem. You can use an adapter or a “technical” SIM. But this method has another significant disadvantage - imported contacts are cut off to approximately this form.

If this is not critical for you, then you can carry out such an import. If you still want to transfer your contact book “normally,” then choose the methods described below, depending on your previous phone.

1. First, on the old device, copy all contacts to the SIM card (it’s different on all devices, depending on the model and OS version)
2. Insert SIM into iPhone, go to settings>mail, addresses, calendars, then import SIM contacts . WITH iOS versions 8 there was a function to transfer contacts directly to cloud storage. In the menu that appears, select iCloud(please note that iCloud account must be set up, see screenshots below).
3. Wait for the import to finish.

Account setup iCloud recordings

2. Transfer contacts from Android to iPhone

Using Google service.

1. First, you need to get an account with Google. I think almost everything Android users already have one.
2. Now you need to upload all contacts from your Android device to Google contact. For this we follow the path Settings>Accounts>Google. Next, enter your account information and select synchronize. The duration of the operation depends on the number of contacts in your book.
3. After the contacts are safely placed in the Google service, we will upload them to the iPhone.
4. On an apple device, go to settings>mail, addresses, calendars>add account>other>cardDAV and enter the following settings:

• Server. Google.com
• User. Your email in Google mail like *@gmail.com
• Password
• Description. At your discretion

Using a .vcf file

1. On Android device open contacts then click context menu and select export contacts.

2. In the next submenu, click internal storage and select the location to export the file.

3. If your device has file manager capable of sending this file by mail, then we send it. If not, then we transfer it via cable to the computer and from there we send it to our mailbox.

4. Now from the iPhone we go to the standard mail application, open the .vcf file in the received letter and click ready.

A must read for everyone who has just purchased or is planning to purchase an iPhone.

3. How to transfer contacts to iPhone from old devices (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, etc.)

To implement this method, you first need to create a special csv file (text format presentation of tabular data. Ideal for storing contacts). I think you understand that within the framework of this article it is impossible to describe the creation of such a file for all gadgets of the previous generation, I will only say that for Nokia phones you will need the Nokia PC Suite utility, and to Sony Ericsson, respectively, Sony Ericsson PC Suite. If you have a device from other companies, then Google can help.

Click import and wait for the process to complete.

Now you need to Google service transfer contacts to iPhone. To do this, we repeat exactly the steps described

4. Transfer contacts to iPhone from cloud services

This method is useful for those who store contacts in services: Outlook.com, Yahoo, Microsoft Exchange. First, let's export them from there:

— Microsoft Outlook(export Windows contact book)

• Open Outlook
• File>options>additionally>export.
• In the window that appears, click export to file>next
• Select the vCard format (.vcf) from the list
• Select the folder to export and click next.

-Windows Phone

• Go to https://people.live.com/
• Click on the tab People, then control And export
• Select the save folder and vCard format.

After you have exported your contacts to your computer, you need to send them to your iPhone.

— Via E-mail

We send the vCard to our email, then open this letter through the regular mail application iPhone and click on the attached vcf file. I have already described this process in detail.

—C using iCloud

Go to icloud.com from your computer, enter your Apple ID information, then click on contacts, click on the gear icon and select vCard import.

In the window that appears, select the previously created vcf file. After synchronization, the contacts will be successfully transferred to the iPhone.

By the way, you don’t have to bother with exports and imports at all, but simply set up synchronization of contact data with cloud storages.

So we looked at the simplest and at the same time effective ways to transfer contacts to iPhone. I hope everything worked out for you the first time and without problems. If not, write in the comments, we’ll figure it out together.

Fast, without losses, in different ways.

Tired of your iPhone, want to change your mobile platform, or do you need a second smartphone based on Android/Windows Phone? Today we will talk about how to quickly transfer contacts from iPhone to Android (or another OS). Four universal methods , which will help you export your contact book.

Related materials:

Method 1: iCloud.com

Any iPhone user clearly uses an Apple ID account, which is necessary both for downloading applications from the AppStore and for synchronizing the contents of the device with a remote cloud service iCloud.

Note. Before you start exporting, make sure that contact synchronization is enabled in your settings. Open Settings - iCloud and turn on the slider next to the item Contacts.

For this method You will need a laptop or computer with a full browser (it is preferable to use Safari). The attached screenshots are placed in the order in which you want to export.

1. Open the iCloud website and log in using your account Apple entry ID.
2. From the suggested icons, select Contacts. Wait until your contact list is loaded.
3. Highlight any of the contacts (tap once), and then press the key combination CMD + A (for MAC) or CTRL + A (for Windows), thereby highlighting all contacts in the list.
4. Click on the gear in the lower left corner and select Export vCard.
5. The browser will automatically download a file with a VCF extension in which all your contacts are stored. Send this file to a new device and run it. Contacts will be exported to your smartphone's memory automatically.

This export option allows you to get a full offline copy of all your contacts in small file, which is compatible with both smartphones and mobile phones"previous years".

Method 2: My Contacts Backup

In the app store App Store There's an impressive range of apps that let you export contacts from your iPhone. Let's dwell on free version– utility My Contacts Backup(Download from App Store).

To export contacts, just follow a few simple steps:

1. Install the My Contacts Backup application and after launching allow access to contacts on iPhone.
2. Press the green Backup button and wait for the process to complete (it takes no more than a few seconds even with an impressive size of the contact book).
3. Press the key Email and send a letter with the attached VCF file to your email.
4. Download the VCF file on the new device from your own mail and run it. Contacts will be exported automatically.

You can also access the VCF file from the browser of the new device by enabling the server on the iPhone in the My Contacts Backup application ( Settings – Wi-Fi Managmenent) and opening the corresponding address ( in format: 192.168.1.100:8080 ). Please note that both smartphones are connected to one Wi-Fi network.

Method 3. iCloud + Dropbox

Reviewed Method 1 requires presence desktop computer or laptop, but if you wish, you can get by with the standard iOS Safari browser.

Another option for exporting contacts to a smartphone running under Android control, usage iCloud server And specialized application CardDAV.

1. Install on your Android smartphone free version applications CardDAV (

The iCloud service allows you not only to synchronize and find your iPhone if it goes missing, but also to store all contacts from your smartphone in case they are deleted or migrated to another iOS device. By using standard tools iCloud can also export contacts for later transfer to other gadgets, including even Android phones. Today we'll look at how to do this.

First, go to the web version of iCloud, where we select the “Contacts” section. Then we look for one of the contacts that you want to export. If you need to transfer your entire address book, you first need to select all contacts using the Command+A key combination.

After that, click on the section settings icon in the lower left corner and the “Export vCard” item. A confirmation window will pop up and then the export procedure will begin. necessary contacts.

Once the entire operation is completed, the created vcf file will appear in the Downloads folder of your Mac.

What should we do with it now? There are many options. You can, for example, import contacts to another iCloud account or transfer them to your smartphone from . The vCard format was not invented by Apple, even now many people use it for exchange business cards.

As is known, to form good base contacts are difficult, and it is quite possible to lose it in a few seconds. Therefore, you can save your address book in this way simply for prevention. Or write down all the names with phone numbers in a regular notebook - suddenly it will be more reliable.

By the way, to move contacts to another iPhone or iPad, you just need to send the vCard file via e-mail. After opening it The address book will update automatically.

Based on materials from osxdaily.com