How To Transfer Contacts to a New iPhone

Migrating from one phone to another used to be a major pain. Backing up contacts was nearly impossible, and inputting them into a new phone involved pressing each individual number on the number pad repeatedly. With iOS 6, and a new iPhone, getting contacts on the device couldn’t be easier. Here is how to do it for existing users and new users.

Existing iPhone Users

For existing iPhone users, making sure that the phone is set to backup to iCloud is the easiest way.

Open Settings on the iPhone.

Choose iCloud from the menu.

Scroll down to find Storage & Backup.

Then make sure the iCloud Backup toggle is set to ON.

Whenever the iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi and charging, the phone will backup. Once the phone has been backed up, migrating to the new phone is simple. By clicking the Back Up Now button, it will force a backup.

When setting up the new phone, it will at one point prompt the user to choose to Restore from an iCloud Backup. Choose that and then follow the prompts. A short time later everything will be on the new phone, including contacts and all the apps.

New iPhone Users

During the initial setup of the phone it would have prompted the user to create an iCloud account. Since a large percentage of iPhones sold are sold at wireless stores (and not Apple stores) the in-store associate most likely helped the user set up the account.

Adding contacts (and other information) to the iPhone through iCloud is incredibly easy if the user has access to a computer. Here is how to do it.

Open the web browser and visit www.icloud.com.

Then login with the correct credentials.

After logging in, choose the Contacts option.

Once the Contacts screen opens, select the “+” button at the bottom of the screen.

Then fill out the contact information and click Done.

The contact information will automatically synchronize with the phone. To verify this, unlock the iPhone and check the Contacts app for the new name.

Simply repeat the process for each person needing to be added and that’s it! It is much easier to input this contact information over the computer than by using the phone’s keyboard, especially if there are a large number of contacts to enter.