Contacts are a central part of our phones; without them, we'd be stuck memorizing dozens of numbers. Thus, it's a huge problem when you lose your contacts if you upgrade to a new phone or lose yours.

Android beginners might not know that you can save your Android contacts to your Google account instead of just your device, meaning that they're backed up and immediately available from any device instead of being only on your phone.

If you're just starting to use Android, you can make sure you only save contacts to Google, but what if you already have a ton saved on your device?

The process to move them varies depending on your phone's manufacturer, but it's pretty simple: head to the Contacts app (People on some phones) and click the three-bar menu in the top-right (or press the Menu button on a Samsung phone).

Under Contacts to Display, choose Device to show only non-backed-up entries. Again in the three-bar menu, choose Import/Export; you can then export to a .vcf file and save it anywhere on your device. If your phone forces you share it instead of saving it, just send it to yourself in a text message.

This .vcf file you exported contains all of your non-Google contacts. Open it (either through a file browser app if you saved it, or by tapping on it in your text messages) and your phone should ask if you want to import it. Confirm this, and be sure to choose your Google account as the save destination. Now you can rest assured that you won't lose them!

If you also use an iPhone or iPad, check out how to sync iOS contacts to your Gmail account as well.

Image Credit: igor.stevanovic via Shutterstock.com