Decided to switch from an Android phone to an iPhone? One of the first few tasks you'll need to complete is transferring contacts from your iPhone to your Android device.

There are various ways to export contacts from an iPhone and import them onto an Android device. Here we’ve covered several ways to quickly transfer all your iPhone contacts over to an Android phone.

1. Transfer Contacts From iPhone to Android Using Your Google Account

If you’ve set up your Android device already, it’s likely you have linked your Google account with the new phone. You can use this Google account to sync all your iPhone contacts over to your new Android phone using Google’s sync feature.

Related: How to Transfer Contacts From Android to iPhone

Basically, you need to add your Google account to your iPhone and sync your contacts with it, then Google will sync those contacts with your Android device. Here’s how to do this:

  1. On your iPhone, head to Settings > Passwords & Accounts (on iOS 13 and earlier) or Settings > Mail > Accounts (on iOS 14) and tap Add Account.
  2. Select Google on the screen that follows.
  3. Enter the login credentials for the Google account that you use on your Android device, and the account will be added to your iPhone.
  4. Tap your Google account once it’s added.
  5. Turn the toggle for Contacts to the On position. This will sync your iPhone contacts with your Google account.
  6. Wait a few minutes until the contacts finish syncing.
  7. On your Android device, head to Settings > Accounts > [your Google account] > Account sync and ensure the Contacts toggle is turned on.
  8. Launch the Contacts app on your Android phone and you should see all your iPhone contacts there.

2. Export Contacts From iCloud and Import Them on Android

If you sync your iPhone’s contacts to iCloud, all your contacts will be available on this cloud service.

You can export your iCloud contacts as a contacts file and import this file into your Google account. This will sync the imported contacts with your Android device.

That way, you’ll get access to all your iPhone’s contacts on your Android phone. The following shows how to do that step by step:

  1. In case you don’t already sync your iPhone contacts with iCloud, on your iPhone, head to Settings > [your name] > iCloud and enable the Contacts option. This will sync all the contacts from your iPhone to your iCloud account.
  2. Use a browser on your computer and head over to the iCloud website. Log into your iCloud account.
  3. Click the option that says Contacts to view your iPhone contacts.
  4. On the following screen, click the cog icon at the lower-left corner and choose Select All.
  5. Click the cog icon again, select Export vCard, and save the vCard file to your computer.
    export iphone contacts
  6. Open a new tab in your browser, head over to Google Contacts, and sign in with your Google account.
  7. Click on Import in the left sidebar to import new contacts.
  8. Click on Select file and choose the vCard file that you downloaded earlier. Then hit Import.
    import iphone contacts to google
  9. Once all your contacts are imported, wait a bit so that they finish syncing with your Android device.
  10. Open the Contacts app on your Android phone and you will see all your iPhone contacts.

If you're looking to transfer your Google contacts to your iPhone, we have a guide for that as well.

3. Send iPhone Contacts to Android via Email

If you only want to send a few contacts from your iPhone to your Android device, then you can use the email method.

iOS allows you to share the details of your contacts via email. You can use this feature to send an email to your Android device along with your chosen contacts. Tapping on the contacts on your Android phone will import them into the Contacts app.

Here’s how to do that:

  1. Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the contact that you want to transfer to your Android device.
  3. Select the option that says Share Contact.
  4. Select the email client that you use to send and receive emails.
  5. A new email will launch in your selected app. Add other details in the email, if you want, and then tap the send button.
  6. Open the email on your Android phone and tap on the attached contact file. You should be able to import this contact into the Contacts app. Repeat for other contacts you want to send.

4. Use an App to Transfer Contacts From iPhone to Android

There’s a free app called My Contacts Backup that lets you export contacts from your iPhone and import them on your Android device. You can use this app to create a file containing all your contacts, then email this file to your Android device.

This method is similar to the email method above, but lets you share multiple contacts at once:

  1. Install the My Contacts Backup app on your iPhone and allow it to access your contacts.
  2. If you don’t want to transfer all the fields of your iPhone contacts, tap the settings icon, choose Configure, and enable only the fields that you want to transfer.
  3. Tap Backup on the main screen to start making a backup of your contacts.
  4. Once the backup is created, select the Email button.
  5. Send the email to the email address that you use on your Android phone.
  6. Once the email sends, access it on your Android phone and tap on the attached file. This will let you import your iPhone’s contacts to your Android device.

Can You Use a SIM Card to Transfer iPhone Contacts to Android?

Unfortunately, you cannot use a SIM card to transfer contacts from an iPhone to an Android device. That’s because iOS doesn’t allow you to write data to a SIM card.

You might have used a SIM card to store your contacts on older phones, but that doesn’t work on the iPhone, unfortunately.

Export Your iPhone Contacts and Chat Away

Once you get a new Android phone, follow one of the methods above to quickly get all your iPhone’s contacts transferred to your new device. This way, you can start calling and texting your contacts without any delay.

Now that you've got a new Android device, why not check out all the best features of its OS?