Sync Contacts Setup & accounts
How to add Google Contacts to your iPhone
Add your Google account to iPhone Contacts, check the right list, and confirm changes sync without importing your address book again.
The contacts guidebook
iPhone, Google & iCloud contact guides
Set up the right account, move your address book, keep a backup, or work through a sync problem. Start with your goal, then follow a guide for the account or file you use.
Start with your goal
Setup & accounts
Setup & accounts
Google Workspace contacts on iPhone: personal vs directory
Understand Google Workspace personal contacts, company directory search and admin restrictions before troubleshooting contacts on an iPhone.
Setup & accounts
iCloud vs Google Contacts: choose your main address book
Compare iCloud and Google Contacts for iPhone use, cross-platform access, transfers and backups without creating two competing address books.
Setup & accounts
Set Gmail as your default contacts account on iPhone
Save new iPhone contacts to Gmail by changing the default account. Learn what happens to existing iCloud contacts and how to verify the setting.
Setup & accounts
Where are my iPhone contacts actually stored?
Find out whether an iPhone contact belongs to iCloud, Google or another account before moving, deleting or backing up your address book.
Transfers & imports
Transfers & imports
Import CSV contacts into Google without losing numbers
Prepare a contact CSV using Google’s template, protect international phone numbers, and test a small import before moving the full address book.
Transfers & imports
Import a VCF or vCard file into Google Contacts
Import a VCF into Google Contacts, export Apple Contacts as vCard instead of an .abbu archive, and verify the imported names and numbers.
Transfers & imports
Transfer iPhone contacts to Android using Google
Move iPhone contacts to Android through a Google account, check which contacts need copying, and verify the transfer before retiring your old phone.
Transfers & imports
Move contacts from one Google account to another
Transfer contacts between Gmail accounts with a deliberate export and import, then check new-contact settings and prevent duplicate copies.
Backups & recovery
Backups & recovery
Back up Google Contacts before a transfer or cleanup
Export a dated Google Contacts backup, verify the file, and keep an independent recovery copy before importing, merging or deleting contacts.
Backups & recovery
Export iPhone contacts to a VCF file
Save an iPhone contact list as a vCard file, choose the fields to include, and keep a usable copy before transferring or editing contacts.
Backups & recovery
Restore deleted Google Contacts: Trash or Undo changes?
Choose between Google Contacts Trash, Undo changes and a saved export, with checks to protect contacts added after the recovery point.
Backups & recovery
Restore iCloud contacts from an archived version
Recover iCloud contacts using Data Recovery, understand the account-wide effect, and verify the restored cards before resuming other contact changes.
Backups & recovery
Contact sync vs backup: why you need both
Understand how contact synchronization, exports and recovery differ so a deletion or phone change does not leave you without a usable copy.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Why iPhone contact sync can be delayed in the background
Understand iOS background scheduling, Low Power Mode and manual sync checks without relying on promises of instant contact updates.
Troubleshooting
How to merge duplicate Google Contacts
Merge duplicate Google Contacts, choose cards manually when suggestions are missing, and distinguish Google duplicates from iPhone account copies.
Troubleshooting
Google Contacts import failed? Check these causes
Diagnose failed CSV or vCard imports, Google’s contact limits, missing fields and partial results before retrying the same file.
Troubleshooting
Contacts missing after adding Gmail to iPhone?
Check account lists and cloud copies when contacts seem to disappear after adding Gmail, before removing accounts or restoring a backup.
Troubleshooting
Limited Contacts access on iPhone: why an app sees fewer
Understand Limited and Full Contacts access on iPhone, check which people an app can read, and distinguish permission limits from missing cloud data.
Troubleshooting
New iPhone contacts not showing in Gmail?
Trace a newly saved iPhone contact to its account, distinguish Gmail suggestions from saved contacts, and fix the right part of the sync path.