(5 Methods) How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone

Last Updated on June 17, 2022 by Jack Robertson

There is no doubt that keeping a habit of backing up iPhone contacts is vital to tackle accidental data loss owing to getting your iPhone broken, lost, or stolen. If you don't have a backup of your iPhone contacts, you will find it very hard to restore contacts. Therefore, the question remains: how to backup contacts on an iPhone.

Here, the article will provide five options for you to back up contacts to iPhone based on different demands. Assisted with these 5 methods, you won’t get yourself into trouble caused by contact loss, as you can restore them in an easy and efficient way.

iPhone Contacts Backup

Method 1: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone with iTunes
Method 2: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone to PC or Mac
Method 3: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone with iCloud
Method 4: How to Back Up Contacts on iPhone to Gmail
Method 5: How to Back Up iPhone Contacts on iPhone to Mac via Finder

Method 1. How to Backup Contacts on iPhone with iTunes

In general, it is accessible to solve backup issues through iTunes. However, aside from contacts, iTunes will back up all the iPhone data and settings in the process as well, in such a way that does not offer you selective and individual results. So, if you are glad to gain this bonus, see the steps below.

Step 1 Make your iPhone connected to your computer and start iTunes.

Step 2 Click on the Device tab.

Step 3 In the Summary option, tick the To this computer option and click on Back up now.

Wait for a minute or two, iTunes will finish the process of backing up your iPhone contacts to this computer. You can plug your iPhone out after that.

Method 2. How to Backup Contacts on iPhone to PC or Mac

Far more considerate than iTunes, iOS Data Backup & Restore gives you better experience while backing up iPhone contacts onto Mac or PC. You can decide the exact type of data - Contacts in this case, and back it up without saving any other data to your computer.

Also, you can encrypt your Contacts backup if you don’t want anybody to peep on your file and contacts. Simply set up a password to the file with this program and keep everything safe!

iOS Data Backup & Restore

Key Features:

Back up 18 types of iPhone data to computer in minutes
Back up data based on your own demands
Preview before backing up to ensure correct operation
Even computer illiterate can easily operate

Win Download

Mac Download

Win Download
Mac Download

Steps to Backup Contacts on iPhone to PC or Mac

Step 1

Start the program, select iOS Data Backup & Restore.

Step 2

Connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cable and click iOS Data Backup on the program interface.

Step 3

Choose the mode you prefer: Standard more or Encrypt mode. To secure your contact list, better choose Encrypt mode and set a password for this backup.

Step 4

Select "Contacts" from the listed data types; Tap on the "Next" to continue.

Step 5

Pick up a local path to store these contacts, click on "Backup" to start the backup right away.

According to the innumerable positive feedback received from customers, it’s totally worth paying for the flexibility and convenience of iOS Data Backup & Restore.

Related Content: How to Transfer Contacts from Android to iPhone

Method 3. How to Backup Contacts on iPhone with iCloud

As the official backup option, iCloud is also a good choice for iPhone users to back up their iPhone contacts.

Different from iTunes and iOS Data Backup & Restore, iCloud is a cloud backup service that will save all the data on the cloud. Thich means iCloud may fail to back up your iPhone contacts and other data if the connection is weak.

Yet, the auto-backup of iCloud is a very convenient feature. Once you activate it, every time you charge your iPhone, lock it, and connect to a Wi-Fi network, iCloud will work automatically to back up your iPhone data. Still, a condition is never missing: a good internet connection.

Now, let’s see how to use iCloud to back up your iPhone contacts.

Step 1 Enter iPhone "Settings" and hit upon your Apple ID tab.

Step 2 Tap on iCloud and scroll down and find the Contacts option. Keep it on.

Step 3 Next, scroll down and find iCloud Backups, tap on it.

Step 4 On the new screen, turn the iCloud Backup option on. And from now on, iCloud will back up your iPhone contacts along with other data automatically.

Step 5 If you want to back up the iPhone contacts now, simply tap "Back Up Now" below.

Related Content: How to Download Contacts from iCloud to iPhone

Method 4. How to Backup Contacts on iPhone to Gmail/Google

The other way in which you can backup your contacts is using Gmail. We can log in to our Gmail account on iPhone and sync contacts to it. Besides, you can sync other data like Notes and Calendar.

The steps are as follows:

Step 1 Open "Settings", scroll down, and select "Passwords & Accounts".

Step 1 Choose "Add Account" and several options pop out, tap on the Google tab.

Step 2 Type in the information related to your email account details to add your Gmail account to this iPhone.

Step 3 Tap on "Save" on the next page to complete the login.

Step 4 Next, turn on the Contacts option, now, you have successfully backed up iPhone contacts.

Tip:

Apart from Gmail, you can also back up your iPhone contacts to other mail services like Exchange, Yahoo, AOL, Outlook, etc.

Method 5: How to Back Up iPhone Contacts to Mac via Finder

For macOS users, especially Big Sur, Catalina, and Monterey users, you can use the inbuilt Finder on your computer to back up the iPhone contacts with easy steps.

Simply ready your iPhone, Mac, and an applicable USB cable, and let’s start!

Step 1 Connect your iPhone to your Mac with the USB cable.

Step 2 On your Mac, click on File on the top-left corner and choose New Finder Window.

Step 3 On the new Finder window, select your iPhone from the Locations tab.

Step 4 Tick the Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac option. Click Back Up Now to complete

FAQs

1Why did my contacts disappear from my iPhone?

Occasionally, we will find our iPhone contacts gone, especially after a system update or jailbreak. The reasons are pretty easy, the update is not successful and causes some bugs.

If you try to jailbreak your iPhone, then, it’s the jailbreak to be blamed as it’s one of the most unstable things for the iPhone.

Also, for some people, simply restarting the iPhone causes the contacts to disappear on the iPhone. Don’t worry, that’s just because the iPhone hasn’t loaded the contacts from the memory because of some undefined bugs.

When your contacts disappear from your iPhone, the first thing you do is to restart the iPhone. If the restart is not working, try to restore them from iCloud or iTunes backup.

2Does the iPhone automatically save contacts to iCloud?

It does when you activate the auto-backup on your iPhone. How do you do it? On your iPhone, go to Settings - Apple ID - iCloud, scroll down and make sure the Contacts option is on. Next, find iCloud Backup. Tap on it and enable the option.

From then on, every time you connect the iPhone to a Wifi network, charge it, and lock it, iCloud will back up your iPhone contacts automatically.