How to copy contacts from phone to SIM card: all options

02/26/2020 for beginners | mobile devices

If you need to transfer contacts from a SIM card to your phone (to your phone's memory, to your Google account), this is very easy to do using the built-in Android tools.

This instruction provides details on transferring or copying contacts to SIM cards with pure Android and Samsung Galaxy phones. By analogy, the action can be performed on smartphones of other brands. You may also find it useful: How to recover contacts on an Android phone.

• How to transfer contacts from a SIM card to an Android phone
• Transfer contacts from SIM card to Samsung Galaxy
• Additional Information
• Video instruction

When may you need to transfer data to a SIM card?

Typically, smartphone owners use Google cloud services for backup data storage. You can copy information from the cloud to any gadget connected to the Internet. But there are a number of situations in which it makes more sense to transfer contacts from your phone to a SIM card:

• Before updating the gadget's firmware.
• If necessary, roll back the smartphone to factory settings.

If the device breaks down, before returning it to the service center.

• When using several smartphones at the same time.
• After purchasing a new gadget - to transfer information to it.

And of course, saving contacts from your phone to a SIM card will help in a situation where the gadget does not have access to the Internet, that is, there is no way to transfer the list of subscribers to the cloud for storage.

How to transfer contacts from a SIM card to your phone on an iPhone?

The procedure for transferring them to an iPhone is different from what we did in Android devices.

1. Install the SIM card in the gadget.
2. Go to “Settings - Contacts - Import SIM contacts”.

3. After transposing them to the iPhone, we synchronize them with the iCloud cloud. To do this, log in to your Apple ID.
4. Select “Contacts” and click “Merge”.
5. Go to iCloud.com and make sure your data has been transferred.

On some firmware the procedure is slightly different, but the procedure is approximately the same. Try to catch it, then you can easily dump everything from the SIM card’s memory into your new smartphone.

Don't forget to also activate synchronization with Google so you never lose information about numbers, and the next time you connect your account to a new device, the system will automatically add everything.

Features of transferring information to a SIM card

Before you transfer contacts from your phone to a SIM card, you need to take into account the main nuances of this process.

1. A SIM card can accommodate a limited number of numbers. Old SIM cards contain no more than 100 entries. For new ones, issued no more than 3 years ago – up to 250 entries.
2. When transferring the phone book to the SIM card, only the name and number of the subscriber are saved. It will not be possible to record: photos, notes, birthday data and other additional information.
3. If several numbers are associated with one name in the gadget's phone book, when transferring data to a SIM card, separate entries will be created for each number.
4. Only the first 6 characters of the subscriber's name, including spaces, can be saved to the SIM card.

Before transferring all the saved numbers from your phone to the SIM card, you should put things in order in the list of subscribers: delete irrelevant numbers, clear the phone book of duplicates, shorten usernames that are too long. If this is not done, the directory may not be copied completely, or using it after transfer will be a rather difficult process.

Where is the best place to store contacts on your phone?

In the process of saving a new number in the phone book, the system prompts the user to make a choice: save it in the gadget or write it to the SIM card. In addition, there are other fairly reliable ways to store and transfer phone book data. All these methods will be described below.

Storing contacts in a smartphone

Modern mobile phones can store a huge list of contacts - phone numbers, email addresses, etc. The main disadvantage of this method is that after resetting the device to its factory state or breaking it, all phone book entries will be deleted. Moreover, you won’t be able to restore them yourself, so you will need to contact a specialized repair center. In this case, you will have to shell out a considerable amount of money to repair the device or restore important data if its warranty has expired.

Storing numbers on a SIM card

Previously, almost all mobile phone owners recorded contacts on SIM cards so as not to overload their memory. True, SIM cards have a limit on the number capacity - no more than 255.

The advantage of this method is that even after the smartphone breaks down, the numbers will be saved. Therefore, the SIM card can be moved to another gadget and all important numbers with names will be available on it. However, if the SIM card is lost or damaged, all phone numbers will be irretrievably lost.

Storing data in cloud storage

Android OS provides synchronization with a Google account, so all important data can be stored on the Google server. To store contacts in your Google account, you need to open “Contacts”, select “Export” there and specify your Google account as the storage location. Thanks to this, it will be possible to restore all phone numbers at any time, even after the device fails or is stolen.

It is best to store contacts in different places so that you can restore them at any time without problems. The main thing is to protect this data from unauthorized persons, since criminals are constantly hunting for it. For example, you can set a strong password for a list or backup or simply pack them into a rar or zip archive with a password.

Storing phone book data in backup

It is best to store numbers with names in a backup, and you can make a backup copy of the entire system or just contacts. There are special applications for this. For example, such a program is Super Backup: SMS & Contacts. It is advisable to store a backup copy of your phone book on a PC or external storage device so as not to lose it. You can also set a password on it and store it in some reliable cloud storage, or even in an electronic mailbox.

Instructions for transferring data from Android to SIM card

Let's look at how to transfer contacts from your phone to a SIM card (on Android version 9 and higher). On gadgets with earlier versions of the OS, the process may differ slightly in the names of menu items, but the general logic of actions will be the same as described.

1. Open the contact list.
2. Click on the icon with three dots located on the right in the upper corner of the screen (can be located in the center).

1. In the submenu that appears, select “Manage contacts”.

1. Go to the “Export/Import...” section.

1. Click on the “Export” button.

1. Mark the SIM card to which you want to copy with a dot.

1. We select from the general list the records that need to be saved. If you need to transfer all contacts from your phone to a SIM card, mark the word “All” with a dot at the top of the list.

1. Click the “Finish” button.
2. On the new screen, click “Export”, then confirm the transfer by clicking on the “Yes” button.
3. We wait until the copying process is completed, then return to the main menu of the device.

To check that the transfer went smoothly, you can open the phone book again. There should be a SIM card icon next to all entries marked earlier - this will mean that they were copied successfully.

Let's go online

In older devices, only one of the slots supported fast 4G Internet, and it was important which slot the card was installed in. If you have the same story, you will have to swap the cards. In relatively new gadgets, you can enable fast Internet on any slot - in the settings. In the screenshot above you can see that it is now connected to SIM1. And you can switch it like this:

We invite you to learn how to transfer contacts from a SIM card to a phone on Samsung. In a similar way, you can carry out the transfer on almost any Android smartphone.

We invite you to learn how to transfer contacts from a SIM card to a phone on Samsung. In a similar way, you can carry out the transfer on almost any Android smartphone.

Transferring contacts from SIM to device memory on a Samsung Galaxy phone is done as follows:

• Open the “Contacts” section in your phone
• Go to “Settings” (depending on the version of Android you need to either click the gear or three dots in the upper right corner)
• In the settings that open, click on the import/export item

• To transfer contacts from a SIM card to a Samsung phone, you need to click “Import from SIM card” or “Import from SIM storage”

• Click on the desired location to save the list of contacts - in our case, this is the “Device” or “Phone” item
• Select the contacts to import (all or individually) and click “Done”.

If, on the contrary, you want to transfer contacts from a Samsung phone to a SIM card (export them), then read these instructions.

Contacts export has completed.

Transfer data from SIM card to smartphone

Copying contacts from a SIM card to a new gadget is as easy as transferring the phone book from the smartphone’s memory to the SIM. Here are the instructions for Android 9 (and higher) users:

1. We go to the contact list.
2. Click on the button with three dots at the top of the screen (“Options”).
3. In the submenu that appears, select “Manage contacts”.
4. On the new screen, click “Import/export...”.
5. Select the “Import” section.
6. Mark in the list the SIM card from which you want to copy the data.
7. Select entries from the phone book to transfer (or click “All”).
8. In the list of possible places of import o.
9. Click the “Import” button and confirm the transfer.

You can make sure that the copying was successful by opening the list of contacts and checking the location of their saving in the properties of the entries.

What is it for?

Nowadays, smartphone users often change devices to new models. Therefore, we have to resolve issues of transferring numbers from one device to another. There are different ways to solve the problem, but often people simply move the numbers to a SIM card and then install the card in a new smartphone.

The process is simple, but the Android operating system is constantly updated, so the procedure changes. Therefore, below we will show the method of transferring numbers from a SIM card to a smartphone, and we will understand the intricacies of the procedure.

Support programs

You can transfer contacts from your phone to a SIM card and back not only using the tools built into the OS. There are many third-party applications that allow you to make a “backup” of your phone book with all the information entered into it, and not just the name and number of the subscriber. You can download them from Google Play.

1. “Copy to SIM card” is a free application that allows you to transfer data from a gadget to a SIM card and back. Does not work on dual SIM smartphones.
2. “Contact2Sim” - in addition to data transfer, it can restore lost numbers and allows you to set up account filters.
3. “SIM Tool Manager” will help you both transfer contacts from a SIM card and upload data to a SIM card from your smartphone, restore lost records and manage existing ones.

How to transfer contacts to a SIM card

In order for the numbers to be in the SIM card memory, you can initially save them to the SIM card. If the contact was saved on the internal storage of the device, then you should follow a few simple steps:

• Open your phone book.
• Click the three dots button to open an additional menu.
• Go to "Manage Contacts" and then "Import and Export".
• Select "Export to SIM card".
• Select the required numbers or check the box next to “All”.
• Wait until copying finishes.

Depending on the manufacturer and specific smartphone model, the names of menu items will differ. However, this should not prevent you from performing the operation, because the export option is available on all mobile devices. The main thing is to carefully study the application menu, which is used to manage subscribers.

How to export and import contacts

There are several ways to export or import contacts on Android devices. The first is through the standard Contacts application on the phone, the second is using third-party software.

Using a Google account

You can transfer numbers to your Google account this way:

1. Open Contacts on your device.

1. Tap on the “Menu” icon.

1. Select “Settings” and “Export contacts”.

1. Specify a place to transfer information.

1. Tap “Export to VCF File” or “Save.”

Attention! You can add data on devices running Android OS from a SIM card or a virtual card located in the device’s memory.

To remove from SIM you will need to do the following:

1. Insert the SIM card into your smartphone or tablet.
2. Open a program containing numbers on your Android device.

1. Tap the Menu icon.

1. Tap “Settings”, “Import contacts”.

1. Click on the “SIM card” item (in some versions of the OS it offers a choice of operator). Specify an account to save the material.

If the information is in a special document in .vcf format, import is done as follows:

1. Go to the Contacts application.

1. Click on the virtual “Menu” button in the upper left corner of the screen.

1. Then go to “Settings” and “Import contacts”.

1. Select "VCF file". From the proposed accounts, indicate the one where you want to save contact information.

1. Find and open the .vcf document from which the values ​​will be extracted.