3 Simple Ways to Back Up All Contacts on an iPhone

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Easily save your contacts to the cloud or a computer

Co-authored by Mitch Harris and Rain Kengly

Last Updated: December 14, 2025 Tested

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Exporting (iCloud.com)

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Exporting (Contacts App)

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Backing Up to iCloud

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Backing Up to a Mac

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Backing Up to Windows

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Expert Q&A

Do you want to back up all your iPhone contacts for safekeeping? If you're worried about losing your contact information, you can easily export your contacts to a vCard (.vcf) file so you can restore them when needed–even if you lose access to iCloud. If you just want to keep your contacts synced to your Apple account, you can back up your contacts to iCloud. Another option is to back up your iPhone, which includes your contacts, to your Windows or Mac computer. Read on to learn the simplest ways to back up your iPhone contacts.

How can I back up my iPhone contacts?

First, make sure your iPhone contacts are synced to iCloud. Then, log in to iCloud.com on a computer or tablet, click "Contacts", and select "All Contacts". Click ••• at the top of the list, choose "Select all contacts", then click the share icon to export them all to a single vCard (.VCF) file.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Exporting Your Contacts (iCloud.com)

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1
Back up your contacts to iCloud first. If your goal is to create a backup of your contacts that you can restore from if you lose access to iCloud or accidentally delete an important number, this method makes it easy. However, you'll need to make sure your contacts are backed up to iCloud first. Jump to Backing Up to iCloud to make sure your contacts are synced, then move to the next step.
- In the end, you'll be creating a vCard (.vcf) file, ensuring you always have a backup version of your contacts as they are now.
- If you ever need to, you can import the vCard back into iCloud or into apps like Outlook and Gmail.
2
Log in to iCloud on a computer or tablet. You can only access iCloud.com on a computer or tablet–this won't work on your iPhone. Fortunately, you can log in on anyone's device. Just be sure to use the same Apple account you use to log in to your iPhone.^{[1]
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- To log in, go to iCloud.com in a web browser and click Sign in.
- Enter your login details, or choose to log in with your iPhone.
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3
Click the Contacts app. It's in the left panel. Now you'll see a list of your iPhone contacts.
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Select All Contacts. This displays a list of all your contacts synced to iCloud.
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Select all your contacts. To select them all at once, click the three dots in a circle above the list of contact names, then click Select All Contacts.
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Click the share icon
and choose Export vCard. It's in the upper right corner. This prompts you to download a file containing all your contacts.^{[2]
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- If prompted, click OK or Yes to download the file containing your contacts.
- Be sure to save the file to one or more safe locations to ensure you can always access your contacts when needed.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Exporting Your Contacts (Contacts App)

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1
Open the Contacts app on your iPhone. If your goal is to create a backup of your contacts that you can restore from if you lose access to iCloud or accidentally delete an important number, this method makes it easy. You'll find the Contacts app on your home screen or in the App Library.
- While Apple says this is the official way to export contacts, it doesn't work for everyone.^{[3]
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  Research source} If you aren't able to export all your contacts with this method, see to Exporting Your Contacts (iCloud.com).
2
Tap the back arrow <. It's in the upper-left corner of your contacts. This takes you to the Lists screen.^{[4]
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Tap and hold a contact list and select Export. To back up all your contacts, tap and hold All Contacts. Otherwise, you can choose a different contact list, such as All Gmail or All iCloud. Once you select Export, the Share Contacts screen will appear.
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Choose which fields to include in your backup. For example, if you just want to include first and last names, mobile and home phone numbers, and email addresses for each contact, you can deselect the options you don't need.
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Tap the checkmark at the top-right. This opens the Share window, where you can choose what to do with your contact list.
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Choose how to share and save your backed-up contacts. For example, if you want to email yourself a list of contacts, you can select Mail (or your preferred email app) to email it to yourself as an attachment. If you want to save it to iCloud, tap Save to Files, then select a saving location.
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Make sure all your contacts are backed up. While Apple suggests this method as the official way to back up your contacts from your iPhone, many have found that this method only exports one contact. To make sure all your contacts are saved in the VCF file, tap it once you've sent or saved it, and make sure you see more than just one name.
- If it didn't work, don't worry! If you have access to your computer or tablet, jump to Exporting Your Contacts (iCloud.com).

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Backing Up to iCloud

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1
Open the Settings app. This is the grey cog icon.
- When you back up your iPhone contacts to iCloud, they remain synced across all your Apple devices, including your iPad and Mac. Just log in to any Apple device with the same Apple account you use on your iPhone, and your contacts will be available.
- The drawback to this method is that if you delete a contact on any device, it will be deleted from everywhere. Still, if your main concern is having your contacts connected to your Apple/iCloud account so you can access them anywhere, this method works great.
This opens your Apple Account settings.^{[5]
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You can find this below Subscriptions.
This will expand the list of available apps you can back up to iCloud.
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Toggle on Contacts if it's turned off. If the "Contacts" switch is gray, tapping it will turn it green, ensuring your iPhone contacts are automatically saved and synced to iCloud.
- Your iPhone contacts will be synced to iCloud. If you make any changes to the contacts on your iPhone, it will also reflect in iCloud.
- If you have existing contacts in iCloud, you may be prompted to tap Merge to finish syncing.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Backing Up to a Mac

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1
Connect your iPhone to your computer. Depending on your iPhone model, you'll need to use a USB to Lightning cable or USB to USB-C cable.^{[6]
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- This method will back up your iPhone, including your contacts, to your Mac. If you ever need to restore your contacts, you can recover this backup to do so.
Finder is the blue and gray face icon on the dock.
You will see it under "Locations".^{[7]
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You can find this at the top of the Finder window.
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Select "Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac". This is in the middle of the window.
- If needed, you can choose to encrypt the backup with a password.
This backs up your entire iPhone, including your contacts, to your computer.^{[8]
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Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Backing Up to Windows

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You'll be able to use iTunes to back up your iPhone, including your contacts. The iTunes icon looks like a pink-and-blue musical note in a white circle.^{[9]
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Depending on your iPhone model, you'll need to use a USB to Lightning cable or USB to USB-C cable.
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Select the iPhone icon at the top-left corner. It may take a moment for it to appear.^{[10]
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- If prompted, tap Trust on your iPhone's screen to continue. You may also be prompted to enter your PIN or use Face ID to unlock your iPhone.
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Select Back Up Now. You can find this below Backups.
- If you want to protect your backup with a password, you can choose the "Encrypt local backup" option.^{[11]
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- Your iPhone will begin backing up its contents, including all contacts, to your PC. This process may take several minutes to complete.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How can I backup my iPhone contacts without iCloud?

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Mitch Harris is a Consumer Technology Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mitch runs his own IT Consulting company called Mitch the Geek, helping individuals and businesses with home office technology, data security, remote support, and cybersecurity compliance. Mitch earned a BS in Psychology, English, and Physics and graduated Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University.

Mitch Harris

Consumer Technology Expert

Expert Answer

Use a different cloud provider! Apple communicates well with all different kinds. For instance, if you're a Google-oriented person, you might sync up your contacts with Gmail.

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Question

How can you backup contacts from iPhone to computer?

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Mitch Harris is a Consumer Technology Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mitch runs his own IT Consulting company called Mitch the Geek, helping individuals and businesses with home office technology, data security, remote support, and cybersecurity compliance. Mitch earned a BS in Psychology, English, and Physics and graduated Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University.

Mitch Harris

Consumer Technology Expert

Expert Answer

Create a hard backup by going to the iCloud website, or whatever your cloud host's site is.

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Question

How do I copy the contacts from my phone to iCloud?

Hamza Liaqat

Community Answer

Go to iCloud in Settings and make sure "Contacts" is turned on.

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