Back up Android contacts: Google, Samsung and a VCF file

To back up Android contacts properly, you first need to know where they are saved, because an Android phone can keep them in a Google account, on the device, on the SIM card or in a Samsung account. Only some of those places have an online copy. This guide shows the three common ways to keep a copy, the steps from Google's and Samsung's own help pages, and a quick check to make sure the copy works.

Short answer: The simplest backup is to keep your contacts in your Google account: turn on Google Contacts sync and its option to back up device and SIM contacts automatically, then check them at contacts.google.com. On a Samsung phone you can also back up contacts to Samsung Cloud. Either way, export a VCF file now and then and keep it off the phone, because sync copies mistakes as well as changes.

Step 1: find out where your contacts are saved

Android's Contacts app shows one list, but each contact is saved in one place:

• Google account. Synced online, visible at contacts.google.com and on any phone signed in to that account.
• Device (phone storage). Kept only on that phone. Google's help notes that some apps save contacts this way, and changes to them do not sync to your Google account.
• SIM card. Holds little more than a name and a number. It is not a backup.
• Samsung account. On Samsung phones, contacts can be saved to and synced with your Samsung account.
• Other accounts. Exchange, Outlook or other services, each with its own rules.

To see the split, open your Contacts app and look for an option to choose which account's contacts are shown, or check the account under a contact's details. Menus differ between the Google Contacts app and Samsung's Contacts app, and between Android versions, so look for the general idea rather than an exact label.

Write down which accounts you use and roughly how many contacts are in each. That tells you which methods below you need.

Method 1: back up contacts to Google

If you only do one thing, do this. It turns device and SIM contacts into Google contacts, so they live in your Google account and come back when you sign in on a new phone.

From Google's help page back up and sync device and SIM contacts:

1. Open your phone's Settings.
2. Tap Google, or tap your profile picture and then All services.
3. Under Backup & restore, tap Google Contacts sync.
4. Choose the Google account your contacts should be saved to.
5. Tap View settings and, under Sync options, turn on Backup device-only & SIM contacts automatically.

Things worth knowing, also from Google's help:

• Contacts can be saved automatically to one Google account only.
• It does not work with a child's account or a Google Workspace (work or school) account.
• Contacts that already sync with another service, such as Exchange or Yahoo, are not copied into Google.
• If you sign out of the Google account on a phone, its Google contacts are removed from that phone. They stay in the account.

Then check: open contacts.google.com on a computer and see that the count looks right. Open a few contacts with several numbers to make sure the details came across.

Android device backup

Separately, Android can back up the phone itself, including contacts, to your Google account. Google describes it under Settings > System > Backup, with a switch to back up to Google. When you set up a new phone, you can restore contacts from that backup. Google's help notes that you cannot restore a backup from a newer Android version onto a phone running an older one.

Method 2: back up contacts on a Samsung phone

Samsung phones offer two Samsung-specific options alongside Google.

Samsung Cloud backup. Samsung's help page back up and restore contacts gives these steps:

1. Open Settings and tap your Samsung account.
2. Tap Samsung Cloud, then Back up data.
3. Select Contacts and tap Done.

Restoring works the same way through Restore data, where you pick the device the backup came from. Menu names differ between models and One UI versions.

Samsung account sync. Contacts saved to your Samsung account sync with it, which is different from a one-off backup. A Samsung backup or sync helps most if you stay with Samsung phones. If you might move to another brand or to an iPhone, a Google account or a VCF file travels better.

On Samsung's Contacts app you can also move contacts between the Samsung account and a Google account, usually under Manage contacts. Do this slowly and with a VCF file made first, because moving contacts is an easy way to create duplicates.

Method 3: a VCF file you keep

A VCF (vCard) file is the standard contacts file. Almost every phone and contacts service can import it, including iPhone and Google. It protects you from things sync cannot: an accidental deletion that syncs everywhere, a lost account, a switch of platform.

In the Google Contacts app, from Google's help:

1. Open the Contacts app and tap Fix & manage.
2. Tap Export to file.
3. Choose the accounts to export, then Export to .VCF file.

In Samsung's Contacts app: open the menu, tap Manage contacts, then Import or export contacts, then Export, and choose where to save the file.

On a computer: at contacts.google.com, select contacts and use Export, choosing vCard.

Save the file somewhere off the phone: a computer, a cloud folder or an email to yourself. Remember that a VCF file is not encrypted. Names, numbers, addresses and notes sit in it as plain text, so store it like a printed address book. If you wonder whether a CSV would do, see VCF or CSV for a contacts export; to look inside the file, see how to open a VCF file.

Which copy protects against what

For most people, Google sync plus a VCF file once a month, and before any big change, is a sensible setup. If something already went wrong, Google can sometimes bring contacts back; see how to restore contacts from Google and how to recover deleted contacts.

Check that the backup works

• Compare the number of contacts at contacts.google.com, or in your file, with the number on the phone. A big gap usually means one account was left out.
• Open three contacts with several numbers, an email and an address.
• If you can, import the VCF file into a test account or another device and find the same people.

Where Callmory fits

Callmory is an iPhone app. An Android version is planned for later, so today it cannot back up an Android phone, and the methods above are what we would use ourselves.

It becomes relevant if you move from Android to iPhone. Once your contacts are on the iPhone, through your Google account or an imported VCF file, Callmory can save the contacts you pick as a portable VCF or CSV file, and keep your notes, follow-ups and voice recordings about people in one encrypted, password-protected app backup. Restoring a Callmory backup into Callmory shows a preview first and never silently overwrites a changed record. Restoring straight into the iPhone's own Contacts, and a screen that shows which accounts your contacts live in, are in progress. The move itself is covered in transferring contacts from Android to iPhone.

The iPhone beta opens in stages through the waitlist; the home page lists what is built today.

Frequently asked questions