Syncing Android contacts is not as easy as it sounds. Especially if your contact details are stored on the SIM card.
Sync Android contacts: Transfer to Google account
One of the easiest ways to sync Android contacts is with your Google account. However, since Google cannot read your SIM card contacts, you must first transfer and import them.
- Open the “Contacts” on your Android device and navigate to the settings menu. Here you will find and use the “Import/Export Contacts” option.
- In the following menu, select “Import” and transfer either all or just the contacts you want from the SIM card to your Google account. To do this, tick the contacts you want to transfer.
- To avoid duplicate names in your Android contacts, go to the “Contacts to display” settings and select Google instead of your SIM.
- To sync new contacts directly, make sure to save it as a Google contact. Otherwise it will just be saved on your phone or SIM card and not synced.
Organize synchronized contacts in Gmail
If Google does not automatically sort the contacts under “My Contacts”, you must do this manually:
- To do this, first log in to your Google account on your PC.
- Open the contact view via “Personal information & privacy”. Your mobile phone contacts should now appear under the “Other contacts” tab.
- Select all contacts and click “Add to Contacts” in the top right corner.
Use smartphone tools for synchronization
Most manufacturers of Android smartphones make it particularly easy for you to synchronize contacts. Often there is already an app pre-installed that you can use to conveniently carry out the synchronization.
- Depending on the manufacturer, this app has a different name: Smart Switch (Samsung); Mobile Switch (LG); Phone Clone (Huawei) or Transfer Mobile (Sony Xperia).
- Most manufacturers allow data transfer via a USB cable or via NFC.
- The prerequisite is that the respective app is also installed on your old smartphone. Simply download it from the Play Store.
Transfer contacts from other services to Google
If you have contacts stored in other cloud services or email accounts such as iCloud, Outlook or Yahoo, you can also transfer them to your Google account. The process may vary depending on the service, but in most cases it works by exporting contacts from the respective service and then importing them into Google.
- Exporting contacts: Log in to the service (e.g. iCloud or Outlook) and look for the option to export your contacts. Most of the time, the contacts can be exported in vCard format (.vcf) or CSV format.
- Import to Google: On your PC, open your Google Contacts Manager at contacts.google.com and click “Import”. Upload the previously exported file and the contacts will be transferred to your Google account.
- Sync: Make sure your Google Account sync is enabled on your Android device. To do this, go to the device settings under Accounts > Google Account > Sync Contacts.