How to copy a contact sheet from iPhone to SIM card. The Easiest Ways to Transfer Contacts to iPhone

A familiar situation: you bought a brand new phone, insert your SIM card into it, check your contacts folder and find nothing in it. There's no need to panic. After all, almost any problem always has a solution.

Getting to grips with the phone

So, it is known that our beloved iPhones of different brands and models have a common problem - transferring contact information from and to the device. Therefore, the first and most basic way, contacts from iPhone, unless, of course, you want to rewrite them manually, is to transfer the numbers to your computer. Everything is simple here. The phone is connected to the computer via a USB cable, and the appropriate mode is selected in the mobile phone. Already through the computer you view the contents of the folders on your phone, find the one you need with contacts. Create a folder on your computer desktop and transfer there the necessary information about the numbers of your friends, acquaintances, etc. by “copy/pasting”. As you can see, we didn’t have any particular problems with how to copy contacts from iPhone.

Side note! If necessary, reverse the process, i.e. To transfer the database from the SIM card to the phone memory, proceed as follows:

• in the general menu, select the “Settings” folder;
• there, among various items, we find the parameters “Mail, Contacts, Calendar”;
• The last point on how to copy contacts from a SIM to an iPhone is to respond positively to the system’s prompt “import sim contacts.” And wait until the import is finished.

It happens that the phone needs flashing. It is done in specialized service centers. True, many advanced iPhone users are able to complete the entire process on their own. You just need to select and download a new type of firmware from the Internet to your computer (the main “trick” is to match the phone model), as well as a program for flashing it, called a “bootloader” in computer slang. Now we won’t go into the intricacies of reinstalling the system on the phone and all its parameters; we’ll only touch on how to copy contacts from the iPhone in this case:

It should be noted that it is through the firmware that it is possible to transfer and save all contact information without errors.

Advancements in technology have led to a surge in the mobile phone market. The model range is updated by manufacturers regularly. Each new smartphone is better than the previous one, which forces users to constantly update their devices. Purchasing a “mobile phone” requires transferring all data from your previous phone. The most important thing is the information from the address book, so the problem of transferring contacts to the purchased device is a pressing issue.

Before transferring numbers from one mobile device to another, you should clearly understand the specific terminology used for this action. There is the concept of “import” and “export”. What's the difference between them?

Export

Export on the phone is the transfer of a list of subscribers using external media (memory card or SIM card), where an internal file containing important information is saved or created.

For the Android system, an additional standard method of exporting/importing is synchronization with Google services. This action allows you to transfer mobile phone address book data into the “cloud”. Then return it back in the same way.

Import

Import is the restoration of saved numbers or subscriber cards. The import procedure makes it possible to save telephone numbers of a SIM card or external storage device in the device’s memory.

Saving iPhone Address Book

If for users of Android devices the problem of transferring contacts to a SIM card is not acute, then for lovers of products from Cupertino such an event requires some preparation. There are several ways to copy contacts to your phone on an iPhone:

• Using the iCloud service.
• Using AppStore software.
• Using iTunes.

iCloud

• To export a list of subscribers from iPhone you need:
• synchronize data between iPhone and service;
• after completing the procedure, visit the “cloud” website by selecting the “Contacts” menu;
• the screen that opens contains an icon depicting a “gear” that must be clicked;
• Inside the drop-down list, select “Export vCard”;
• The generated card must be saved.

To carry out the reverse procedure, the easiest way would be to send the .vcf file via email, where the recipient will be the user himself. Reading a letter through any Apple device will automatically update the list of subscribers.

The optimal solution would be to set automatic synchronization when a WiFi network appears while the iPhone is charging. This will allow you to always have an up-to-date backup of important data.
iTunes

When using tuna, you should initially create a file with the .vcf extension in the described way and save it. Having connected the iPhone to the PC and launched the program, you need to open the Information menu item, noting that synchronization will be carried out from the current computer.

How to carry out the procedure for iPhone

Initially, the function to copy contacts to a SIM card is not provided in the Apple product.
This procedure can be carried out in several ways.

If you have jailbreak

If your iPhone has been jailbroken, you can download a special program, for example, SIManager. The utility is not the latest, but it makes it easy to copy all the numbers of friends and acquaintances from your phone to a SIM card.

No jailbreak

If you have a non-jailbroken iPhone, there are two ways to directly port numbers.

Using the software

One of the best applications that the AppStore offers completely free is My Contacts Backup. The procedure is as follows:

• Downloading the program.
• Launch with granting permission to access the list of subscribers.
• Clicking the Backup button.
• After processing the telephone directory, the user is prompted to send the card by email.
• The letter will contain a .vcf file that will need to be opened in the new device for import.

Google

Using the Google service is the easiest way to transfer data from your phone, even if it is an iPhone.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:

• The user goes to the mail account settings.
• Selects the “Add account” option.
• After entering your gmail address and password, you must save the information you entered.
• To synchronize, you need to replace the default iTunes account with a newly created account, which you need to make standard.
• Opening the Contacts menu will automatically sync.
• In a new device, you need to carry out similar actions and receive a completed address book.

The lack of a function for directly copying numbers via a SIM card for an iPhone is not an obstacle to transferring data without problems.

Video instruction

Articles and Lifehacks

It is known that iOS devices are radically different from other mobile gadgets. Therefore, everyone who purchased an Apple mobile device for the first time, along with the question and a host of other uncertainties, also had the question of copying contacts. Our article will tell you how to transfer contacts from SIM card to iPhone, and vice versa. Obviously, there are several ways to do this, but we will focus on the two simplest and most correct ones.

How to transfer contacts from a SIM card to an iPhone?

Let's start with a small warning that will help us avoid unpleasant situations in the future. If we have contacts in the phone book whose names contain various symbols, most likely the iOS mobile device will not only not be able to recognize these symbols, but will simply not copy the contacts. Before importing, it is recommended to erase such entries and enter them under the correct names, or simply write them down on a piece of paper and then enter them manually on the iPhone.

To transfer contacts from a SIM card to an iPhone, we will need to go to the smartphone’s settings and find “Mail, calendars, contacts.” We go to this section and scroll through the list until we see the option “Import SIM contacts”. If we did everything correctly, the imported contacts will appear in the “Contacts” menu, sorted alphabetically.

After this, we will be asked to import into a specific account. For example, if we have a Google account, contacts can be transferred there too. As you can see, you have to tinker a little more with transferring contacts than with or adding a new contact to it.

If we are interested in how to transfer contacts to a SIM card on an iPhone, we will need to synchronize the phone book of the mobile device with the PC. You will need the iTunes application to sync.

As a last resort, you can resort to third-party software (like Contacts to Extract).

How to transfer contacts to iPhone from SIM card of another phone?

First you need to transfer all the contacts of the old device to the SIM card. This is usually very easy to do on feature phones. After this, you need to install a SIM card in the iPhone and transfer the numbers using the above “Import SIM contacts” command. The numbers should appear in the Contacts section.

Another very convenient way is to use the iCloud cloud service. We connect the phone to the PC and save the numbers in a file with the VCF extension, that is, vCard. Log in to your iCloud account using your Apple ID data (must be previously created). Go to the “Contacts” section and click on the settings icon at the bottom left. A menu will appear where we will select “Import vCard”. In the window that opens, indicate the previously exported VCF file. After authorization occurs, contacts are instantly synchronized and appear on the iPhone.

You bought an iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s or any other, inserted a SIM card into it, clicked on the “handset” icon, and there was nothing there - complete zero.

Naturally, questions arise: where are the contacts of the SIM card in the iPhone and how to see them? Do Apple devices even read contacts from a SIM card? Are they saved on the SIM card or iPhone?

The answer may be a little disappointing, but there is a solution. The iPhone does not see the numbers on the SIM card, but you can import it from the SIM card into the phone’s memory.

iOS allows you to quickly transfer SIM card contacts and save them to iCloud or your computer so that they are available on all your devices.

NOTE: Depending on your device configuration, there are two ways to copy contacts.

Therefore, if the first option does not work, try another, one will definitely work.

The first way to transfer contacts from a SIM card to an iPhone

Transferring numbers is easy and quick. To go through this process, the first step is to open “Settings”

We scroll a little more and see the line: “Import.... ." - click on it.

We wait a few seconds (depending on the number of numbers) and the number in the phone book

The second way to transfer contacts from a SIM card to an iPhone

Open “Settings” and select the “Mail, Addresses, Calendars” section.

There, find the line “Import SIM contacts” and click on it.

Import will begin immediately.

That's it - numbers in the phone book. Depending on your device settings, you may also be able to choose where to import to iCloud, Facebook, Google, etc.

Then, if you want, choose any service. The process should not last more than a few seconds.

It is 500 units. In the era of smartphones with 256 GB of internal memory, this seems incredible. Good luck.

Storing numbers in the memory of a SIM card is a technical anachronism, but the question of how to copy contacts from an iPhone to a SIM card continues to periodically arise among users. Copying from SIM to phone is performed in two steps, but the reverse procedure seemed so outdated to the iOS developer that they did not consider it necessary to add such a function. This drawback persists for a long time, so users have already adapted to overcome it on their own.

Direct transfer (needs jailbreak)

To directly copy contacts from iPhone memory to a SIM card, you need the SIManager tweak, which will only work after jailbreaking the device. Jailbreaking involves gaining access to the file system and is not officially supported by Apple. After the jailbreak, users receive enhanced capabilities, but the company no longer guarantees the stable operation of the hacked system.

With every iOS update, jailbreaking becomes more difficult and unsafe. Therefore, before breaking the system, you need to decide whether it is worth doing this at all in order to copy contacts to the SIM card. If you need to transfer phonebook entries to another device, you can use other methods:

• Sync via iCloud to another iPhone.
• Using iTunes.
• Copying through special applications - for example, CardDav, etc.

If the copied contact must certainly end up in the SIM memory, then take care of the correct jailbreak and download the SIManager tweak from the BeYoiP repository in Cydia.

1. Launch SIManager. A list of contacts will be displayed in the program window.
2. Click "Write to SIM".
3. In the window that appears, specify what operation should be performed - “Copy iPhone To Sim”.

All numbers from the phone book may not fit into the SIM memory, as it has a serious limitation. Remember this when transferring, so as not to accidentally delete contacts that did not fit on the SIM card when copying.

SIManager is distributed free of charge, but displays advertising, which, however, does not interfere with the normal use of the application. This is the simplest method, which remains relevant with the release of iPhone 6 and 7. The system is being updated, but no one is going to solve the issue of transferring contacts from the smartphone’s memory to a SIM card.

Other ways to transfer contacts

Many people will have a logical question - how can you copy contacts from an iPhone to a Sim without jailbreaking? If you do not risk breaking the system to transfer entries from the phone book, you will have to use an Android device. On Android there are no problems with copying contacts to SIM, from SIM, to a memory card.

To transfer contacts from iPhone 6 or 7 to Android, you can use any available method. The easiest method is to use the My Contacts Backup app.

The sent email will contain a VCF file as an attachment, which can be easily downloaded on Android. When opening the file, the system will prompt you to import contacts. Agree to this operation, and the iPhone phone book entries will be in Android memory. To transfer contacts to SIM:

After a few seconds, the contacts will be on the SIM card. No jailbreak is needed, all you need is an Android device used as an adapter.

You can do without applications by copying your contacts first to your computer, then to Android, and only then to your SIM card. For example, use iCloud synchronization:

1. Open icloud.com in your browser on your computer.
2. Sign in using your Apple ID.
3. Go to the Contacts application. Select all entries, click on the hexagon icon and select “Export vCard”.
4. Transfer the resulting file to Android, unpack it into the phone book and copy the contents to the SIM card.

Similarly, you can transfer contacts to your computer via iTunes. Synchronize your phone book entries with Windows Contacts or Outlook, and then transfer the received data to Android memory and then to the SIM card.