How to transfer all of your contacts from one iPhone to another using iCloud

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Once you know how to transfer contacts from one iPhone to another iPhone, you can switch between phones almost seamlessly.

• You can easily transfer contacts from one iPhone to another iPhone using iCloud, allowing you to use a new device without losing all of the contact information you've gathered over the years.
• You can transfer iPhone contacts in a matter of minutes when you have two iPhones close to one another using an iCloud syncing.
• Using iCloud backup, you can transfer your contacts to an iPhone even if your older phone is lost or no longer working, provided you've saved your contacts to iCloud.
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The easiest way to transfer contacts from one iPhone to another is to bring the phones into a cell phone store and ask the person behind the desk to do it for you.

But that approach, while reliable, is time consuming and costs money, and besides, you're more than capable of transferring iPhone contacts yourself. It just takes a few steps, and in fact you don't even need to have the older phone in your possession to load contacts onto a new iPhone.

But what you do need to do is be good about backing up your iPhone to your iCloud account. If you back up your device frequently, a lost phone won't mean lost contacts (or pictures, messages, calendars, and more.)

If you don't back up your phone, you may spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down friends and family and coworkers, asking for their numbers and emails, as you restore your lost contact list.

How to transfer iPhone contacts to a new iPhone using iCloud syncing

If you have both your old iPhone and your new phone in hand and both are working, then it's easy to load the contacts onto the new phone. Just make sure you are somewhere with a secure, trusted Wi-Fi network when you do so.

1. Connect both phones to the Wi-Fi network and log into your Apple ID account on both.

2. On the old phone, open the Settings app, then tap on your Apple ID profile (your name and picture at the top of the Settings page).

Steven John/Business InsiderOpen your Apple ID profile.3. Tap the iCloud tab.4. Tap Contacts, and when the pop-up reading "What would you like to do with existing local contacts on your iPhone?" appears, select "Merge."5. Now open the contacts window on the new phone and drag down to have it refresh; the contacts should appear quickly.How to transfer iPhone contacts to a new iPhone using an iCloud backupIf iCloud syncing didn't work, or if you don't have your old phone anymore (or it's not working properly), you can use the contacts backed up to your iCloud storage to load contact information onto a new iPhone. For the record, this method also works fine if the old phone is operable and is right there with you.1. Turn on the new phone and follow the steps to join a Wi-Fi network.2. Log into your Apple ID using the same email and password you used with your old phone.3. When the "Apps and Data" screen loads, tap "Restore from iCloud Backup."4. Choose the most recent backup, and your contacts - along with everything else on the backup - will automatically be loaded onto your new phone.Note that if you have already set up the newer phone, or if it is not a brand new iPhone, you can erase all data on the phone and then back it up from iCloud, but of course this step should be taken with caution, because there is no undoing it.Related coverage fromHow To Do Everything: Tech:How to change your Apple ID on an iPhoneHow to restore your iPhone from a backup after taking the 'nuclear option' of a factory reset'Why won't my iPhone charge?': How to diagnose and fix common iPhone charging problemsHow to backup your iPhone to iCloud, your computer, or an external hard drive NOW WATCH: I switched from the $1,099 iPhone XS Max to the $479 Pixel 3a XL - and I didn't miss much function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);