Back up & restore contacts from your device or SIM card

You can back up the contacts stored on your device or SIM card. If you lose or need to replace your phone, you can restore these contacts on the new phone.
If you’ve saved your contacts to your Google Account, they'll sync automatically. You won’t need to restore contacts this way. Learn about syncing.

Note: Android isn't the same on all devices. These instructions are for devices running Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

 

Turn automatic backup off or on

When you first set up your Google Account on your device, you’ll be asked if you want to back up your data. You can change this setting at any time.

1. Open your device’s Settings app .
2. Under "Personal," tap Backup & reset  Back up my data.
3. Tap the On/Off switch.

Restore contacts from backups

1. Open your device’s Settings app .
2. Under "Personal," tap Google.
3. Under "Services," tap Restore contacts.
4. If you have multiple Google Accounts, tap Account to choose which account’s contacts to restore.
5. Tap the device with the contacts to copy.
6. If you don’t want to copy contacts from your SIM card or device storage, tap off SIM card or Device storage.
7. Tap Restore, then wait until you see "Contacts restored."
8. To avoid duplicates, your device restores only contacts that it doesn't already have. Your restored contacts also sync to your current Google Account and other devices.

To restore contacts from other apps, like Outlook or WhatsApp, you’ll need to re-install those apps.