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How to Back Up Your Contacts to Google Contacts

By Justin Pot · June 28, 2019
how-to-backup-contacts-google primary img

Losing your phone is stressful enough, but imagine also losing your contacts. Asking work contacts for their email address again, never knowing who is texting you without asking first—it’s a nightmare, really.

This is why you should back up your contacts, and Google Contacts is a great place for that. Here's how to back up your contacts to Google on Android and iOS, or restore them from a CSV or vCard file.

Losing track of phone numbers and addresses is stressful, which is why it's important to back them up.

Android: How to Back Up Contacts to Google

Android is heavily tied to Google accounts, and in most cases, your phone's contacts should be backed up to Google Contacts already. You can verify this by opening Settings and heading to System > Backup.

Backup Google Contacts in Android

Make sure that backing up to Google Drive is enabled and check that Contacts have been backed up recently. If so, your Android contacts are backing up to Google Contacts. Open Google Contacts on any other device, log in to your Google account, and you should see your contacts there.

iPhone or iPad: How to Back Up Contacts to Google

Want to do a one-time backup of your iPhone or iPad contacts over to Google Contacts? You'll need to install the Google Drive app and sign in to your Google account. Next open the Settings.

Google Drive settings on an iPad

You'll find the Backup option. Open it.

Backup to Google Drive on an iPad

Here you'll see the option to back up your contacts.

Back up iPhone or iPad contacts to Google

Do this and all of the contacts currently on your phone will be imported to Google Contacts. Open Google Contacts on any other device, log in to your Google account, and you should see your contacts there.

You can also sync your Google Contacts with your iPhone or iPad. Head to Settings, then Passwords & Accounts. Add your Gmail account, if you haven't, and make sure Contacts syncing is turned on.

Sync Google Contacts with iPhone or iPad

Your Google Contacts will now show up on your device, and any changes you make to those contacts will sync to other devices.

Restore Exported Contacts to Google

If you've exported your contacts from Google, or some other service, you probably have a CSV or vCard file. You can import these into Google Contacts. Open Google Contacts in your browser, then click More in the left side bar.

Click the More button to find the Import option

Next, click Import.

Import button in Google Contacts

From here you can upload and import contacts by uploading your file.

Google Contacts import options

Note that trying to import more than 3,000 contacts at once will fail, so split your files into smaller pieces if you run up against that limit. You can use Microsoft Excel or even a text editor to do this.

Automatically Back Up Contacts to Google

Zapier can connect Google Contacts with 1,500+ apps, allowing you to automatically back up contacts in all sorts of unlikely ways.

For example, you could automatically add all new HubSpot or Mailchimp contacts to Google Contacts.

Add new HubSpot contacts to Google Contacts

  • HubSpot logo
  • Google Contacts logo
HubSpot + Google Contacts
More details
    Tired of manually managing your contacts across platforms? Set up this integration instead and, every time a new contact is added to HubSpot, they will automatically be sent to Google Contacts, ensuring both lists match at all times so you can pursue those relationships whenever and however you want.

    Add new Mailchimp list subscribers to Google Contacts

    • Mailchimp logo
    • Google Contacts logo
    Mailchimp + Google Contacts
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      Rather than waiting for a one-time import of subscriber data into Google Contacts, use Zapier to start automatically adding new subscribers as contacts. Once you set up this Mailchimp-Google Contacts integration, new subscribers from that point forward are individually added as contacts.

      You could also automatically add contacts from Airtable or a spreadsheet.

      Create Google Contacts from new Airtable records

      • Airtable logo
      • Google Contacts logo
      Airtable + Google Contacts
      More details
        Automatically convert records into contacts with this Airtable to Google Contacts automation. Once set up, each time a new record is automatically added in Airtable, Zapier will search for and if not found, create a new contact in Google Contacts. Keep your records straight and your contacts in order.

        Create Google Contacts from new Google Sheets rows

        • Google Sheets logo
        • Google Contacts logo
        Google Sheets + Google Contacts
        More details
          Using Google Forms or Google Spreadsheets to collect and store contact data? This Google Sheets - Google Contacts integration will automatically create new contacts in Google Contacts when a new row is added to your spreadsheet.

          These are just a few examples. Check out our Google Contacts integrations to browse more, or create your own.

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