What You Need to Know about Saving Contacts to a SIM Card

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How to save contacts to your SIM card and alternatives
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Saving your contacts to a SIM card is useful if you want to transfer your contacts to a new phone. However, many newer phones don't give you this option. This wikiHow article teaches you how to back up your contacts to a SIM card on phones that allow it, as well as alternative ways to back up and export your contacts.

Can You Save Contacts to a SIM?

Most newer phones don't allow you to save contacts to a SIM card due to the limited space that SIM cards can. Instead, you can backup your contacts to iCloud or Google Drive, or export your contacts as a VCF file.

Section 1 of 7:

Can You Save Contacts to a SIM Card?

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  1. Not on all phones.
    iPhones in particular do not support exporting contacts to your SIM card. The Google Contacts app on Android also doesn't support this feature. This is due to the limited amount of storage space that a SIM card can hold. SIM cards can only hold between 250 to 500 contacts.[1] Also, many newer phones use an eSIM instead of a physical SIM card. Most newer devices prefer using cloud storage backups as a way to transfer data from one device to another instead of the SIM card. However, you can still transfer contacts to a SIM card using the Contacts app on Samsung Galaxy devices as well as using third-party apps on Android. [2]
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Section 2 of 7:

Using a Samsung Galaxy

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  1. Step 1 Open the Contacts app.
    It has an icon that resembles a person. Tap the Contacts app on your Home screen or Apps menu to open the Contacts app.
  2. Step 2 Tap ☰.
    It's the icon with three dots in the upper-left corner. This opens the menu.
  3. Step 3 Tap Manage Contacts.
    It's the second option in the menu.
  4. Step 4 Tap Export Contacts.
    It's the third option in the Manage Contacts menu.
  5. Step 5 Tap your SIM card.
    It will most likely be labeled as "SIM 1". It will be at the bottom of the Export menu.
  6. Step 6 Select the contacts you want to export.
    Tap the radio option next to the contacts you want to export. To select all your contacts, tap the radio option next to All in the upper-left corner.
  7. Step 7 Tap Done.
    It's at the bottom of the page.
  8. Step 8 Tap Export.
    It's the blue button at the bottom. This displays a confirmation window.
  9. Step 9 Tap Export again.
    It's in the lower-right corner of the confirmation window.
  10. Step 10 Tap Ok.
    It's the blue button that appears at the bottom of the page when your contacts are finished exporting.
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Section 3 of 7:

Using Copy to SIM Card on Android

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  1. Step 1 Download and install Copy to Sim Card on your Android phone.
    Copy to SIM Card is a third-party app for Android that allows you to copy your contacts to your SIM card. Copy to Sim is free to download. You can download and install Copy to SIM card from the Google Play Store.
  2. Step 2 Open the Copy to SIM Card app.
    It has an icon that resembles a green contact book with an arrow pointing to a SIM card. Tap the Copy to SIM Card app in your Apps menu to open the app. Alternatively, you can tap Open in the Google Play Store once that app is finished installing.
  3. Step 3 Grant the app permission to access your contacts and SIM card.
    The first time you open the app, it will ask you to grant it permission to access your contacts and your SIM card. Tap Allow to grant it access to both your contacts and your SIM card.
  4. Step 4 Tap the Contacts on Phone tab.
    It's the second tab at the top of the page. This displays all the contacts you have saved on your phone.
  5. Step 5 Select the contacts you want to copy.
    Tap the checkbox next to the contacts you want to copy. Alternatively, you can tap the checkbox next to "Unselect All" at the top to select all your contacts.
  6. Step 6 Tap Copy.
    It's the blue button in the lower-right corner. This copies all your selected contacts to your SIM card.
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Section 4 of 7:

Exporting Contacts to VCF on iPhone

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  1. Step 1 Open the Contacts app.
    It has an icon that resembles a person on the front. Tap the Contacts app on your Home screen to open it. Since you can't export contacts to your SIM card on iPhone, you can export your contacts as a VCF file, which is a plain text file you can use to import your contacts on other devices.
  2. Step 2 Tap Lists.
    It's in the upper-left corner. This displays your contacts lists.
  3. Step 3 Tap and hold a list you want to export.
    Tap and hold All Contacts to export your entire list of contacts. To add a new list, tap Add List and create a new list.
  4. Step 4 Tap Export.
    It appears below a list when you tap and hold it.
  5. Step 5 Tap a method to send or save the file.
    To save the file to your phone, tap Save to Files. Alternatively, you can tap your email app or Messages to send the file as an email or message.[3]
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Section 5 of 7:

Exporting Contacts to VCF on Android

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  1. Step 1 Open the Google Contacts app.
    It has an icon that resembles a blue silhouette of a person. Tap the Google Contacts app on your Home screen or Apps menu to open it. You can use the Google Contacts app to export your contacts to a VCF file that can be used to import your contacts into other devices.
  2. Step 2 Tap Organize.
    It's the third tab at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Step 3 Tap Export to file.
    It's near the bottom of the menu.
  4. Step 4 Select a Google account to export contacts from.
    Tap the checkbox next to the Google account you want to use to export your contacts form.
  5. Step 5 Tap Export.
    It's in the lower-right corner.
  6. Step 6 Enter a name for the file and tap Save.
    You can enter a name for the file at the bottom of the screen, or leave it as the default "contacts.vcf". Then tap Save. By default, it should save the file to your Downloads folder.
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Section 6 of 7:

Backing Up Your Contacts on iPhone

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  1. Step 1 Open the Settings menu icon.
    Since you can't save your contacts to the SIM card on your iPhone, you can back up your contacts (and the rest of your data) to your iCloud storage. This will allow you to transfer your contacts, and the rest of your data from one iPhone to another.
  2. Step 2 Tap your name.
    You should see your name at the top of the Settings menu This opens the Apple ID menu.
  3. Step 3 Tap iCloud icon.
    It's next to an icon that resembles a blue cloud.
  4. Step 4 Tap iCloud Backup.
    It's next to a green icon with a circular arrow.
  5. Step 5 Tap Back Up Now.
    This does a manual backup of your contacts and all the rest of your data. If you want transfer your contacts to another device, you can restore your data from the backup to do so.
    • If you want your iPhone to back up your data automatically, make sure the toggle switch next to "iCloud Backup" is turned on.[4]
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Section 7 of 7:

Backing Up Your Contacts on Android

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  1. 1
    Open the Settings menu
    Android 7 Settings
    .     You can backup your contacts (and the rest of your data) on any Android device using your Google account. To open the Settings menu, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Quick Access menu. Then the gear icon in the upper-right corner.
  2. 2
    Tap Google. It should be in the Settings menu. This opens your Google account settings.
  3. 3
    Tap the All Services tab. It's the second tab at the top of the page.
  4. 4
    Tap Settings for Google Apps. It's near the bottom of the menu.
  5. 5
    Tap Google Contacts sync. It's the second option in the menu.
    • This is only available if you have the Google Contacts app installed on your device.
  6. 6
    Tap Also Sync device contacts. It's the second option in the menu.
  7. 7
    Ensure "Automatically back & sync device contacts" is on. If this feature is turned on, your contacts are backed up to your Google Drive automatically. If this option is not turned on, tap the toggle switch to turn it on. Your contacts should start backing up automatically. You can transfer your contacts to another device by restoring it from backup.[5]
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References

  1. ↑ https://vestrel00.github.io/contacts-android/sim/about-sim-contacts/
  2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/109325
  3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/export-contacts-iph075ddebf2/ios
  4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/108366
  5. ↑ https://support.google.com/contacts/answer/9423168?hl=en

About This Article

Travis Boylls
Written by:
Travis Boylls
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Travis Boylls. Travis Boylls is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Travis has experience writing technology-related articles, providing software customer service, and in graphic design. He specializes in Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux platforms. He studied graphic design at Pikes Peak Community College. This article has been viewed 137,548 times.
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Updated: May 9, 2024
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