Contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone as expected? This guide will tell you why didn’t all contacts transfer to new iPhone and 7 ways to fix this problem.
Contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone
Contacts missing after transfer to new iPhone. But names appear only when searching to compose new messages? I have tried to use iCloud to transfer data to my new iPhone, but I have a lot of contacts that didn’t transfer over. Any ideas? I’m finding this very frustrating.
- Question from Apple Community
It’s definitely an annoying problem that not all contacts transferred to new iPhone. After all, contacts are important for everyone. Before we explore the solution, let’s first take a look at the common reasons that would lead to the contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone 15/14/13 issue.
▶ Different Apple Accounts. To sync contacts from one iPhone to another via iCloud, the iCloud accounts on two devices should be the same. Otherwise, the contacts will not be transferred to another one.
▶ Contacts Syncing is Disabled. If the contacts sync option is disabled on new iPhone, your iPhone will not be able to access the contacts stored on iCloud.
▶ Poor Network Connection. The contacts syncing requires a stable network connection and the transfer may be interrupted because of the disconnection.
From the above, you know why "my contacts didn't transfer to my new iPhone", and here in this part, I’ll list all the possible solutions you can try to fix the issue. The method works for all iPhone models, including new iPhone 15 and the latest iOS 18.
You should first make sure that you have logged in with the same iCloud account on both two devices.
Go to have a check: Open Settings app > Tap your name > Then you will see your Apple ID, make sure that this account is the one you used on the old iPhone. If not, just log out and sign in with the correct account.
If you have questions about syncing contacts with iCloud, you can jump to this section:
☛ Tips about Sync Contacts to new iPhone with iCloud
The iCloud helps us sync data among devices on the condition that the sync option is enabled. If the Contacts option is off, it will not sync any items to your new iPhone and you then find the contacts did not transfer to new iPhone. Go to have a check whether the Contacts option is enabled on both iPhones.
Go to Settings > Tap your name > iCloud > Turn on Contacts. If it is already on, turn it off and then toggle it on again. (If you want to transfer contacts from iPhone to iPhone with different Apple ID, you can refer to solution 7.)
Contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone issue may occur due to the poor Internet connection. You should make sure your iPhone is connected. You can try to reset network connection: go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings to make it.
It will not erase any data on iPhone but will erase the Wi-Fi network, cellular data settings. You will need to re-enter the password to join the Wi-Fi.
If your contacts are set to sync with other third-party accounts like Gmail or Yahoo instead of iCloud, the contacts will keep transferring to those sources. In this case, try to set the iCloud as the default account to fix the contacts did not transfer to new iPhone problem.
Open Contacts app > Tap Groups at the top-left corner > Uncheck everything except for All iCloud option > Tap Done to confirm. Your contacts will only fetch contacts from your iCloud account.
Go to have a check whether there is enough iCloud storage space. If the iCloud storage is full, then you won’t be able to sync any data to iCloud let alone transferring contacts to new iPhone. Go to Settings > Tap your name > iCloud > iCloud Storage > Manage Storage to view available iCloud storage.
If all the above methods cannot help you fix the some contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone problem, then you can try other methods to help you transfer contacts from iPhone to iPhone. Besides using iCloud, the other common way to make it is using iTunes.
You should first make an iTunes backup of the old iPhone and then restore it to your new iPhone. But you should know that it will transfer not only contacts but also other data. If you just want to transfer contacts, you can refer to the next solution.
1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes on your computer.
2. Connect your old iPhone to computer and run iTunes.
3. Click the Device tab > Select This Computer > Click Back Up Now. Wait for the backup to be finished.
4. Disconnect the old iPhone and plug in your new iPhone.
5. Click Restore Backup… at the Summary page on iTunes > Then choose the backup contains the contacts you want to transfer > Click Restore to make it.
If you do not want to use iCloud or iTunes to transfer contacts to new iPhone, there’s another way to help you make it. AOMEI FoneBackup, one professional iPhone transfer software, offers a quick & safe way to help you transfer data between two iDevices.
To transfer contacts with AOMEI FoneBackup, you only requrie two steps: transfer contacts from old iPhone to computer > transfer contacts from computer to new iPhone. It will not erase any existing data on the device during the process. Download the tool on your PC and follow the steps below to transfer contacts from iPhone to new iPhone.
Part 1. Transfer contacts from old iPhone to computer
1. Launch AOMEI FoneBackup > Connect your old iPhone to computer via USB cable.
2. Click Phone Transfer > Get to iPhone to PC and click Start Transfer > Click Contacts icon to view and select the contacts you want to transfer > Click OK to continue.
3. Select the storage path to save your contacts from Transfer settings > Choose the format you prefer (If you want to view contacts via Excel, you can choose to export iPhone contacts to CSV.) > Click Start Transfer button to save contacts to computer.
Part 2. Transfer All contacts from computer to new iPhone
1. Unplug your old iPhone and then connect your new iPhone to computer > Choose PC to iPhone option.
2. Browse your computer and choose the contacts you exported before > If everything is OK, click Start Transfer to start.
► If you want to transfer all data to new iPhone. You can let the iPhone to iPhone function help you. It is able to transfer photos, contacts, call history, text messages, memos, calendars and so on with one click.
After you learned the reasons and solutions to address the question of "why didn’t my contacts transfer to new iPhone", if you have some doubts about how to transfer contacts to new iPhone via iCloud, there are two ways to make it:
Restore from iCloud Backup: Make a whole backup that contains the contacts on old iPhone and restore that backup on new iPhone.
Utilize iCloud Sync: Go to Settings > Tap the name > iCloud > Toggle on Contacts on both iPhone.
However, it seems that it does not work well as expected. You find that contacts didn't transfer to new iPhone at all. So you can try to use AOMEI FoneBackup to move all contacts and other data from your old iPhone to new iPhone without data loss.
That’s all about how to fix the contacts didn’t transfer to new iPhone 15/14/13 problem. If you feel tired to troubleshoot the problem, then you can pick AOMEI FoneBackup to help you transfer needed contacts from iPhone to another one quickly. Download AOMEI FoneBackup and discover more!