How often do you think about saving the contacts that are in the phone book on your mobile device? Many owners of this technique, alas, do not attach much importance to this. But in vain! After all, the device may fail, and when it is restored or repaired, all data may be destroyed. And this is not talking about the fact that the phone itself can be completely elementary lost. And how then to restore the data, because you will not keep in mind a huge number of phone numbers or related information about a particular subscriber?
There is no question of manually rewriting such data on a piece of paper, and then re-entering it (even when buying a new device). It turns out that the easiest way is to use special tools of both the mobile device itself and the Google service, which is designed to perform such operations. We’ll talk about how to save contacts in Google using various methods for this.
Overview of contact saving methods
To begin with, let's decide on the basic methods of saving information that is important to you and figure out why this is necessary at all, without taking into account the cases mentioned above. The biggest problem with almost all known mobile devices today is that their phone books often do not have enough fields for entering the necessary data. Well, how many numbers can I add? Two three? You can add a residential address, email, etc. But even this is not enough.
Yes, and the SIM card itself may have limitations on the number of contacts stored, it overflows over time, and new information has to be saved already on the phone. But this is not always convenient, even if the phone provides much more options for input variations. But after saving the phone book in the Google service, editing can be performed over a wider range, and then transfer all the data to the mobile device. At the same time, they will be displayed exactly in the form in which you save them in the cloud service.
But back to the questions about how to keep contacts in Google. Among the most widespread and simple methods related to the use of a specialized Google service, experts distinguish two main:
- export the phone book to a file and then import it directly into the service;
- synchronization with a cloud service without the need to create an export file.
The easiest way to save the phone book
If you don’t have many contacts, and you are firmly convinced that you won’t lose your phone, you can simply transfer the contacts to the SIM card. This, of course, is convenient in that when you insert the card into another device, they can be used in the same simple way as before. Alas, it is impossible to fully insure against loss or breakdown of a smartphone (tablet). What will you do in this case?
Creating a backup in MyPhoneExplorer
As practice shows, one of the simplest solutions can be to create a backup using universal applications. One of these can be called the MyPhoneExplorer utility, which works with almost all known mobile devices and regardless of their manufacturer or installed operating system. The main applet is installed on the computer, and during synchronization, the client part is installed on the mobile device.
After synchronization is performed, when you connect the phone to a PC via a USB cable or via Bluetooth, all installed applications, messages, etc. will be included in the backup. A distinctive feature of this program can also be called the fact that it allows you to export and import the phone book in the form of a regular Excel spreadsheet file. Alas, this technique is far from always practical, since the data is stored either on a computer or on removable media, and in case of their malfunctions and damage, it can be extremely difficult to restore information.
Creating a phone book backup on a mobile device
Now we proceed directly to how to save contacts in Google, without using primitive methods and third-party software products. First, you need to create a backup copy of the phone book, which includes information not only by numbers, but also by additional data mentioned above.
On the Android device, in the contacts section, use the export function, which is called by clicking the button in the upper right corner, and then select the backup location (phone, system memory or SD card).
Depending on the version of the installed operating system itself, the backup copy will be saved either in VCF format or in vCard format (there is no fundamental difference here).
How to save contacts in Google account from a file?
Now you need to enter the contact service using either a computer or a mobile device, and then import. Keep in mind that when performing such actions from a computer or laptop, if the file is saved on the phone, it must be connected to the PC (preferably via USB, and not through the wireless module, as communication disruptions can adversely affect the import process). In the browser, open the contacts.google.com page and log in (sign in with a registered username and password). By the way, the latter need not be exactly the same as those used on a mobile device. If you have several accounts, you can use any of them.
Now in the settings menu on the left, expand the additional section “More” and select the import, after which, in the window with the options for actions, mark the item to import contacts from the file.
If the service displays a warning that import from the selected format is not supported, click the button to use the old version, and then specify the location of the saved object. Upon completion of operations, you can log in using the previously used account on your mobile device and synchronize.
How to save contacts from your phone to Google through synchronization with a tablet phone?
Now try direct synchronization. How to save contacts in the Google cloud in this case? Simple enough too! We assume that you are using some existing account on the mobile device, and the device is logged in with it.
Go to the contacts menu, in the same way as in the previous situation, use the export function, but then select the phone, card or system memory as the data source (it all depends on where the contacts were saved initially), and then indicate target storage (in our case, this is an account for a cloud service).
Now mark the subscribers whose information is subject to copy, and activate the start of the process.
Note: copying time will take about 1-5 minutes, and its status will be displayed in the status bar at the top. Do not press the start copy button two or more times, as this may result in duplicates.
View result and edit records
How to keep contacts in Google, sorted out. Now, as shown above, enter the cloud service under the registration that was used in the export process and open the "My Contacts" section. As already clear, all the information will immediately appear on the screen. If necessary, you can edit the information for each subscriber (change the data, add new information that cannot be entered into the phone, etc.). As you can see, saving contacts from Android to your Google account is quite simple, not to mention changing them. If necessary, you can re-sync on the mobile device so that the information entered in the cloud service “migrates” to your device (in this case, the accounts used should be the same for the cloud and for the smartphone).
Actions on apple devices
Now let's try to consider similar actions for those situations when you have a Google account, but you use "apple" gadgets as a mobile device. You won’t be able to save contacts from “iPhone” to “Google” using direct synchronization method, because Apple’s devices use completely different user profiles.
But if your device uses the operating system iOS 11 and newer, you can use the accounts and passwords section, and then add a Google account (by selecting the desired item and entering the email address with a password). After that, in the registration settings, it remains to simply rearrange the contact synchronization slider to the on position, and then save the displayed options by tapping the corresponding button at the top.
Note: if your OS does not support the use of Goggle registration data, as an additional solution, you can export the phonebook to a file and then import it in the cloud itself.
Which technique is better?
In conclusion, if you compare the above methods, keeping contacts with Android in Google is the easiest way through direct synchronization. The same applies to "apple" devices with iOS 11 on board. However, in extreme cases, you can always leave in reserve the use of the function to export the phone book to a file. The advantage of this technique is that if you have the appropriate applications on your computer or mobile device, the data can be edited even without accessing the Google cloud service. If standard methods are not suitable for you or you simply don’t like it, use the MyPhoneExplorer utility and save the necessary data on a computer or laptop.