How to Backup Contacts to Google Drive

Whether you are hoping to switch to another smartphone or retrieve all the data from your current device, it is always better to sync the data to a cloud storage platform. It is not possible for anyone to simply remember the contact numbers of all your friends and family. Hence, we will be learning to backup contacts to Google Drive so that it is always safe whenever you need access to it.

We all know that Google Drive with any device you currently own. Whether it is iOS or an Android smartphone. Hence, there are no issues whatsoever if you are looking to sync all your data from your iPhone to Google Drive rather than iCloud. Creating a backup of your contacts isn’t a hectic process. But if you are new to this and have no idea how it works, you can continue reading.

Here is how to backup contacts to Google Drive on iPhone and Android.

How to Backup Contacts to Google Drive on iPhone

In order to backup contacts to Google Drive on iPhone, you might need to make certain changes on your device. It isn’t any major changes but enough that will simply sync all your contacts in your Gmail or cloud storage.

1. Using Phone Settings

We will be first taking up the phone settings to backup the contacts. Here is how you can do it.

• Open your iPhone Settings.
• Scroll down and click on Contacts.
• Look for the Default Account option on the screen.

• Now, select Gmail.

Once you make the above changes, all your contacts will now start syncing to your Google Account.

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2. Through Google Drive App

You can also sync all your contacts on your Google Drive with the help of the app on your device. Follow the steps below.

• Open the Google Drive app.
• Click on the hamburger icon in the top-left corner.
• Tap on Settings.

• Now, go to Backup to make changes.

• Under the Contacts section, select Backup to Google Contacts.
• Click on Start Backup.

All of the changes made above will eventually start syncing all your contacts from the device to Google Contacts.

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How to Backup Contacts to Google Drive on Android

Next up, if you are an Android user, you might have a lot more options available to backup contacts to Google Drive. There are options where you can download a contact file format and then add it to your cloud storage platform.

Without wasting any more time, let us simply get on with everything there is to know.

1. Using Device Settings

Here is how you can backup contacts on Google Drive through your device settings.

• Open Settings on your Android smartphone
• Click on Accounts and Backups.
• Now, under the Google Drive section, tap on Back up data.
• Scroll down and tap on Google Account Data.
• Toggle the button beside Contacts to sync your contacts.

Now, as soon as you add any new contact or make changes to your old one, it will sync automatically to your cloud storage.

2. Uploading the VCF file

Another method you can try is by downloading the vcf file from your contacts. This can be done by simply opening the contacts section on your device, and following the steps below.

• Click on the Hamburger icon on the top left of the screen.
• Now, go to Manage Contacts.
• Click on Import or Export Contacts.
• Now, tap on Export.
• Select the option Internal Storage.

Wait for the system to create a contact.vcf file then you can proceed with adding the file to Google Drive.

• Open the Google Drive app on your smartphone.
• Now, tap on the + icon on the bottom.
• Select the Folder option.
• Choose the vcf file.

Once you do it, all your contacts will be in backup on Google Drive. The only disadvantage in this situation is that when you choose to update anything on your contact or add new contacts it will not be synced to your Drive via that .vcf file.

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How to Restore Contacts from Gmail to iPhone

Now that we have learned the ways we can backup contacts to Google Drive or Gmail on an iPhone, it is time to make sure that all these contacts can be restored as well to your phone when needed. For this, you can follow a few simple steps.

• Open Settings on your phone.
• Go to Contacts and then tap on Accounts.
• Click on Add Account.
• You can select Google from here and log in to your Drive account.

Once you log in, and allow the contacts to sync, all the data will be available on your device and you can access them easily.

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How to Fix the Issues with Backup Contacts in Google Drive

Well, even though we have mentioned all the steps to back up the contacts on your Android and iOS device, there are chances that you might not be able to take up backup due to multiple issues.

If this is what are experiencing, you can follow certain fixes that will be of great help.

• Internet Connection: The first thing you need to check is whether or not you have an active internet connection while taking the backup. You might not be aware of it and thus face error due to this.
• Check Google Drive Space: You only get 15GB of free space on Google Drive. It is most likely that the space has been exhausted and you need to buy more storage or free up some space to make for backups.
• Enable Auto Sync: You can directly allow your device to sync your contacts directly on Google Drive with only a few steps. Hence, as soon as the internet is available, the contacts will sync automatically every time.

Related Google Drive tutorials:

• How to Upload Large Files to Google Drive
• Combine PDF Files in Google Drive
• How to Unshare a Folder in Google Drive
• Cannot Download File from Version History on Google Drive
• How to see who has Viewed a Google Doc in Google Drive
• How to Delete PDF Files from Google Drive

Conclusion

Here we are with all you need to know about syncing the contacts or creating a backup of these on your Drive. Well, we all know now what needs to be done what could go wrong. Hence, make sure you follow the right steps and be able to sync contacts in the end.