How to backup and import contacts in Android

Android devices are growing like wildfire courtesy of the amazing features offered by the operating system. But, calling and messaging still hold prime importance,that’s where contacts play a crucial role. Backing up and importing contacts to your Android device may sound easy, but many end up in a soup doing this.
A backup of your contacts comes in handy in case the phone crashes or gets lost. Importing contacts to your device is necessary in case you switch from one phone to another ( both devices run different operating systems) . So, in this post we have highlighted the various ways by which you can backup and import contacts in your Android device.

BACKUP:-

In Android, you can create a backup of your contacts in many ways.
1) In your Android phone, go to Settings-> Backup & reset -> Backup Account and select the account you want to backup. Make sure that “Backup my data” option is ticked.

 2) SYNC-Make sure the contacts on your Android device are synced with your Google account. To do this go to Settings-> Under the accounts tab select your account. You’ll get something like this.

The “contacts” tab should be ticked to synchronize them with your Google account. You can check out your backed up contacts on Google Contacts.

3) APPLICATIONS- You also have the option of creating a backup on the SD card with apps available on the Google Play Store. Some of them are:-
a) SUPER BACKUP- This app allows you backup your contacts, messages, call logs, bookmarks, calenders to the SD card. Apps can also be backed up if the phone is rooted. This app is free of cost.
b) MY BACKUP- You can backup your contacts, apps ,messages, call log, photos,music,videos etc or even schedule backups to either the SD card or their online server. This app is limited 30 day trial , after that you’ll need to buy the pro version available for Rs.217.77 or $4 on the Google Play Store.
c) BACKUP CONTACTS- This is another good app that allows you to backup your contacts to SD card, Dropbox, Google, Outlook or send it as an Email.

IMPORT:-

You can import contacts to your Android device either from an old GSM phone or contacts saved in another email account.

1) OLD GSM TO ANDROID- If you want to import contacts from an old GSM handset to your new Android device, just export all the contacts to the SIM card in your old phone. Now plug  the SIM card in your Android phone and import all the contacts. As simple as that.

You can also import contacts to your Android phone in case you have contacts stored in vCard format in the external storage.

2) OTHER EMAIL ACCOUNT-In case you have contacts saved in an email account(other than Gmail like Yahoo!, Hotmail or AOL), you can import those contacts to Gmail and sync your Gmail account with your Android phone.
Here’s what you need to do:-

i) Open your Gmail account and click on the “gear tab” in the top-right end of your inbox. Select settings.

ii) You’ll get something like this:-
Select “Accounts and Import” and then click on “Import mail and contacts”.
iii) A window will pop up where you can enter the email address from where you want to import the contacts.
NOTE: Once the import process is complete, login to your Gmail account in your Android phone and tick mark on the contacts sync tab in settings( as mentioned above under “Backup”).


Never lose your contacts, back them up or import them in your Android with ease!