To export your contacts from your iPhone, so that they can be stored or loaded on some other device, you’d have to take advantage of a technology called virtual card [vCard]. This virtual card technology is a widely-known technology, in other words, you don’t have to worry much about compatibility. And in this article, we’d take you through the steps need to exports contacts from your iPhone, using the vCard technology.
How to Export Contacts from iPhone
Here is the step by step approach to export contacts from your iPhone successfully.
Step 1: Make Your Phone Contacts in Sync with iCloud
For anyone who would like to export their iPhone contacts, the first thing to do is to make your phone contacts in sync with iCloud.
And for those who don’t understand what iCloud is, iCloud is a system which helps ensure that if you lose your phone, you do not also lose your data, including things like pictures, message, etc.
So to export your contacts, the first thing you have to do is to make your iPhone and the iCloud system start working together, to help back up your contacts. And to do this, you first have to locate the Settings app on your iPhone.
Once you locate the Settings app, you are expected to tap it, to open it. Upon opening the Settings app, a bunch of things would be displayed. But what concerns you, is the part where your name is displayed. Once you spot the area where your name is displayed, tap on it, to open a new interface.
On this new interface in question, you’d be presented a bunch of other things. And among these new set of things, would be an option called “iCloud”. If you can’t find it, you should scroll down, to find it. Once you locate the iCloud setting, you should open it.
Opening the iCloud option would be present you a bunch of things. But what matters the most is the Contacts option. Ensure the Contacts option is activated. And once you have done this, you can move on to the next step.
Step 2: Log on to the iCloud Web Interface
The next step required to export contacts from your iPhone to a VCF file is what we’re about to discuss. This step involves getting into the iCloud system, via its web interface. But you should note that to access the iCloud system, you’d need an Apple ID. If you don’t understand what is meant by Apple ID, this is the account you created with Apple, when you just bought your iPhone.
So once you are ready to access the iCloud system, log on to iCloud.com, on your computer. The computer could be an Apple product or a non-Apple product. Once you log on to the web interface, you should try to sign in. And to sign in, you’d have to provide your account details. Just provide the details, and you’d be presented a control panel where you can do a bunch of things.
Step 3: Select Contacts to Export
Once you are able to get yourself into the iCloud control panel, the next thing to do is to select those contacts you’d like to export. But how can you export contacts? Well, this is what we intend discussing. To select contacts you’d like to export, select the icon called Contacts, from the control panel’s home interface. Selecting the Contacts icon would cause a new interface to be loaded. And this new interface would contain your contact list. So now that your contacts have been displayed, the next thing expected of you is to select the ones you’d like to export.
However, as for people who’d like to select all their contacts, there’s a short cut. And to use this shortcut, you have to locate the gear icon located at the bottom-left corner of the interface. Once you spot this Gear icon, the next thing expected of you is to click it. Clicking this Gear icon would cause a list of options to come up. And you’re expected the choose the option which says “Select All”. Once you click the “Select All” option, the contacts on your contact list would be highlighted.
Step 4: Export Contacts
At this point, all that is left is to export all the selected contacts to a VCF file. So to carry out the final step, you have to locate a Gear icon on the bottom-left corner of the interface. Spotting it should be no problem since it would be in the same area as the icon we discussed in step 3.
Once you find this Gear icon, the next thing you’d be expected to do is to click it. Clicking it would cause a bunch of options to be displayed. And among options that would be displayed include an option that says “Export vCard”. This option is what we need to finalize the export. So click it, and the export would be carried out.
You should, however, note that this export might take a few minutes. But once it’s done, the download of a VCF file would start. Allow this file to completely download. And after that, you can decide what to do with the file.
Conclusion
The steps we have discussed above should work for all iPhones, regardless of what version yours is. In other words, this content is meant for all iPhone users. And as regards the VCF file, you can use it to export contacts to Android devices, Windows computers, and so on… we have already stated the vCard is an industry-standard, so most platforms would support it.