2024 Update | How to Backup iPhone Contacts to iCloud Easily

The contacts may be the most important data on iPhone because it contains phone numbers, email address and more info of family, friends, and colleagues. You certainly don’t want to lose them in the event that your iPhone gets broken, lost or stolen. You can imagine that it’s difficult to rebuild a large contact list which is not like redownloading apps. So you want to backup your iPhone contacts.

iCloud is the official Apple’s cloud storage software that provides us an easy way to backup iPhone content and sync important information from one device to another. It’s a good choice to back iPhone contacts to iCloud. However, it also has the disadvantages, for example, it only offers 5 free storage space which may not enough and you may meet iPhone contacts not syncing to iCloud problem.

So here in this guide, I’ll not only tell you how to backup contacts to iCloud from iPhone but also introduce another alternative way to help you backup iPhone contacts to computer.

How to Backup iPhone Contacts to iCloud

There are two ways you can choose to backup iPhone contacts to iCloud: sync iPhone contacts to iCloud or create a full iCloud backup including the contacts. Whichever method you choose, there are some preparations you need to make:

● Go to have a check whether there is enough iCloud storage space. (Settings > [your name] > iCloud)
● Connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi network.
● Plug in your iPhone if the battery is low.

Method 1. Sync iPhone Contacts to iCloud

Once you have turned on the Contacts in iCloud, all your iPhone contacts will be synced to iCloud server. If you turn on Contacts on other devices that logged in with the same Apple ID, the contacts on that device will also be merged to iCloud. When you add or update a contact, iCloud makes the change everywhere.

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.

2. Turn on Contacts.

3. When you're asked if you want to Merge or Cancel, tap Merge.

Then all of the information stored in Contacts will be synced to iCloud. To check the uploaded contacts, you can head to iCloud.com from a computer.

Method 2. Backup iPhone Contacts to iCloud

This is another way that can help you backup iPhone contacts to iCloud. But you should know that it will backup not only contacts but also other contents and settings. In other words, it will make a full backup for your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings app > Tap your name > Choose iCloud.

2. Select iCloud Backup > Turn it on.

3. Tap Back Up Now.

If there is not enough iCloud storage space to store the data, the backup will fail. Well, the 5 GB storage space is far from enough for most people. You may choose to backup iPhone contacts to computer instead.

Free: An Easier Way to Backup iPhone Contacts

From the above, you know how to backup iPhone contacts to iCloud. However, the iCloud way has its disadvantages. Besides, you should know that cloud services can undergo many issues and problems such as data theft. So it’s always a good choice to backup data to computer. FoneTool, one free iPhone backup expert, is recommended here. It offers more powerful functions to better protect your contacts.

★ Selectively Backup – It lets you preview and select the contacts you want to backup.
★ Check Backup Files Any Time – It allows you to view the backup contacts anytime you want.
★ Flexible Restore – It enables you to restore selected contacts to any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
★ No Data Loss During Restore – It will not erase any existing contacts or other data on the device.
★ Supports More Files – Besides contacts, it also supports messages, photos, music, videos, etc.

This tool supports most iPhone models including iPhone 4 to iPhone 15 and it is fully compatible with the latest iOS 17. Get it now and follow the steps below to have a try.

1. Launch FoneTool > Connect your iPhone to computer via USB cable > Tap “Trust” on the home screen to give your computer access to your iPhone.

2. Click Phone Backup option > Choose Selective Backup > Tap the Contacts icon to view and select the contacts you want to backup > Hit OK to continue.

3. Select the storage path to save your contacts > Click Start Backup button to make it.

When the process is finished, you can check the backup task on the Backup History screen. Here you can choose to locate, browse or delete the backup contacts.

With its powerful feature, you can also use FoneTool to manage your iCloud data including contacts, photos, notes, videos and iCloud Drive. (My iCloud > Log in with your Apple ID > Manage iCloud)

Conclusion

That’s all for how to backup iPhone contacts to iCloud. You can choose to sync iPhone contacts to iCloud or create a whole iPhone backup including the contacts. Or you can try FoneTool to backup iPhone contacts to computer without worrying about whether there’s enough cloud storage space.