[Answered] Does iTunes Backup Contacts from iPhone?

Does iTunes backup contacts? It could backup your contacts but not always. This article would tell you why and guide you to backup iPhone contacts to PC.

Dylan

By Dylan / Updated on April 2, 2024

Share this: instagram reddit

Want to backup contacts on iPhone to PC?

 

Does an iTunes backup save contacts from my iPhone?

I want to backup my contacts to my computer via iTunes. Does iTunes backup contacts?  I's not sure whether my contacts can be saved. And body could tell me the answer?"

- Question from Apple Community

Contacts are very important. Usually, contacts can save phone numbers, birthdays,  and other information of your importance that you never want to lose. Besides, the iPhone 15 removed the SIM card with eSIM, so if you have some contacts on your SIM card that need to be transferred to your new iPhone. 

To avoid data loss, or transfer contacts to a new iPhone, or for other purposes, you will want to backup Contacts via iTunes.

iTunes Logo

Does iTunes backup contacts?

Does iTunes backup contacts? You might have this question. Actually, the answer is "Yes". An iTunes backup will save Contacts from your iPhone as long as your contacts do not upload to iCloud. iTunes makes a full backup that backup most iPhone/iPad data, including photos, notes, videos, messages, contacts, call logs, and app data. But it will not backup data that are uploaded to iCloud storage. 

iPhone Contacts Icon

To check if your contacts are saved on iCloud, you can go to the  "Settings" app on your iPhone. Then tap your iCloud banner > Choose "iCloud" > "Contacts".

Common question about iTunes backup

You might feel frustrated when using iTunes to backup your iPhone contacts and other data. Because you run iTunes, and you could only find the button “Back Up Now” in iTunes and it explains nothing about your backup. Here we can explain and give you more detail about iTunes. If you don't satisfy iTunes, you can also go to the next part to use an alternative tool.

Question: How to backup iPhone contacts

Answer: Run iTunes on your computer > With your iPhone connected, click the phone-like icon > Click "Back Up Now" to backup your iPhone to computer or iCloud.

Question: What does an iTunes backup include?

Answer: The iTunes backup is complicated. iTunes will save most files and data on your device. But iTunes would not save files like contacts, messages, and photos if you have uploaded them to iCloud. Songs and videos also would not be included and need to be downloaded after restoration.

Apple might think that if you could retrieve the data from the server, there’s no need to save the duplicate again. If you have synced contacts or messages or created an iPhone backup with iCloud, you could download iCloud backup to computer.

Question: Where does iTunes backup contacts on computer?

Answer: All iTunes backups would be saved to C Drive by default. You can go to C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\ to view all backup images. But it does not allow you to directly view and edit your contacts or other data.

Disadvantages of iTunes backup

iTunes backup is a traditional tool to save iOS data, but it is sort of outdated and it has some disadvantages in today's world.

iTunes is an effective tool to backup and manages your iPhone data. But it also has some shortcomings.
It can't selective backup data. If you want to only backup contacts or select specific items on your computer, iTunes can't help you.
Erase all existing content when restore. iTunes processes full backup. It will overwrite all content by the backup files when you restore backup to your iPhone.
iTunes encrypts your contacts backup, so you can't view or edit your contacts on the computer.

[Flexible & Easily] Backup iPhone contacts to computer and view them on PC

Now you have known the answer of "does iTunes backup iTunes from iPhone" and more details of it. And iTunes may not meet your needs from every aspect. If you still want to backup iPhone contacts to PC, you should try a professional tool.

FoneTool is a great iTunes alternative to backup contacts to computer. It is a professional and powerful iOS backup and transfer tool. With many different features and aspect, you can flexibly backup and manage your data.

Why do you choose FoneTool?

Preview and Select: You could backup all contacts to computer with FoneTool and also preview them on PC and select the wanted ones to save. It also supports previewing and selecting contacts to restore to a new device.

One Click View: You could view your contacts backup with one click on your task anytime on computer.

Change backup location: You can save your contacts on any location of your computer, even an external hard drive.

Widely Compatible: It supports most models of iPhone from iPhone 4 to iPhone 15 and would be perfectly compatible with the latest iOS 17. You could also restore the contacts to an iPad or iPod Touch.

Save iPhone contacts to computer in 3 steps

Step 1. Download FoneTool for free. Connect iPhone to computer with USB cable and tap “Trust” on it.

Download FreewareWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 2. Click Phone Backup on the left pane. Move the cursor to Selective Backup. Click Get Started.

custom backup

Note: You can also choose "Transfer to Computer" to export contacts to Vcard or CVF on computer.

Step 3. Click the Contacts and you can choose the specific items to backup.

Select Contacts

Step 3. You can click Backup Storage Path to specify a location where you want to save the selected contacts, then click Start Backup and your contacts would be saved to computer in seconds.

Contacts Backup

laugh Tips:
To view your contacts on PC, select the task and click the eye icon in Backup History.
● To Restore your contacts, connect your device to computer, select your task and click the horizontal lines to Restore contacts.

Conclusion

Does iTunes backup contacts? iTunes would backup your iPhone contacts if you haven’t uploaded them to iCloud. You could not view contacts in iTunes backup and could only restore your whole iPhone rather than just contacts. You could use FoneTool to backup just contacts to computer and view them any time you want. If you like this passage, would you please share it to help more people?