What's the easiest way to move contacts from Android to iPhone?

Apple's official 'Move to iOS' app handles the transfer during initial iPhone setup. Alternatively, sync your Android contacts to a Google account, then add that Google account to iPhone (Settings → Mail → Accounts → Add Account → Google) with Contacts toggled on.

Will I get duplicates after migrating?

Almost always yes. Android contacts can come in via Google sync, manual vCard import, and SIM imports — often the same person from multiple sources. A duplicate scanner on iPhone after the migration is the fastest fix.

Should I clean contacts on Android first or after the migration?

Clean on iPhone after the migration. iOS has a swipe-based interface (via apps like Delete Contacts) that's faster than Android's Contacts app, and you can deduplicate cross-source variants in one pass on the target device.

Switching from Android to iPhone: The Clean Contact Migration

Migrating phones is a natural moment to clean up your contact list. You’re already wading through 5 years of accumulated cruft to move it somewhere new — why not drop the cruft on the way?

This guide is for someone who just bought an iPhone and is staring at an Android phone full of contacts they need to move over. Here’s the cleanest path — and the cleanup step that most migration guides skip.

The three migration methods

Method 1: Move to iOS app (recommended at setup)

If you’re setting up a brand-new iPhone or did a Reset to Factory: install Apple’s “Move to iOS” app on your Android phone, then choose “Move data from Android” during iPhone initial setup. The app handles contacts, messages, photos, calendar, mail accounts, and apps that exist on both platforms.

Caveats:

Only works during initial iPhone setup. If your iPhone is already set up, this method is gone.
Doesn’t deduplicate. Contacts from your Google account and contacts from the Android phone’s local storage may both transfer, creating duplicates.
Requires both phones on the same Wi-Fi network.

Method 2: Google account sync (works any time)

If your Android contacts were synced to a Google account (which they almost certainly are if you used a Pixel or any phone signed in to Gmail):

On Android: confirm contacts are synced (Settings → Accounts → Google → Sync → Contacts on).
On iPhone: Settings → Mail → Accounts → Add Account → Google → sign in → toggle on Contacts.
iPhone pulls down all your Google Contacts into iOS Contacts under a separate “Google” account.

This is the most reliable post-setup method.

Method 3: vCard export/import

If you don’t trust Google sync, or your contacts live in a non-Google account on Android:

On Android: Contacts app → menu → Settings → Export → .vcf file. Save to a cloud service or AirDrop equivalent.
On iPhone: open the .vcf file from Files → “Add All Contacts”.

This creates contacts in your default iPhone account (usually iCloud). Round-trip-safe — all fields preserved.

Now the cleanup step

Here’s where most migration guides stop. Don’t. After the transfer, you’ll have:

Duplicates from multiple sync sources. If you used Method 1 + had Google sync on Android, you might have every contact twice — once from local Android storage, once from Google. Method 3 + an existing iCloud account does the same thing.
Stale contacts from years on Android. Every “added to my contacts” auto-save, every one-off conversation, every social-app contamination from your Android years is now on your iPhone too.
Mixed account sources. Contacts now exist across iCloud, Google, and possibly other accounts. iOS Contacts shows them all merged but the underlying account sources stay separate.

The 20-minute post-migration clean

(1 min) Export a vCard backup of your iPhone Contacts. New device, new list, but still worth a snapshot before any cleanup.
(5 min) Run a duplicate scanner. Most of the duplicates will be cross-account (iCloud + Google variants of the same person). A good scanner catches near-matches, not just exact matches.
(10 min) Swipe through with a card-based interface. Each contact as a card; up to keep, down to delete. The 30-day trash means you don’t have to be perfectly careful. Aim to delete 50%+ of the migrated list.
(2 min) Decide on a single source of truth. Pick one: iCloud or Google as primary. Turn off Contacts sync for the other (Settings → Mail → Accounts → [account] → Contacts → off). This stops future cross-account drift.
(2 min) Revoke contact access for social apps. Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts → audit and remove apps that don’t need access.

Common migration mistakes

Keeping both iCloud and Google contacts sync on indefinitely. Pick one. Otherwise you’ll see new duplicates form every time a contact gets edited on one side.

Not exporting a backup. Migrations are when things break. A vCard backup before you start moving is cheap insurance.

Skipping the cleanup step. You’re transferring 5 years of Android cruft to your new iPhone. The migration moment is when you have momentum to clean — don’t squander it.

Forgetting SIM contacts. If you popped your old SIM into the new iPhone, iOS may ask to import SIM contacts. Those are almost certainly stale duplicates of what already migrated.

Doing the cleanup right

A good iPhone contact cleanup tool has three things:

Swipe-based UI for speed (one decision per gesture)
30-day on-device trash for safe deletion
On-device processing — no cloud upload of your address book, which is especially important for a fresh phone where you’re trying to limit what apps know about you

Delete Contacts does all three. The swipe interface clears 100+ contacts in a few minutes; the duplicate scanner catches cross-account variants; everything happens locally on the iPhone with no cloud upload.

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