How to Import Contacts from Gmail to Your iPhone

Quickly copy your Gmail contacts to your iPhone

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: September 22, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to add your Gmail account's contacts to your iPhone's address book. You can add a Gmail account if the account isn't already on your iPhone, or you can enable contacts from an existing Gmail account on your phone.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Adding a Gmail Account to Contacts

1
Open your iPhone's Settings
. Tap the Settings app icon, which resembles a grey box with gears on it.
2
Scroll down and tap Accounts & Passwords. It's about a third of the way down the "Settings" page.

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3
Tap Add Account. It's near the bottom of the page.
4
Tap Google. You'll find this option in the middle of the page. Doing so opens a Gmail login page.
5
Type in your email address. Enter the email address associated with your Google account.
- You can also use your phone number if it's associated with your account.
6
Tap Next. It's in the bottom-right corner of the page.
7
Enter your Google password. Type it into the field in the middle of the page.
8
Tap Next. Doing so will add the Gmail account to your iPhone and open the account's settings page.
9
Make sure that contacts are enabled. If the switch to the right of "Contacts" is green, you're all set; if not, tap the white "Contacts" switch
to enable contacts.
10
Tap Save. It's in the top-right corner of the screen. Doing so saves your Gmail account and adds its contacts to your iPhone's Contacts app.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Enabling Contacts for an Existing Gmail Account

1
Open your iPhone's Settings
. Tap the Settings app icon, which resembles a grey box with gears on it.
2
Scroll down and tap Accounts & Passwords. It's about a third of the way down the "Settings" page.
3
Select an account. Tap the Gmail account for which you want to enable contacts.
- If you have just one Gmail account on your iPhone, you'll tap Gmail here.
4
Tap the white "Contacts" switch
. It will turn green
, signifying that the selected Gmail account's contacts are being added to your iPhone's Contacts app.
- If this switch is already green, your Gmail contacts are enabled on your iPhone.

Community Q&A

Question

Will importing Gmail contacts create duplicate contacts, or it will merge/replace the existing contacts?

Community Answer

In some cases, importing Gmail contacts creates duplicates. If you added a contact and included their email address, however, Gmail will likely skip duplicating the contact in question.
Question

How do I transfer the contacts from my old iPhone to my new iPhone?

Community Answer

You can do this quite easily by connecting via iCloud.
Question

I was using an iPhone 5, which is not upgrade-able to iOS 11, and now I am using a 5s with iOS 11.03. I need help on how to transfer contacts from Gmail, any suggestions?

The Octopussy

Community Answer

I recommend creating VCards of your contacts, importing them to your iCloud account and then that way you never run into this matter in the future as these contacts will then be stored on your iCloud email account if you have one available.

Warnings

Adding a Google account to Contacts will also add your Gmail calendar and mail items to your iPhone. If you wish for those to remain disabled, you can do so by tapping the green Mail and Calendar switches to the "Off" (left) position on the Gmail account settings section of Settings.

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