How to back up contacts on your Android phone

Since the Google Android platform does not come with a desktop client, backing up important data can become a little difficult. Thankfully, there are enough apps to help you get the job done, be it on a cloud server or on your phone or computer’s memory. Here’s how you can back up your Contacts easily…

On The Cloud

Since Android is a Google product, the OS has tight and excellent integration with all Google services, including Gmail and Google Contacts.  If you own an Android phone and have a Gmail account, it is highly recommended that you synchronise your contacts with Google Contacts.

By syncing your contacts, you are saving them on Google’s server/on the cloud. This means that you can access your contacts from any PC or browser, and your contacts will remain safe even if your phone ever gets lost or stolen. In fact, if you keep changing phones, Google Contacts will be your best bet to keep your Contacts in sync across all handsets.

Before you sync, it’s highly recommended that you organise your Google Contacts. Gmail automatically adds all the email addresses you have ever exchanged emails with as a contact in your Google Contacts. So chances are there are a lot of irrelevant contacts in there!

Once you have organised your Google Contacts, you can sync the contacts in your phone with it.

Step 1 – First, make sure that you have checked the option to sync Contacts under Settings -> Accounts & Sync -> Your Gmail Account.

Step 2 – Now, open the Contacts app on your Android phone. Press the Menu button and then select the ‘Merge with Google’ option.

[If the Merge with Google option is not present, then users can export their contacts as a CSV file and then upload the same on Google Contacts.]

On SD card or Hard drive

If you don’t want to backup your contacts on the cloud, then you can export them as a CSV file on your phone’s SD card. Most Android phones come with an option to Export your contacts to SD card. If this option is missing from your Android phone, you can download and use Backup Contacts for the same purpose.

Step 1 – Download the app for free from the Android Market.

Step 2 – Start the app, and then simply select the ‘Backup To SD card’ option. The app will then backup your contacts to the root of your SD card.

Step 3 – You can now transfer the backup to your PC. Connect the phone to your computer, select “USB Storage Mode” and find the file. Simply copy-paste it to your hard drive and you are done.

NOTE – Users can also use the app to backup their contacts to their Dropbox folder, or export them in a common format like CSV by selecting the desired option.