How to Export iPhone Contacts [Windows 7]
If you are going to change your iPhone or just want to take backup of your iPhone contacts, here is a simple way to export your iPhone contacts as csv file in Windows 7 and you can open this csv file in Excel. You just need your iPhone and iTunes running in Windows7. Windows XP users here.
Export iPhone contact as CSV file or to Excel
Download and install iTunes, after installation Run iTunes.
Connect your iPhone with computer using data cable.
On the safe side backup your device first, Right-click on your device and select “Back Up” (in-case of any problem with iPhone Contacts you can restore your device later).
When iTunes finish the back up process, Click on “Info” tab
Click on “Sync Contacts with” check box, select “Windows Contacts” from drop down menu and click “Apply” or “Sync” button
Press “Windows + R” keys form keyboard to open “Run” window and type “wab” in “Open” filed and hit OK
Click on tiny arrow and select “Export” as shown below
Select “CSV (Comma Separated Values)” option and click “Export” button
Click on “Browse” button, choose location to save iPhone contacts as csv file
Select iPhone contacts fields that you want to export and hit “Finish” button
You will see this message if iPhone contacts exported as csv file successfully, hit “OK” button.
Now you can use this csv file to import iPhone contacts in any other application or device or you can open this file in Excel to view all iPhone contacts.
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Tags: Comma Separated Values, Contacts, csv, Export Contacts, iPhone, iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iTunes, Windows, Windows 7
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Great information to export iPhone contacts, I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
thanks for writing this guide about iPhone contact syncing to computer.
You rock! I had no clue about “wab” or the Contacts folder in Win7. I was hitting brick walls with the very frustrating Apple philosophy of making things exceptionally challenging to convert to and from “the Guild.” Not only did you nail exactly what we needed to do, you did so in a very simple, step-by-step manner. Thank you for taking the time to post this!
Sean
Thanks Sean.
I follow you instruction, sync via iTune to Windows Contact. But after I run “wab” the folder show up and show only 1 contact (mine). What should I do?
Oh ok, after I sync it the second time it appears
I’m in the same boat – when I run “wab” it just opens up an Explorer window with on *.contact file.
I synced a second time, but this did not help.
This post really helps me to save iphone contacts, Thanks.
I’ve been trying to get this damn thing done for quite a while now and i was about to throw this damn iPhone away.
THANK YOU!
is it for sure that this will not sync it other way around? so it doesn’t wipe out the contacts in iPhone? cheers
Thank you! Worked like a charm.
this is great, good info that works. I have been trying to do this for hours after trying all sorts of things from advices from people that should know – telephone sales people. Thanks it really works like a charm. God bless
Perfect! Thanks!
this works for newer Nokia phones contacts too, if u sincronise it with ovi and back up your contacts into your computer, after doing that, folow the same steps begining with Run->wab, the rest is the same. worked with windows7, probably vista is the same. hope this helps
You ROCK!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!
your guide to sync iPhone contacts to system works perfect. I just tried it thanks for all these iphone tips.
You are brilliant! A bigger genius than those ‘Geniuses’ at Apple support. All they could recommended was the Mobile Me program, which is okay if you have everything ‘Mac’. It is such a pain losing one’s contact list! And now I feel secure it won’t happen again with this back-up system. Honestly, if I wasn’t married, I’d marry you! Thanks for all your help.
Now, hopefully, if ever the day comes, it will be easy to restore the backed up contact list into the iPhone from Windows 7? Would you kindly point me in the right direction on how to do this if you haven’t covered it before. Thanks again.
Thank you very much for the information. It really helps me a lot backing up my contacts.
I was backingup/synching into my google account but it has stopped doing that so I would like to follow these instruction via Windows 7 to create a csv file but I’m also concerned (as in POINT 7)that it will work the other way around and wipe my current iphone contacts. Please could you let me know before I do it? Thank you
If you are syncing with Windows 7 first time then you don’t need to worry about it. Anyway If you afraid of losing your contacts, you can backup the device using iTunes. Connect your device with computer, and from left pane of iTunes Right-Click on your device and select “Back Up” option. You can restore your device from the same menu in-case of lose.
Now you are safe, Export your iPhone contacts as CSV file using above guide.
Thanks for helping me.Your instrution of how transfer iphone contact to window is very clear in step by step.
thanks a lot
I tried this and it wiped out all of the contacts and left me with one contact labeled with my name.
It did not backup my contacts. It deleted them.
You can restore your contacts if you have backed up as mentioned above in then step after downloading and installing iTunes.
I selected restore device in iTunes. It began restoring. the phone then rebooted. iTunes automatically performed a sync when it rebooted. Now my .csv file and my iphone have lost all contacts.
I had a blackberry before the iPhone. I wanted a bigger screen and a touch screen. Man do regret my decision to buy this thing. It seems to be geared toward children who play games, listen to music and mess around with goofy apps. My iphone left seqential backup files on my CPU. I could restore any one of them including the firmware at will.
Sync is a rotten way to do anything. It sells a bunch of worthess apps and services as business people live in fear of losing their information. Trust me. I know. I have over 1500 contacts that get entered into my phone while I am on the road. I live in constant fear of losing them, as I have now.
Any idea what to do now.
Have tried several times, but only get 8 of my contacts to sink (several hundred missing). Any ideas? I’m desperate. Thanks.
Hey there.
I have ttried all of the export suggestions and I have had no luck.
I have gone as far as exporting all my contacts from both Outlook and my GMail so that there is a clean slate, the bloody phone won’t export all of the contacts. Am I missing something? the phone is a 3GS with the latest software.
It’s driving me mad……. thanks for the other tips, love your work.
I used this to copy the contacts from the iphone and it worked sucessfully.
I searched the net for a long time and was about to give up and i got this link…..
thanks a ton
A
I don’t get it.
It doesn’t work for me.
I get one record and it just has the name of my iPhone (I think).
Along with a bunch of commas.
Why do an Export form WAB?
I thought the flow of data was from iPhone to WAB.
That would be Import, right?
Anyway, nothing happens.
I wish someone could set me straight.
Thanks for the help.
Bob
Don’t forget to click “Apply” after selecting “Windows Contacts” in the Sync Contacts window. Thank you so much for the tip – was able to get all my contacts’ info in 1 minute!
Thanks…….you are great…… solved my problem
I followed the instructions and opened it with excel afterwards, it doesn’t show the phone numbers,only the name and last name. is that suppose to happen?
Hi,
before you export, make sure you have checked all relevant boxes including mobile number, office etc.
Hi
Gr8 article.
Well is it possible to import in the exact format as iphone
because all the addresses are seperated by the default values of windows contacts.
thank you for putting this together. Just backed up well over 1000 contacts that were locked on my iphone. Very well written guide; simple to use.
thank you. thank you. thank you.
Great info!! I was struggling with importing my iPhone contacts to Windows 7. This was quick, easy and saved me from purchasing software to do the import. Thanks!
Hi I have successfully completed exporting my iphone 4 contacts to windows csv file.
However when I tried doing the same process with my partners iphone 3 when it came to syncing and running the wab my contacts from my iphone 4 appears and none of his??? I deleted them all and tried process again but now nothing shows up.
Can someone please help me with this.
Cheers
Becstar
Thanks for the info!!! i was going nuts trying to find out how to do this, and was about to start entering them manually.
the final step was to tell windows live mail to merge duplicate contacts. Finally my mess is almost sorted!
gr8 work… was looking for this since months…. thnx…
Hi
I followed the method but i have a problem in that all contacts are transferred but where i have a problem. in some cases where there are more than one phone numbers for contacts, both have transfered but in other cases one number is missing.i am checking in wab folder and in csv file both.
thanks a ton.. all working
I LOVE YOU!!!!
THANKS A LOT!!!
thanks thanks thanks and thanks!!!
useful, thanx, keep making tutorials like this one
when i go to the info page my sync contacts with doesnt have a drop down menu and there are no options. i am unsure why this is.
This didn’t work as expected for me. In fact, I had the same problem as EagleBrewing (see comment, above). I have 85 contacts on my iPhone 4, and only 1 (my own contact record) was transferred to the CSV file using this process.
I have followed this step by step but then I open the file there are no contacts there and my iphone has been wiped of all my contacts?
What can I do, please help!!
i empathsize with you above, I ‘played’ with it for half a day to become familiar with Itune, ITune is not exactly intuitive. You need to be very careful and read and know exactly what the damn tool is telling you. if you forgot to review the Advanced section near the bottom of the Info page, and uncehck ‘replace information on this Ipad/Iphone, whatever is checked will get overlaid. if you had replaced the contact on your computer (messed up to only 1 entry left) then your iphone will get sync over with one entry left – the only remedy is if you had backed up step performed before so you can go back and restore from backup.
with Win 7, it accesses the contact info already synced by the itune ‘apply’ step hence you only need to ‘export’ and not import. into the CSV format. Also, you need to check the ‘mobile’ fields, etc in order for the data to show up. I have some fields came from Ipad and they did not have the corresponding field names and the values did not get carried over into CSV fields
how do i import them back to my iphone?
you can easily google how to setup your iphone to receive the contacts back from either yahoo, gmail account, assuming you had performed the step to get the iphone contacts sync up to your email account first.
see example on how to with Yahoo
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/contacts/basics/contactsbasics-11.html
thanks so much you solve my problem..thanks once again its work..
Good, but a problem: The field “other” (DK version “andet”)- do NOT apepar in the export, how can i get this included?
Maybe this time it’s allowed to say that there is an app that makes it as easy as can be: My Contacts Backup
thanks a lot, it solved my problem.
Anyway ITunes and IPhone sucks, big time.
The morning I have decided to buy an IPhone I wish
I had broken my leg instead, it would have been less painful
This is wonderful, but do you have any way to do this if I don’t have my iPhone? my iPhone was stolen and I still have all my backup on iTunes/ iCloud, and now have a Droid… any way to export my contacts to it?
Thank you!!
Simply Beautiful… Thanks
Only the contacts from my windows contacts were transfered to my iphone, not the other way around. Im using iphone 4 running on firmware 5.0 and I have the latest itunes installed.
This will make it much easier:
http://www.trickyways.com/2010/06/how-to-export-iphone-contacts-as-csv-file-in-windows-7/#comment-6784
Worked well, thank you very much.
Thx for this; it’s been a great help!
One question: I need to transfer my iPhone contacts onto a sim card – any suggestions?
Thx!
pls iPhone backup transfer to mobile to PC & PC to mobile .
it works perfectly fine. thanks a ton.
Thanks for the info – very easy – BUT – when I exported the numbers, after I checked ALL options, all ‘other’ phone numbers are missing in the excel file; only ‘mobile’ numbers transferred. There is no ‘other’ option (I have a 3G iphone, and only a few phone numbers that are entered as ‘mobile’, as I didn’t really pay attention and/or put effort to mark them as ‘mobile’). Does anyone know how this could be fixed? I believe this happened as there is no ‘other’ option (among many others) to be checked off.
Thanks in advance for all your help.
V
Thank you for posting this information. I followed all the steps and it worked very well.
Thanks you … you are the best
I think ,that iOS Devices when I sync with empty library or empty contact. My contact in iOS Devices is gone.
I first try by your blog post. contact in my iOS Devices isn’t lost. and added in my windows contact.
Thank you for this article.
Thank you so much! Really clear and easy to follow instructions, worked first time.
Apple couldn’t help me, TMobile couldn’t help me, so it’s a good job for us technophobes that there are clever folks like you around!
its working ….
thnx…
Hi, this was great thanks. Just another tip, make sure you turn off Icloud or it won’t pick up your contacts.
thank u – this really helped me – shockign that itune and apple support is so unhelpful
Great information. I did not know about wab. very much pleased to know it. Thanks a lot
I just wanted to add that if someone had other labels for phone numbers than the standard ones, they will not get synced using this method. So for example, if you have a contact that has a “Skype” phone number or a “Mobile2″ phone number or “G-Number”, etc…. none of these numbers will get saved. Windows Address Book will only copy the standard labels for phone numbers, such as, Mobile Phone, Business Phone, etc….