Quite often, people are interested in where contacts are stored in Android. This question arises mainly due to the fact that modern smartphones quickly become obsolete. When replacing them, you have to think about transferring all the data from the SIM card and the device as a whole. Contacts are often a lot of trouble. But if you prepare in advance for the process, you can easily transfer phone book from Android to Android.
Where are located
First you’ll have to figure out exactly where the contacts are saved. They are located in text file or in some database? Further actions will depend on the answer to this question.
Where are contacts stored in Android? Users claim that this information located in the SQLite database. Initially, contacts are recorded here. However, they can be transferred to a SIM card or memory card. So the phone book will always be with its owner.
Directory Search
All that remains to be done is to find on mobile device folder with relevant data. Where are contacts stored in Android? They will be located in the contacts.db or contacts2.db document. They will have to look for them on a mobile device. 
Where are contacts stored in Android? In order to copy the phone book from the device, you must find the document mentioned earlier. It is located in the data directory. You must open the following folder chain:
- data (2 times);
- com.android.providers.contacts;
- databases.
After that, you need to find contacts / contacts2 in the last folder. This is the phone book. It can be copied, deleted or transferred to another device. As a rule, this will require root privileges. For example, using specialized programs. Among them are iRoot and KingRoot.
About copying data
Now it’s clear where the contacts are stored in the corresponding document, usually needed to copy the phone book. easier than it sounds. Especially when it comes to using the same OS builds.
As a rule, you can copy the phone book to a SIM card or to a Flash card as follows:
- Go to the "Contacts" menu on your mobile device.
- Open settings. In some phone models, select the "Advanced" menu item.
- Select the "Import / Export" option. Click on the line responsible for a particular operation.
- Specify a place to import or export data. As a rule, we are talking about a SIM card or a memory card.
This is the simplest solution. Knowing where the contacts are stored in Android, you can copy given file phone book using a PC and transfer it to the desired directory on the new device. In addition, there are various programs and applications for transferring contacts. But among modern users, data synchronization with Google is often used. This technique will help you not to think about where the contacts are stored in Android. If you have mail on Google, you can synchronize data without root-rights or search the phone book on a mobile device. 
Actions in this case are reduced to the following algorithm:
- On the old Android phone, go to the "Settings" - "Accounts" menu to log in to Google. Mark the "Contacts" section when entering the mail in the "Synchronization" section.
- Log in to Google on your new phone. This will automatically synchronize the contacts.
Where to "search" for contacts on android
So, contacts on android devices are stored in a special directory /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/, in which there is a file called contacts.db. / data / is a special folder, where, as a rule, there are applications installed by the user and his personal settings. In order to read the above file, you will need to obtain root privileges. Root rights entitle users to do with operating system of your gadget (in this case, the Android OS), all that you want is to delete, copy, modify files (even system files) and so on. The procedure for obtaining these rights on each device is different. It will be enough for someone to install a special application, but someone will need special program. The main thing is that without these rights the contacts.db file. cannot be read.
Why you need to know where the contacts are stored on your phone
Why know where the contacts are stored in android? You can find a fairly simple answer to this question. For example, the phone is broken (which is not so rare), but it inner memory can still function normally, giving the user the ability to export their contacts to new phone. Or, knowing where the contact file is located, you can configure its synchronization with your home computer (this can be done using the SSH server). Then, in the event of a breakdown, you can view the contact book directly through the computer. In this case, you do not need to figure out how - on a PC it is more convenient to do this.
In addition, you can synchronize contacts stored on android devices with Gmail. To do this, you will need to find the item “Accounts” in the phone’s menu and put a checkmark in front of the line with the name “auto-synchronization”. After this procedure, the contacts will appear on the user's mail. In case of unforeseen situations, you can go to gmailassigned to a specific device and view all the contacts there.
In general, working with contacts on Android is both easy and difficult. The thing is that most people use the applications installed by the manufacturer, and these can be both standard from the Android delivery, and programs as part of branded shells. So for a start we will consider the general situation on one of examples.
Android contacts are in the application of the same name. As a rule, shell developers for Google OS bring it to the first home screen, so finding it is not difficult.
The interface of the Contacts application is simple and intuitive. At the top there is a menu of Phonebook sources, search and create new contact icons, as well as the menu of the application itself.
Scrolling right and left, you can quickly go to contact groups, the screen speed dial and even the call log.
The menu of phone book sources allows you to choose where to show contacts from in the application. There are options: SIM, Skype and other instant messengers, credentials google records and actually the phone book of the device. The user can check or uncheck the boxes next to each source. Useful tip: if annoying you that Android is pulling up email addresses, nicks from skype and turns the phone book into a mess, then just unplug the appropriate sources.
Search for contacts in the application has auto-selection. To find the right person, it is not necessary to type his name in full. It is enough to indicate the first letters and the application will select all matches.
Creating a contact, the user selects the location of his location, then indicates the number (you can choose from 6 options), email. You can add a contact to the group. In addition, for each contact, you can specify additional fields: from the birthday or other significant events to an arbitrary note.
The application menu includes eight items. We will dwell on some of them later. Settings mainly relate to the way contacts are displayed in the application. You can also set up synchronization with accounts, view the capacity of the SIM card, and also select the tabs that will show when scrolling left and right.
How to transfer contacts from Android to Android
Unlike iOS, Android by default offers a large selection of native options for transferring contacts from one device to another.
Every Android smartphone is tied to account Google To transfer contacts from using google, just make sure that synchronization of contacts with google profile and gmail. To do this, go to Settings - Account and Sync - Google - Gmail. Then click on the name of the account and select Contacts. Depending on the settings made earlier, they will be synchronized automatically, or when pressed. Further, on the new device, it is enough to do the same thing so that the contacts appear on it. It is important that the gadgets are connected to the Internet.
You can also transfer contacts from Android to Android using a SIM card or VCard file. To do this, in the Contacts application, go to Menu - Contact Management - Import / Export Contacts. Here you can export contacts to a SIM card, memory card or phone memory.
Then the SIM is inserted into the new phone, there you can rearrange the memory card. The same actions are performed on the new device, only instead of Export you need to select Import from the appropriate place.
If the user exported the contacts to the phone’s memory, then he will need to transfer the VCard file from there. This can be done by connecting the phones to the computer - most android phones defined as removable driveseither send by e-mail to yourself (but it’s more logical to use synchronization via Gmail, described above), or send via Bluetooth. Then on the new phone you need to repeat the already described steps for importing contacts.
You can transfer contacts from phone to phone using Bluetooth. True, this method is suitable only for a small number of records - and since you can send no more than 10 pieces. To do this, go to the Contacts application menu and select the Send contacts option. Then flag required records and then choose the sending method - Bluetooth. You must first establish a Bluetooth connection between the phones.
Also, the Send contacts item allows you to send them by e-mail, from using SMS or MMS, but these methods are not relevant when transferring contacts from phone to phone.
How to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android
There are two ways to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android, synchronizing with Gmail and using a VCard file. Both will require some effort.
Default to iPhone contacts sync with iCloud. You must switch the synchronization to Gmail and not lose the phone book. To do this, go to the iPhone in Settings - Mail, Addresses, Calendars - Accounts / iCloud and turn off Contacts synchronization. A popup will appear. In it you need to select the option "Leave on the phone." So we save the contacts in the iPhone. If you select another option, contacts from the iPhone will be deleted.
Now you need to set Gmail as the default account for Contacts in iPhone. Settings are made in the Settings - Mail, Addresses, Calendars section. In the Contacts sub-item, one of the last will be the Default Account. You need to select the item and mark Gmail. After some time, the contacts will be synchronized with Gmail. If it already has contacts, then they can be duplicated.
Next, you need to activate your Gmail account on Android. After a while, the contacts will appear on the phone. If this does not happen, then you need to look in the sources menu in the Contacts application which sources are activated. Your Gmail account may be unchecked. You may also need to force synchronization. This is done in Settings - Account and Sync - Google - Gmail.
To transfer contacts from iPhone to Android, you can use the VCard file. You can only create a file in iCloud. Therefore, first of all, you need to make sure that the contacts are synchronized with the cloud.
To make a vCard file, you need to select all contacts using ctrl-AWindows or Command-A on Mac, in the iCLoud web application settings menu there is Export vCard item. Save the file to your hard drive or flash drive. In any convenient way, write it to the memory of an Android device.
Further actions we have already described. In the Contacts application, you need to go through Menu - Manage contacts - Import and export contacts, select Import contacts, and then the location of the VCard file - in the phone’s memory or on the SD card. The Contacts application will overwrite all the data from the file into the device’s memory.
You can not save the VCard file to an Android phone, but import contacts from it into Gmail and then synchronize with the gadget. To do this, select Gmail in Gmail, and there, click Import. In the pop-up window, then select the last item. It remains only to synchronize the device with Gmail.
How to transfer contacts from Windows Phone to Android
There are several ways to transfer contacts from Windows phone on Android. You can use applications that allow you to create a VCard file. Since the contacts of Windows Phone users are synchronized with the account microsoft record, then by default they will be located in Outoook.com, you can add an Outlook account to Android. Finally, you can transfer contacts from Outlook using the csv file.
To transfer contacts from Windows Phone to Android through synchronization with Outlook.com, you need to add an account to the phone. To do this, go to Settings - Accounts and sync and click +. From the proposed selection, click on Outlook, then enter account information and select contact synchronization. At this method There are some disadvantages. In some cases, Outlook does not allow editing contacts on third-party devices, so it’s better to make contacts “native” for Android by transferring them through a file
On Outlook.com, select People from the menu. Then click on the Manage button, and in the new menu - Export for Outlook.com and other services. Contacts will be saved to a CSV file. It must be saved to the computer.
Next, in Gmail, as described above, you need to select Contacts. There is an Import item in the menu. If you click it, a pop-up menu will appear in which you need to choose to import from a CSV or VCard file. It remains to select a file on the hard drive, the contacts will be uploaded to Gmail, and then synchronized with Android.
How to transfer contacts from Android to computer
Transferring contacts from Android to a computer is very simple. It is enough to create a VCard file. They can work with him microsoft programs Outlook or Windows Contacts, as well as other applications.
To export contacts to a VCard file on your phone, go to the Contacts application: Menu - Manage contacts - Import and Export contacts and select the item you want: Export to SD card or Export to phone memory.
All contacts will be saved to a VCard file. Then it can be written to the computer’s memory and opened in the corresponding program for working with contacts. The file can be stored as backup on the computer. However, it will not sync with Android. Therefore, it is desirable to synchronize Android contacts with Gmail.
By the way, you can export contacts from Gmail too. To do this, select the export contacts item in the menu. They can also be saved in a VCard file.
When opening vcard in windows programs You may encounter problems with displaying the Cyrillic alphabet. VCard is saved by default with UTF-8 encoding, while Windows uses Windows-1251, however, latest versions Microsoft OS has expanded support for Unicode. Nevertheless, if there is still a problem, then you need to open the file in any text editor, for example, Notepad 2, which supports changing the encoding. Change it and save. In fact, VCard is a plain text file.
Sync Android Contacts with Google
Android contacts are synced by default with Gmail and Google if the corresponding account is added to the phone. And without an account it is impossible to fully use Android.
To add an account, go to Settings - Accounts and Sync. Click on Plus here and select Google from the list. Next, enter account information or create it.
Now, Google appears in the list of added accounts. If you go into it, then there will be a name mailbox "[email protected]". By selecting an account, you can manually start synchronization of various data and google services. Contacts are at the very bottom of the list.
In the menu item Settings - Accounts and Synchronization at the very top there is a switch Auto-sync. If you activate it, then all accounts will be synchronized automatically. If it is turned off, then synchronization must be started manually, as described in the paragraph above.
Import contacts on Android
Importing contacts on Android is organized quite simply.
In the Contacts application you need to go through the Menu - Manage contacts - Import and export contacts.
A menu opens in which there are three options for importing contacts. Import from SIM. You need to select it to rewrite the contacts from the SIM card to the phone’s memory. Import sSD-crates and Import from phone memory must be selected to rewrite contacts from contact files, for example, VCard. Android does not need to specify the location of the contacts file. The system itself will find all supported files and offer to select the one from which data will be imported.
If there is no physical ability to connect the phone to the computer in order to write the VCard file to the phone, it can be sent by mail, via Bluetooth, put into the cloud and then downloaded to the device.
You can also import contacts on Android through the application Google Contacts. You can access it from Gmail. In the menu item Advanced, select Import contacts. Further, to transfer contacts to Android, it is enough to synchronize contacts with Gmail.
IN new version The Gmail Import option is located in the More, not Advanced section. It also supports importing contacts from Yahoo, Outlook, AOL and others. Therefore, if the contacts are synchronized with other mail services, you can pick them up from there directly. It is enough to enter the data access to the mail. True, Google warns that for a number of services the function of importing contacts is implemented at the expense of third-party developers, so everyone must decide for himself whether to trust their credentials to third-party service providers.
Where are contacts stored in Android
Contacts in Android are stored in the contacts.db or contacts2.db file. It is a SQLite database. On the Internet it is easy to find software with which you can read such files. However, the files themselves are not so easy to find.
To access them, you must have root privileges. If they are not there, the user simply will not see this file, nor will he see the folder in which the database is located. Only with root rights can you go to the address Android / data / data / com.android.providers.contacts / databases /, where the contact files are located.
Export contacts from Android
You can export contacts from Android using the built-in functionality of the Contacts application.
In the application menu, select Contact management and then the Import and export contacts item. There are three options for export: save contacts to SIM, save to a memory card or phone memory. When saving to a memory card or to the phone’s memory, the contacts will be exported to a VCard file, which can then be used to import contacts on both Android and iOS, email services, cloud, and desktop applications.
How to restore Android contacts
The solution to this problem depends on whether contacts were synchronized with Gmail, or if a backup copy of VCard was made.
If your contacts have been synchronized with Gmail, then simply syncing them with your phone is enough. However, it may happen that the contacts have been accidentally deleted from an Android smartphone. It synchronized with Gmail, and there the contacts also disappeared. It doesn’t matter.
Google stores contacts for up to 30 days. In Gmail, in the Advanced / Still section, select Restore contacts. A menu appears in which you select the date of restoration of contacts. After they are restored to Gmail, they can be synchronized with the phone.
If a backup was made in VCard, then to restore it, just upload the file to the device’s memory or to the memory card and import the contacts from it, as described in the previous sections.
How to delete contacts on Android
There are several ways to delete contacts on Android, depending on how many contacts you need to delete and how securely.
To delete one contact, you can open the Contacts application, select the desired Contact and click on it while holding your finger at one point. A context menu appears in which there is a Delete item.
You can also get in touch and click on the three dots in the upper right corner. This is the contact menu. There is also a delete item.
The Delete contacts item is also in the menu of the Contacts application itself. By clicking on Delete contacts, the user will be offered a list of contacts in which he can mark contacts for deletion, or select all. Then click on the Delete button.
You can simply reset all phone data. This is done in the Settings - Backup and reset.
Android Contacts Backup
Android offers several ways to back up contacts at once.
The first method is simple and reliable, but it will be difficult to maintain a backup copy of contacts up to date. It's about exporting contacts to a VCard file. How to do this, see above under Exporting Android Contacts.
The second way is synchronizing your contacts with Gmail. It is often enabled by default. How to manage synchronization is described above.
Choosing an account for Android backup
The third way is to enable backup for the whole phone on Google’s servers. This is done Settings - Backup and reset. When activating the backup, Android will make a copy of the phone on Google servers, not only contacts will be saved there, but also all personal data, application data, etc.
Android Contact Apps
The Contacts application for Android has good functionality and is quite convenient, so there isn’t much sense in third-party solutions, but still we’ll look at some applications
VCF Contacts
- Developer: AndloRD.
- Rating: 4,1.
- Number of installations: 1 million.
This application is an alternative for standard Contacts from Android. It does not differ in extended functionality, but rather it is interesting in a different approach to storing the phone book. If Google Contacts stores all the information in the database, then VCF Contacts is in the vCard (vcf) file. This file can be obtained as a result of export.
When installing the application, it takes as its basis the existing vCard file or creates it based on the Android phonebook. As a result, the user always has the current vCard file in the phone. This can literally save you in the event of a sudden system crash.
Contacts can be sorted, sent by mail, through instant messengers. Unfortunately, the functions to add to Android and to another vCard file are only available in the paid version.
Contacts +
- Developer: Contacts Plus team
- Rating: 4,1.
- Number of installations: 50 million.
Makes contacts more fun. All contacts are presented with avatars. This view simplifies the call of the desired subscriber - choose faces faster. There are advanced search functions: you can search not only by name or phone, but also by mail, SMS, etc.
Themes and various phone book design options are supported. Contacts + also has a call log and SMS.
Contacts are stored in encrypted form.
The application has a separate backup function. True in free version You can save only up to 2000 contacts, calls or SMS. Copying is configured separately for each category of information.
Save contacts to TXT
- Developer: Viked.
- Rating: 4,3.
- Number of installations: 15 thousand.
IN Android contacts can be exported in vCard format. This application allows you to save them in txt. You can save all contacts, single entries or several in a text file.
It is also allowed to configure which fields will be saved in the file.
In the future, the file can be used at the discretion of the user. You can also send it by email.
Simpler Contacts Dialing
- Developer: SimplerApps
- Rating: 4,3.
- Number of installations: 5 million.
First of all, it is an alternative to the standard Android phone implementation. Not only the phone book is supported, but also the dialer, Caller ID, and SMS. However, the application has some interesting functions for working with contacts. The most important thing is backup. You can do either a local copy of contacts or save it in the application cloud. You can configure automatic backup. The search for duplicates in contacts is carried out by the application constantly in automatic mode.
Another interesting feature is the search for photos on Facebook. The application offers the user to compare his friends in social network with contact list and if there are matches, use Facebook profile photos for Caller ID.
In addition, you can use various themes for the application interface.
SA Contacts Lite
- Developer: samapp.
- Rating: 4,0.
- Number of installations: 1 million.
Applications for exporting and importing contacts in Excel files. Excel is the best source to import into Outlook.
The application allows you to configure which fields will be exported to Excel. You can transfer all contact fields, including a photo. The only exception is the personal melody assigned to the contact.
The application also automatically converts encodings according to windows requirements and Microsoft applications so that the names in the contacts are displayed correctly.
The exported file can be stored on a memory card, sent by mail, uploaded to cloud services.
Free version limitation - only the first 300 contacts can be exported. You will have to pay for a larger phone book.
Conclusion
Working with contacts in Android is well organized. There is practically no need to access third-party applications if you read our guide. Using Android, you can perform all possible actions with contacts.
However, if you want to decorate and diversify a dialer or a phone book, then in Play market enough apps. True, one must be careful when choosing them. It's still about personal data.
May 18, 2015
Where are contacts stored on Android?
Comments: 0
One of the most sensitive places in a smartphone is the contact list. It is exposed to information leakage. Therefore, it is important to know the place where this significant information is stored. In Android, there is a file called contacts.db.
If this does not exist, there should be a similar file - contacts2.db. Contacts in Android are stored in the directory /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/, it is here that all contacts are stored.
Some use cases for contacts.
Suppose a smartphone breaks down, but the memory continues to function, in this case all contacts can be moved from Android. If working with Google servers does not inspire confidence, you can automatically configure backup of all contacts from your smartphone to a desktop computer using the SSH server.
The best option for moving contacts from Android is a stationary application that successfully copes with both downloading and transferring contacts, while working with the VCard format.
