How to Sync Contacts from Mac to iPhone iPad with/without iTunes

Question: I got an iPhone yesterday and have been adding all my contact info to my Mac Contacts. I went through and added photos in the Contacts App, but when I sync my iPhone I get number, but not the photos. Anyone know how to fix it?

Analysis: While referring to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone, many people would turn to iTunes. Developed by Apple, it is a nice tool to transfer data from Mac to iPhone or vice versa.

Actually, most people would not be confused by how to export contacts from Mac to iPhone with iTunes, what really troubled most people are some unexpected situations like iTunes only sync phone numbers but not with photos, or contacts on Mac are replaced by iPhone contacts, etc. Therefore, before we talking about how to add contacts from Mac to iPhone with iTunes, we will first show you one way that could avoid these unexpected situations. It works for transferring contacts from all Macs like MacBook Pro/MacBook Air to iPhone.

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Method 1. How to Sync Contacts from Mac to iPhone without iTunes

To add contacts from Mac to iPhone (including iPhone 11/iPhone 11 Pro) easily and quickly, what you need is a professional iOS data transfer tool – AnyTans for iOS without effort. Here are some main features of it, which is helpful for iOS users:

• Add new contacts from Mac/Windows to iPhone/iPad, and vice versa.
• Manage (sync & delete) your data (including photos, music, videos, contacts, and more files) on your computer.
• Fast and flexible – You always take control of the transferring process and no data would be lost. 
• Clean and safe – it’s a software developed trustworthy developer, so there are no risks of information leakage.

And here are the steps you can export contacts from Mac to iPhone:

Step 1. Export your contacts from the Contacts app to vCard.

Step 2. Download AnyTrans to your Mac.

Step 3. Connect your iPhone to Mac with USB cable > Click the Device Manager > Click More to tap the Contacts.

Step 4. Click  button to browse the contacts on your Mac > Choose the contacts you want to send to iPhone then click Open.

Method 2. How to Export Contacts from Mac to iPhone with iTunes

Just like mentioned above, sending contacts from Mac to iPhone may rise problems like contacts on Mac are replaced by contacts on iPhone, contacts’ photos not syncing issues. To avoid a problem like this, please refer to Method 1.

Here are the steps on how to export contacts using iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to Mac via a USB cable, open iTunes if it doesn’t pop out automatically.
2. Click the device tab, click Info.
3. Select Sync Contacts, choose contacts to sync to contacts, your contacts would soon be synced to iPhone.

Bonus Tip: How to Export Contacts from Mac to iPhone with iCloud

Under your permission, iCloud would sync data automatically. Therefore, if you have synced your data with iCloud, and you are using the same iCloud account on your Mac and iPhone, you can export contacts from Mac to iPhone with iCloud. Here are the steps:

Well, your contacts would sync to your iPhone now.

The Bottom Line

With AnyTrans and this tutorial about how to get contacts from Mac to iPhone iPad, you can add contacts from Mac to iPhone or iPad with a few clicks, and you won’t lose any previous contact. What’s more, when syncing contacts with AnyTrans, all the contact info, including phone number, contact photo, and email address, will be copied to the target device. Download AnyTrans to Start free trial >