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How to transfer your most important data from Android to iPhone
Find out how to move your contacts, files, photos, and videos from your Android phone to your new iPhone.
When upgrading from one iPhone to another, transferring your existing data and settings to your new device is easy. But, when you're faced with the task of moving content from an Android phone to an iPhone, the process can be a bit trickier.
Although you can't transfer some operating system-dependent things like text messages and call history, it is possible to move your contacts, files, photos, and videos from your Android to your iPhone.
Once you've set up and activated your new iPhone, grab your Android phone and follow this step-by-step guide.
1. On your Android phone, go to your Contacts. Tap the menu button and tap Import/Export. Tap Export to Storage, select the contact data you want to transfer (in most cases, "Phone"), and select OK.
2. Connect your Android to your PC via USB and put your phone in Disk Drive mode. Your phone will appear as a drive (or two drives if you have an SD card) in My Computer or on your Mac desktop.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it something like "Android data." Now, sift through the files on your Android drive(s) and drag and drop the content you want to transfer to your iPhone. This might include photos, music, and videos. Take your time during this process to make sure you don't miss any data, as you might have photos and videos in a few different folders.
Finally, search for a VCF file and save that file, too. This is where all your contacts are. Drag and drop that folder to your iPhone data folder. You're now ready to transfer the saved data to your iPhone.
4. Photos and videos. Assuming you've already set up and activated your new iPhone, connect it to iTunes. Click on your phone's name in the left sidebar, then go to the Photos tab in the main window. Check "Sync photos." In the drop-down menu, click "Chose folder" and navigate to the Android data folder on your desktop. Your photos will appear in your iPhone's Photos app.
5. Music. Next, drag the iPhone folder from your desktop over your iPhone's name in the iTunes sidebar. All of your songs will be transferred to your iPhone. (You can also use this trick to transfer any other music from your desktop to your iPhone.) The music can be found in your iPhone's Music app.
6. Contacts. First, make sure you've set up your e-mail account on your new iPhone. Then, back on your computer, send yourself an e-mail with the VCF file as an attachment. Open that e-mail on your iPhone and tap the attachment, located at the bottom of the message. At the top, tap "Add all contacts." Your contacts will be saved to your iPhone.
