Problem moving Contacts

[bxcfilm]

Here’s the problem. I got a new phone to replace my old phone. The new phone is a Moto G with Android 4.4.4, so I used Motorola Migrate to help with the switchover. My old phone is an Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade running Android v2.2 Swedish Spring.

The transfer worked except for my contacts. On the old phone I had some contacts on the SIM and some in the phone, a total of 595 contacts.

Only 133 of the contacts transferred to the new phone, and going back into Migrate I can see why. It says it only transfers the contacts in the SIM. Before you ask, I am syncing through my Google account, but now that only has 133 contacts.

The old phone has an SD card, but the Moto G doesn’t, so I can’t move them that way. Also I tried transferring the other contacts from the phone to the SIM, but there’s no room.

So the question is – how can I get the other contacts across?

I would appreciate any help.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! On the old phone, open the People/Contacts app, tap the Menu button, and see if there is an Export Contacts function. If so, export all contacts to storage (typically as a .csv or multiple .vcf file). If the exported contact file goes to your SD card, you could remove the SD card, insert it into your computer, transfer the file to your computer, and then import them into your Google Contacts on the web (google.com/contacts). To import on the Google Contacts page, click on the More box and then select Import. I would strongly moving the contacts into Google Contacts rather than just trying to transfer them into the new phone's "Phone account," because the Phone account doesn't sync with anything. So if something happened to your phone, it might be hard to recover those contacts.

 

[bxcfilm]

Many thanks for your reply. This is turning out harder than it ought to be. The SD card in the old phone is actually a micro-SD card. I can't see how to get it out, and in any case I don't have a micro-SD card reader. I exported all the contacts on to the SD card, and connected the phone to my PC with the USB cable, with a view to copying the .vcf file across. My PC can see the phone, but not apparently the SD card.

I'm wondering what the next step is.

[Update]

Using an app called Filer, I managed to move the .vcf file to another folder within the DCIM folder, and then email it to myself. So the problem seems to be fixed now.

Many thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Glad you got it working! For future reference, look on page 27 of the manual to learn how to remove the microSD card: http://www.zte.co.jp/products/hands...ftbank/info/201101/P020110127308967108018.pdf

You can insert a microSD card into a standard SD card reader on a computer by using a fullsize SD adapter, which is very cheap to buy if your microSD didn't come with one. Here's an example: Amazon.com: Sandisk MicroSD & MicroSDHC to SD Adapter (Static Pack): Electronics

 

[shmotog]

Many thanks for your reply. This is turning out harder than it ought to be. The SD card in the old phone is actually a micro-SD card. I can't see how to get it out, and in any case I don't have a micro-SD card reader. I exported all the contacts on to the SD card, and connected the phone to my PC with the USB cable, with a view to copying the .vcf file across. My PC can see the phone, but not apparently the SD card.

I'm wondering what the next step is.

[Update]

Using an app called Filer, I managed to move the .vcf file to another folder within the DCIM folder, and then email it to myself. So the problem seems to be fixed now.

Many thanks.

reason this happens is because a phone usually connects via MTP protocol which is useless. it sometimes fails to read folders, and you need an app like sdRescan to well rescan the sd card, build tables and so that pc can read it via mtp.

correct way is to use adb pull command to get everything off your phone to your pc.

 

[dougdraws]

I'm glad you got the help you needed. This is why I never use an SD card on a phone. Thankfully, I can't use SD cards on my Moto G.