Please help: How to move SMS/Phone contacts to new SIM card?

[Macroblizz]

Hello,

I've recently purchased a new phone but the SIM card is smaller than my old phone so it won't fit... :'( :'( :'(

How can I take my SMS Messages/Contact numbers and other data to the new phone?

This is my current Huawei phone:
http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_g510-5250.php

This is my new phone I want to switch to:
https://www.optus.com.au/prepaid/phones/optus/x-start-3

I really need some help. Thank you!

 

[belodion]

Welcome.

The normal procedure nowadays is to back up your contacts to an account, such as your Google account. Signing into that account on your new phone then downloads them, and indeed much other data, to it.
SMS history can be backed up to an app such as SMS Backup & Restore, downloaded onto the old phone from the Play Store for that purpose, then restored to the new phone via the same app downloaded onto it.

There are other ways of doing these things, depending on what accounts you have.

If you really wanted to transfer data from the SIM, you could cut it down to size, or have it done, but I doubt that there would be much on it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! On the old phone, see if you can install the Google Contacts app from the Pay Store. Then Import contacts from the SIM: https://support.google.com/contacts...GENIE.Platform=Android#zippy=,from-a-sim-card. If done successfully, the contacts should now be in your Google account, so when you log into the new phone with your Google account, they should sync automatically.

 

[Macroblizz]

Welcome to Android Central! On the old phone, see if you can install the Google Contacts app from the Pay Store. Then Import contacts from the SIM: https://support.google.com/contacts...GENIE.Platform=Android#zippy=,from-a-sim-card. If done successfully, the contacts should now be in your Google account, so when you log into the new phone with your Google account, they should sync automatically.

Thanks!

I've spent a lot of time looking for the "Google Contacts" app you mentioned on the Google Play Store, but it doesn't seem to appear and I think it's because my Android OS is so out of date: I'm running Android version 4.1.1 :'( :'( :'(

 

[Macroblizz]

Welcome.

The normal procedure nowadays is to back up your contacts to an account, such as your Google account. Signing into that account on your new phone then downloads them, and indeed much other data, to it.
SMS history can be backed up to an app such as SMS Backup & Restore, downloaded onto the old phone from the Play Store for that purpose, then restored to the new phone via the same app downloaded onto it.

There are other ways of doing these things, depending on what accounts you have.

If you really wanted to transfer data from the SIM, you could cut it down to size, or have it done, but I doubt that there would be much on it.

Thanks!

I like the idea of backing up my SMS messages, contact list and my other data using an App made by Google, but because I'm running Android 4.1.1 I'm limited to what Google Apps I can install:

However, I do have a "Google One Account" that I upgraded and gives me 100GB of space. When I go into my Google One Account and I tap on the name of my phone "Huawei G510" it seems like my contact list, SMS messages aren't backed up at all...

 

[hallux]

Your Android 4.1.1 device won't have the Google framework needed to create those backups, the version on the phone is too old to still be supported for connecting to the Google servers for that.

 

[Macroblizz]

Your Android 4.1.1 device won't have the Google framework needed to create those backups, the version on the phone is too old to still be supported for connecting to the Google servers for that.

Oh no, I'm really saddened to read this... :'(

Google Drive is available and I can install this on the Huawei phone. Can I somehow use Google Drive to backup my SMS messages, contact list and call logs???

 

[mustang7757]

Oh no, I'm really saddened to read this... :'(

Google Drive is available and I can install this on the Huawei phone. Can I somehow use Google Drive to backup my SMS messages, contact list and call logs???

Welcome to AC!
With a Android version that old we have no way of knowing what will and won't work it be up to you to do trial by error.

 

[Macroblizz]

Welcome to AC!
With a Android version that old we have no way of knowing what will and won't work it be up to you to do trial by error.

Thanks!

I'm happy to check whichever Apps are available on my Android 4.1.1 system. For example, Gmail and Google Drive are both available for me to install.

Could people on Android Central please list Apps that can backup SMS messages, phone contacts and call logs?

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks!

I'm happy to check whichever Apps are available on my Android 4.1.1 system. For example, Gmail and Google Drive are both available for me to install.

Could people on Android Central please list Apps that can backup SMS messages, phone contacts and call logs?

You can try sms back up in play store but not sure it's compatible with your Android version

 

[B. Diddy]

In the Contacts app, see if there's an option to Export Contacts. If you find one, let us know, and we can go from there.

 

[Macroblizz]

In the Contacts app, see if there's an option to Export Contacts. If you find one, let us know, and we can go from there.

Thanks!

I checked and Google Contacts is not available for Android 4.1.1..

You can try sms back up in play store but not sure it's compatible with your Android version

Thanks!

I've done a lot of searching and these Apps are compatible with Android 4.1.1:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...om.rerware.android.MyBackupPro&token=RU8-izJg
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestorePro&token=UNxBi88n

What does everyone else think of these Apps?

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks!

I checked and Google Contacts is not available for Android 4.1.1..

I'm not talking about the Google Contacts app -- I'm talking about the stock Contacts app on your phone.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

You can try sms back up in play store but not sure it's compatible with your Android version

I can confirm that SMS Backup and Restore worked with 4.1.1 back in 2014 lol. The OP seems to be ignoring this answer though, so it may be that we've got one of those people who doesn't actually want a question answered...

 

[Macroblizz]

In the Contacts app, see if there's an option to Export Contacts. If you find one, let us know, and we can go from there.

Thanks!

My Huawei has an App called "People" and not Contacts. Also, there is no option to export the people...

It says there are 183 people in my contacts list however these are stored on the SIM card...

I can confirm that SMS Backup and Restore worked with 4.1.1 back in 2014 lol. The OP seems to be ignoring this answer though, so it may be that we've got one of those people who doesn't actually want a question answered...

Of course I want to solve this problem... Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

This app is looking like my best option: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...om.rerware.android.MyBackupPro&token=qHrnRhu-

 

[B. Diddy]

Just to be sure -- in your People app, select one of the contacts, and tap the Menu button (typically a 3-dot button in the upper left or right corner). Is that where you're looking for an Export option?

Another option would be to get a SIM card cutter, to trim it down to the correct size. Then you could use the same SIM card in the new phone, along with its contacts. Here's an example: https://smile.amazon.com/COSMOS-Uni...eywords=sim+card+cutter&qid=1663886845&sr=8-3

 

[Macroblizz]

Just to be sure -- in your People app, select one of the contacts, and tap the Menu button (typically a 3-dot button in the upper left or right corner). Is that where you're looking for an Export option?

Another option would be to get a SIM card cutter, to trim it down to the correct size. Then you could use the same SIM card in the new phone, along with its contacts. Here's an example: https://smile.amazon.com/COSMOS-Uni...eywords=sim+card+cutter&qid=1663886845&sr=8-3

Thanks, but is there another way I can backup my phone's data without using a SIM card cutter? I just started using this App: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...oid.MyBackupPro&hl=en_AU&gl=US&token=WLLmFsLk

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, I don't think there's any good universal backup app or program. If you do a web search, you'll find programs from companies like Wondershare and Dr. Fone, but I would be very careful with those, since the companies always seem a little shady to me.

 

[Madd62]

I'm wondering if there's still misunderstanding here.
The Huawei still has Google services at that age, i.e. before they were not able to sell Google installed devices later.

I'm doubting a sim card would hold 183 Contacts, and if that were true they would only be a name and phone number iirc.

Screenshots would be useful, though you would want to redact / draw a line through private contacts.

Just to clarify, on a regular stock Google phone, apart from an app named Contacts (yours is People) , you could also open the stock (Google) Phone app and the third of three tabs/buttons would list Contacts as well.

I'm sure older versions of Android could still upload to your Google One / Drive account, but that's only an assumption from my previous uses.

 

[B. Diddy]

I'm wondering if there's still misunderstanding here.
The Huawei still has Google services at that age, i.e. before they were not able to sell Google installed devices later.

I'm doubting a sim card would hold 183 Contacts, and if that were true they would only be a name and phone number iirc.

Screenshots would be useful, though you would want to redact / draw a line through private contacts.

Just to clarify, on a regular stock Google phone, apart from an app named Contacts (yours is People) , you could also open the stock (Google) Phone app and the third of three tabs/buttons would list Contacts as well.

I'm sure older versions of Android could still upload to your Google One / Drive account, but that's only an assumption from my previous uses.

SIM cards can store up to 250 contacts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_card#:~:text=SIM cards can come in,has room for 80 MNCs. I agree that it'd be ideal to see some screenshots of any of those contacts, showing which account they belong to (but we'd have to make sure to block out any identifying information for that contact).