How do I move my iCloud contacts to Google Contacts?

KeyFlow looks people up in Google Contacts, so contacts saved in iCloud on your iPhone don't show up when you add a client. Copy them into Google once, and KeyFlow can search and import them. There are two ways to do it: Option 1 uses only your iPhone, and Option 2 uses your iPhone and a computer. Both copy your contacts and leave iCloud as it is.

Before you start

• Use the Google account the workspace owner connected to KeyFlow. KeyFlow reads Google Contacts through the owner's connection only, so contacts copied into any other Google account never appear. If you're not the owner, check with them which account that is.
• Option 1 needs the Mail app set up on your iPhone, because you email the contacts to yourself.
• Option 2 needs a computer where you can sign in to that Google account.
• The screenshots below come from an iPhone. If yours runs an older version of iOS, a few labels may differ.

Steps

Option 1: On your iPhone only

This option adds your Google account to the iPhone, makes Google the place new contacts are saved, and then adds a copy of every iCloud contact there.

1. Open the Settings app, tap Apps, then tap Contacts.

2. Tap Contacts Accounts, then tap Add Account at the bottom of the list. If there's no Contacts Accounts row, tap Add Account… in the box at the top instead. If your Google account is already listed under Contacts Accounts, tap it and skip to step 4.

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3. Tap Google, then sign in with the Google account connected to KeyFlow.

4. On that account's screen, turn on Contacts.

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5. Go back to Settings, Apps, Contacts. Scroll down, tap Default Account, and choose your Google account. iOS names it Gmail unless you renamed it. From now on, contacts you add on the iPhone are saved to Google instead of iCloud, including the ones you add in step 11.

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6. Open the Contacts app and tap the back button (<) in the top-left corner to open Lists.

7. Touch and hold All iCloud, then tap Export.

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8. On the Share [number] Contacts screen, keep the fields you want to copy checked, then tap the checkmark in the top-right corner. Select All Fields at the bottom checks every field.

9. In the share sheet, tap Mail. Address the email to yourself and send it.

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10. Open the email you just sent, from your inbox or your Sent mailbox, and tap the attached .vcf file. It is named after the list, for example All iCloud.vcf.

11. Tap Add All [number] Contacts. If your iPhone asks how to add them, choose Create New Contacts. They are saved to your default account, which is now Google.

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Your iPhone now holds two copies of each person, one in iCloud and one in Google. That's expected. KeyFlow only reads the Google copy, and nothing here deletes the iCloud one.

Option 2: With a computer

This option leaves your iPhone's accounts and settings alone. You export the contacts on the phone and import them into Google from a computer.

1. On your iPhone, follow Option 1's steps 6 to 8 to export All iCloud.

2. In the share sheet, tap Save to Files in the bottom row. Choose a folder in iCloud Drive, then tap Save. AirDrop to a Mac or emailing the file to yourself works just as well.

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3. On your computer, download the .vcf file from iCloud Drive at icloud.com, or open it from iCloud Drive in Finder on a Mac. If your iPhone isn't nearby, you can export straight from the web instead: go to icloud.com/contacts, select the Actions button at the top of the list, choose Select All Contacts, then select the Share button and choose Export vCard.

4. Go to contacts.google.com and sign in with the Google account connected to KeyFlow.

5. On the left, click Import. If you don't see the menu on the left, click Menu at the top left first.

6. Click Select file, choose the .vcf file, then click Import.

Then bring them into KeyFlow

Once your contacts are in Google, you can import the whole list into KeyFlow. Only the workspace owner can run the import.

1. In KeyFlow, open Clients.

2. Click New Client, then choose Import from Google Contacts.

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3. Review the list KeyFlow fetched and uncheck anyone you don't want.

4. Check the box confirming you have an existing relationship with these people, then click Import [number] contacts.

You don't have to import everyone. Contacts left in Google stay searchable: when you add a client one at a time, KeyFlow's search box also looks in Google Contacts.

What you should see

• Option 1: in the Contacts app's Lists screen, the count next to your Google list (All Gmail) now includes the contacts you added.
• Option 2: when the import finishes, Google Contacts opens the contacts it just imported.
• In KeyFlow: the import sheet lists the people you copied, and once you import them, they appear on the Clients page.

When it doesn't work

• Your contacts don't show up in KeyFlow at all. They were most likely copied into a different Google account from the one the workspace owner connected. KeyFlow only reads the owner's Google Contacts. Copy them into that account, or ask the owner which account is connected under Settings, Integrations.
• A member sees "Only the workspace owner can import from Google Contacts." That's expected. Only the owner can run the full import. Members can still find Google contacts one at a time through the search box when adding a client.
• The search box doesn't find someone you just copied. Google's search for contacts can lag behind recent changes for a while. Try again later, or have the owner run Import from Google Contacts, which reads the whole list directly.
• Google's import fails or stops partway (Option 2). Google says importing more than 3,000 contacts at once can cause problems, and an account holds at most 25,000. To split a large address book, create smaller lists in the Contacts app with Add List, then export and import each one. Option 1 doesn't go through Google's import page at all.
• A detail is missing after a Google import (Option 2). Google's advice is to check that contact's notes section in Google Contacts.