Contact Backup

[cmajpwc]

I was just wondering: with news that the 2.1 update will wipe contacts when you install it, is there any way to back up your contacts? I have a lot and I don't feel like entering them one by one again... I think there's a way to do it with Gmail but I haven't figured it out. Any programs or ways to do it?

I tried searching and nothing exactly came up, so if this has been addressed before, please just link and let the thread get buried =]

 

[smacky]

Well, what you'll want to do is make sure you have been saving all your contacts as Google contacts. If you have, do a quick sync with Google (you can do this manually in the accounts and sync section) and all your contacts are saved in the Google cloud.

When your phone has been updated, hit sync again and all your contacts will come back.

These contacts must be saved as Google contacts, though. I can not stress this enough. I made the mistake of choosing to save them as another type of contact and Google will not sync these and these will be lost forever.

Just to be safe, download MyBackUp Pro. It is a paid app, though.

PM me if you need extra help.

 

[WARRIIOR]

Well, what you'll want to do is make sure you have been saving all your contacts as Google contacts. If you have, do a quick sync with Google (you can do this manually in the accounts and sync section) and all your contacts are saved in the Google cloud.

When your phone has been updated, hit sync again and all your contacts will come back.

These contacts must be saved as Google contacts, though. I can not stress this enough. I made the mistake of choosing to save them as another type of contact and Google will not sync these and these will be lost forever.

Just to be safe, download MyBackUp Pro. It is a paid app, though.

PM me if you need extra help.

Smacky is right on. I would pay the $4.99 for MyBackUp Pro, works very well and backs up everything.

 

[Foxcow]

Check out post #4 in this thread:

http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/38799-too-many-contacts-deletes-notification-bar-help.html

It will also solve the "too many contacts deletes" issue if you have it.

 

[Mays24]

Can you back up all your photos using MyBackupPro? I was wondering if the wipe removes all your pictures as well.

 

[pavirotten]

It will wipe EVERYTHING, including pictures. Make sure your pictures are saved to another device, i.e. your computer, external hard drive, key drive, some place.

 

[cmajpwc]

Okay, I just tried syncing, and it didn't sync any of my contacts to my Gmail account, so I'm assuming they aren't Google contacts. How do I change them over? I would like to avoid paying for the app as I have everything else saved on my SD Card and can just recopy them to the phone when I finish installing.

 

[xScorch Muffinx]

Why would this wipe your pictures and videos?? That's just stupid..

 

[Indians]

In the People app if you press MENU you have the option to import/export your contacts to/from you SD card. This will back up all your contacts.

 

[cmajpwc]

In the People app if you press MENU you have the option to import/export your contacts to/from you SD card. This will back up all your contacts.

My options in People are "New Contact", "Search People", "Delete Contacts", "View", and "Sync Exchange Contacts". Am I missing something?

 

[Indians]

My options in People are "New Contact", "Search People", "Delete Contacts", "View", and "Sync Exchange Contacts". Am I missing something?

What version are you running? I see New contact, View, Delete, Import/Export Company Directory. I am on 2.1v3

 

[alchemize]

Why would this wipe your pictures and videos?? That's just stupid..

If it works like the 2.1v3 leak, it won't. Initially I thought it did wipe everything, so I went into a panic trying to bring everything back over, only to find that I now had doubles. It wipes contacts and applications, but my videos, pictures and media were all left alone.

If you're worried about your pictures and videos though, just plug your phone into your computer. Mount it and copy all the contents of your SD card to your PC. It's a good idea to keep a regular backup of your SD card anyway, if what's on it is important to you.

 

[cash2141]

where do i save my contacts as google contacts? is it under groups? i have saved them as My Contacts under system group under the contacts name. i'm running 1.7.

or am i understanding correctly that without 2.1 i will have to manually go to my contacts in gmail - add the people on my phone that i want saved into gmail, wipe my phone, and then it should sync the contacts from gmail back to the phone?

if i add a contact into my phone under the people app - should it sync back to my contacts in gmail? so i don't have to manually add them in as contacts in gmail? Doesn't it sync both ways?

thanks

 

[alchemize]

For anyone having trouble with syncing google contacts or rather switching contacts to google contacts - just download my lookout mobile. Go into the market, search "lookout." It's a free app that backs up all of your contacts & pictures, etc. It also has a virus scanner and helps locate a lost phone.

Download lookout. Backup info. Update. Download lookout again. Restore info.

Free and simple.

 

[cmajpwc]

I'm running 1.5, so I guess that option isn't available in 1.5. So is there anyways I can transfer my contacts to Gmail contacts? Or am I going to have to put them in one by one?

 

[alchemize]

I'm running 1.5, so I guess that option isn't available in 1.5. So is there anyways I can transfer my contacts to Gmail contacts? Or am I going to have to put them in one by one?

I'm not sure about that - I don't like syncing google contacts because I haven't had luck with it. Lookout, the app I mentioned above works on 1.5 and 2.1. If no one else can help you with google, seriously try that app. It's free and I'm positive it works, I tried it.

 

[JaybirdOSU]

I'm running 1.5, so I guess that option isn't available in 1.5. So is there anyways I can transfer my contacts to Gmail contacts? Or am I going to have to put them in one by one?

You are in luck. This can be done without retyping each one. It's going to take a little work, but still quicker than retyping all of them. Download the app called Export Contacts from the Market. This will allow you to export all of your contacts to your SD card in a CSV format. It will export all contacts regardless of whether they are Phone, Google, or Exchange contacts. At this point, connect your phone to your computer via USB cable and mount your SD card. Transfer the CSV file from your SD card to your computer. Now you can go to Gmail on your computer and upload this contacts file to your Gmail account. Gmail will likely urge you to merge some of the new contacts with existing contacts because they will be duplicates. Once you have those contacts loaded into Gmail on your computer, trying doing a manual sync on your phone (or just wait for the regular sync to occur) and those contacts should show up on your phone as Google contacts now. Remember to go into People-->Menu-->View. Set the duplicate contact option as Google and now the "Phone" contacts will not be on there. If you prefer to clean up your People once your new Google contacts have synced over, just hide your Google contacts in the view and show only your Phone contacts and then delete them. Hope this saves you some time!