How to Transfer Contacts from Mac to iPhone

Question: “I am wondering is there a straightforward way to transfer the contacts on my MacBook Pro to my new iPhone 8 as the contacts are important to me and I can't lose them? Thank you!”  - A question from Apple Discussions

When we are talking about how to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone, including to the latest iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X, we usually can refer to two free ways to make it by using AirDrop and iTunes. The former one is a wireless solution and the latter one is the most common way. We will demonstrate how to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone X/8/8 Plus with these two ways in below texts, choose the one fits your needs better. What's more, one more method is also provided at the beginning of this article to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone with a FREE iTunes alternative. Read on to get the details.

Method 1: How to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone X/8/8 Plus with free iTunes alternative

If you don't want the data syncing that will be caused while using iTunes to sync contacts from Mac to iPhone, you can use the completely free iTunes alternative, EaseUS MobiMover Free, to transfer contacts from Mac to your iPhone X, iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus. As an iTunes alternative, MobiMover can help you to transfer files from one iOS device (iPhone/iPad in iOS 8 or later) to another, from iOS device to computer (Mac or PC) and vice versa. Contacts, messages, photos, videos, audios, calendars, books, and more can all be transferred to or out of your iDevice. No matter you want to put music to iPhone without iTunes or back up iPhone text messages to computer, you can use MobiMover to get things done. Follow the steps below to have a try.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable and start EaseUS MobiMover. Unlock your iOS device and click "Trust". Then go to choose the "Mac to Phone" option > Click the "Select Files" to continue.

Step 2. Select the files you want to transfer and click "Open."

Step 3. Click "Transfer" to start transferring contacts from your Mac to your iPhone. (The contacts that are to be transferred will be saved as HTML files on your computer.)

Method 2: Transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone X/8/8 Plus with AirDrop

AirDrop is the pre-installed utility on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, which allows transferring data between two iOS devices wirelessly and quite convenient. However, AirDrop only enables you to transfer files one by one, if need to repeat the process patiently if you have multiple contacts to be synced.

Step 1: Turn on AirDrop on iPhone and Mac as well as Wi-Fi connection and Bluetooth.

Step 2: Open the "Contacts" app on your Mac and find the certain contact you want to sync to your iPhone 8/8 Plus/X.

Step 3: Go the right lower corner and find the "Share" button, click it and choose "AirDrop".

Step 4: Choose your iPhone device in the AirDrop available lists, and begin to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone in one-click. Next, go to your iPhone screen and tap "Accept" to receive the AirDropped contacts from Mac. 

More AirDrop transfer: How to transfer contacts from one iPhone to another with AirDrop

Method 3: Transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone X/8/8 Plus with iTunes

iTunes is not only the smart iOS Music manager but also a helpful tool to sync data between iPhone and Mac/PC. You can back up your iPhone with iTunes and restore back with a backup file.

Step 1: Open iTunes and update to the latest version.  

Step 2: Connect your iPhone 8/8 Plus/X to the Mac, and click the iPhone "Device" button within iTunes. If you have found the iPhone in iOS 11 can't connect to iTunes, fix it by your own by following the online detailed guide.

Step 3: Click "Info" and check "Sync Contacts". Finally, click "Apply" to transfer all backed up contacts from Mac to iPhone 8/8 Plus/X and wait for the process completion.