How to copy your OSX contacts to any phone.

alcatel

 

I just purchased this Alcatel phone. It’s a bit of a dud, I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you do end up with one, here’s how  to copy  contacts across from the OSX address book. I assume this will work on any mobile phone.

1. Pair the phone to your computer.

pair the phone

– Turn on bluetooth on the phone. (On the Alcatel there was a bluetooth icon to click and select, ‘Activation:On’)

– Make sure the phone is bluetooth discoverable. (On the alcatel there was an option called ‘Visibility:On’

– On OSX, Under System Preferences, Bluetooth, Turn Bluetooth on and the phone should appear in the menu. (e.g. ‘Onetouch 2005X’)  Click ‘pair’.

2. Copy the contacts across.

– Open Address Book (Contacts) and click on the name of any contact and drag them onto the desktop. It will create a .vcf file.

vcf

– In the Bluetooth control panel, double click on the name of your phone, it will open a window where you can select the .vcf file you just made. Drag the vcf file into the window and select ‘send’.

send

You will need to then verify and click ‘receive file’ on the phone.

– On my Alcatel phone I had to then navigate to ‘My Files’, ‘Phone’, ‘Recieved’, ‘vcf’, select it, and then select ‘Set As’, ‘Contact’.

Transfered!

Photo and all contact details.

Yes it’s a lot of work to transfer one contact – glad I’ve got an iPhone!

 

 

 

 

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Comments

5 responses to “How to copy your OSX contacts to any phone.”

  1. Thanks for the tip! Furthermore, if you create a .vcf file for each contact you want to transfer to the phone, and put the .vcf files into a dedicated folder, you can select all of the .vcf’s and send them together using one ‘send’ command. Really speeds up this process.

    1. Good tip Glen thank you.

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  3. Mike

    Thanks for posting. I little tip I found on my Mac Book. Open contacts – Select “All iCloud” on the left (or whatever other FULL folder you want) – File > Export > Export vCard – Save on your desktop. Then follow the instructions above to add that file to the bluetooth transfer to the basic phone. Find that file per the instructions above in the basic phone and open. It transferred all 707 of my contacts at once.

    I have an iPhoneX but needed to get a Kyocera DuraXV (NO CAMERA) specifically for overseas work assignments where photographic devices are prohibited. Hilarious getting back into an “ancient” flip phone again.

  4. Sally

    Thank you so much for this. After grappling with Smart Switch when I only wanted selected contacts on the phone, wonderful to be able to use Bluetooth and let the phone read my selected list as a vcard.

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