How to Sync Contacts from Mac to iPhone: 4 Quick Methods

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Peter William
August 16, 2022 Preview 16.7K Preview 2
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Many users are looking for solutions on how to sync contacts from Mac to iPhone. Actually, it is not difficult to do this since there are several options you can choose. 

In this article, we’ll show you four easy and quick ways to sync Mac contacts to iPhone. You can select one that suits you best and follow the instructions to transfer Mac contacts to your iPhone.

 

How to Sync Contacts from Mac to iPhone Using iCloud

Generally speaking, the most frequently used method to sync Mac contacts to iPhone is to use iCloud, a cloud storage service from Apple. It is built in every Apple device like Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iMac. Users can store data such as contacts, documents, photos in iCloud. When you enable iCloud syncing on your device, you can access to the data easily through multiple Apple devices as long as you are using the same iCloud account.

The best part of iCloud is that it can keep your contacts data updated between your iPhone and Mac. That is to say, when you add, delete, or edit contacts on Mac, the contacts on your iPhone will change accordingly. 

Steps on how to sync contacts from Mac to iPhone with iCloud

  1. On your Mac, click the Apple icon at the upper-left corner.
  2. Go to System Preferences.
  3. Select iCloud and sign in using your iCloud account.
  4. Tick the box next to Contacts.

check icloud contacts

  1. On your iPhone, tap Settings > your name > iCloud > enable Contacts.

sync iphone contacts with icloud

It will take a while for Mac contacts to sync with iPhone. Then, go to Contacts app on your iPhone and check whether the Mac contacts are transferred to your iPhone.

Tough problems you may come across when using iCloud to sync mac contacts to iPhone

It is easy to complete the above steps. However, you will run into several tough problems when you sync contacts from Mac to iPhone via iCloud.

  1. Mac contacts not syncing with iPhone

Some Mac users say that when they turn on iCloud syncing on mac and iPhone, it doesn’t work at all. There are many reasons causing this phenomenon. For example, wrong steps to sync Mac contacts with iPhone, iCloud is running out of the storage, iPhone system is not the latest version, signing in using different Apple ID and other uncommon problems.

  1. A messy contacts list on Mac and iPhone

When you use iCloud to sync Mac contacts with iPhone, your iPhone contacts will be exported to your Mac. Your Mac contacts would be in a big mess. For people who want to keep a tidy and organized contacts list, it is unbearable.

  1. Duplicate contacts emerge

After you sync Mac contacts to iPhone via iCloud, it is very likely that there are many duplicate contacts on your Mac and iPhone. About 95% of Apple users report that duplicate contacts appear in their contacts list. The worst part is that iCloud doesn’t provide a direct way to remove these duplicates.

The Best Way: How to Sync Mac Contacts to iPhone with Cisdem ContactsMate

Using iCloud to sync Mac contacts to iPhone may cause several problems above. Is there any other better ways to do this? Of course yes!

Here, I’d like to introduce the best way to sync Mac contacts to iPhone, which works perfectly. This approach requires an outstanding application, Cisdem ContactsMate. It is a professional contacts management tool. This tool allows you to sync multiple or all Mac contacts to iPhone easily and quickly. Below are instructions on how to sync Mac contacts to iPhone quickly with ContactsMate.

Easy steps on how to sync contacts from mac to iPhone with ContactsMate

  1. Download and launch Cisdem ContactsMate.

Free Download

The first time you open it, Click OK to permit this app to access your contacts on Mac.

contactsmate allow

  1. Click Add Account in the toolbar, select iCloud and sign in.

launch cisdem contactsmate

  1. Check the box next to Contacts.

check icloud contacts

  1. Click the button next to the Updated contacts detected message.

There should be a group named iCloud and all your contacts from iCloud will be listed in the middle.

relaunch contactsmate

  1. Select Mac contacts and drag them to group iCloud.

To sync contacts from Mac to iPhone, now select all or multiple Mac contacts, drag and drop them directly to the Group iCloud.

  1. Enable Contacts on iPhone to sync iPhone contacts with iCloud.

Now, when you turn on iCloud Contacts, your contacts from Mac are synced to iPhone successfully.

turn on iphone contacts

Pro Tip: delete/merge duplicate contacts with 1 click

After Mac contacts are transferred to iPhone, there might be duplicate contacts on iPhone. You can get rid of the duplicates easily with ContactsMate’s built-in feature. 

Click Scan in the toolbar, the scanning results will be listed immediately as following picture shows. Find Exact duplicate contacts in the left panel, and click Delete duplicate contacts under Solution. Click Fix All in the lower-right corner, then, all duplicate contacts from iPhone are removed.

How to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone with iTunes

Both two methods above require an iCloud account. If you don’t use iCloud, there are other convenient methods for you. For users who are looking for how to sync contacts from Mac to iPhone without iCloud, iTunes is a good choice. Developed by Apple company, iTunes offers an easy way to sync various Mac contents to iPhone, including contacts, Calendars, music, movies, etc.

However, transferring Mac contacts to iPhone with iTunes may result in unexpected problems. So, before choosing to use iTunes to sync Mac contacts to iPhone, you’d better know clearly about the two potential issues as follow:

  • When you sync Mac contacts to iPhone via iTunes, previous contacts from Mac will be replaced with iPhone contacts. It is advisable to backup Mac contacts before that.
  • iTunes only syncs phone numbers of Mac contacts, but not with the photos, emails, addresses of contacts.

Instructions on how to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone with iTunes

  1. Connect your iPhone with Mac using a USB cable.
  2. Launch the latest version of iTunes and find your iPhone in the left side.
  3. Click Info and check the box next to Sync contacts onto iPhone.
  4. In Sync section choose All contacts or selected contacts.
  5. Click Sync at the lower-right corner to apply your operation.
    sync mac contacts to iphone with itunes

Pro Tip: Turn on auto syncing between your Mac and iPhone

You can turn on the auto sync option. Next time once you connecting your iPhone with Mac using USB, it’ll sync contacts automatically. To do that, click General in step 3 above. Select “Automatically sync when the iPhone is connected” option. Then click on Apply.

How to AirDrop a few Mac contacts to iPhone

If there are few contacts on your Mac, AirDrop is a reliable choice to sync mac contacts to iPhone. This method only applies to a handful contacts from Mac. If you have a great deal of contacts, it will be time-consuming and tedious by using AirDrop. It should be noted that it requires a good Wi-Fi condition. 

Steps on how to sync a few Mac contacts to iPhone via AirDrop 

  1. Open the Finder on your Mac.
  2. Go to AirDrop in the left side and turn on Wi-Fi.
    sync mac contacts with iphone via airdrop
  3. Open Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your iPhone.
  4. Go to Setting app on iPhone >General. Allow Contacts Only or Everyone to Airdrop you.
  5. Open Contacts app on your Mac and select one contact that you wish to transfer.
  6. Click AirDrop this contact card to your iPhone in the AirDrop list.
  7. Go to your iPhone screen to receive the contact card.

Why Mac contacts not sync to my iPhone?

  • Make sure you have sign in the same Apple ID on iPhone and Mac.
  • Check that you have turn the Contacts toggle on in your iCloud settings.
  • Free up your iCloud storage if it’s full. Otherwise you can’t sync anything.
  • Ensure your iPhone and Mac are connected to the Internet.
  • Sign out then sign in your iCloud account.
  • Restart your iPhone.

Final Words

Four effective methods on how to sync contacts from mac to iPhone are offered. You can freely choose one that suits you best according to your needs. However, based on the feedback of users, using Cisdem ContactsMate is the ultimate best solution to sync Mac contacts to iPhone. Unlike other three methods, it can be used to export multiple or all Mac contacts to iPhone at a time. Besides, it scans and delete duplicate contacts intelligently. In a word, it is worth a try. Download this outstanding tool now to sync Mac contacts to your iPhone.

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Peter William
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Peter has always had great enthusiasm for writing, programming and web development. He likes writing about software and technology, his works are featured on some tech blogs or forums like Tom's Hardware, CNET, etc.

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Comments (2) Leave a Reply

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  • Ziv

    Rosa, the ways you introduced in this article are very useful to transfer contacts from Mac to iPhone.

    8 years ago commonReply

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  • rrsf32

    Thanks Rosa! Awesome info! I've browsered several articles from you. Really good tips to Mac users.

    8 years ago commonReply

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