How to export contacts from an iPhone (iOS 27)

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-export-contacts-from-an-iphone/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

6 of 6 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Contacts

Path

Contacts › Lists › All Contacts › Export

Real screenshots

6 of 6 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Go to Lists

   Open Contacts and tap the back arrow at the top left.

   Done

2. 

   Touch and hold All Contacts

   Ours had All Contacts and All iCloud, each with 1.

   Done

3. 

   Tap Export

   Export is under Email All and Message All.

   Done

4. 

   Pick the fields and tap the tick

   The page is called Share Contact. Untick anything you do not want to share, or tap Deselect All Fields. Ours had First name and Last name.

   Done

5. 

   Send it or tap Save to Files

   The sheet shows the contact card, Test One, Contact Card. Pick AirDrop, Messages or Mail, or Save to Files in the second row.

   Done

6. 

   Tap Save

   Pick a folder (ours was On My iPhone, still empty) and tap Save. The Save as line showed the file would be called Test One, after the contact.

   Done

If you do not see this option

• No Lists page, only the contacts? Tap the back arrow at the top left of Contacts. Ours showed Lists with All Contacts and, under iCloud, All iCloud. Source: Export contacts on iPhone
• No Export when you touch and hold? Apple says to touch and hold a list, not a single contact. Ours showed Email All, Message All and Export. Source: Export contacts on iPhone
• Only some contacts? Apple says to tap Add List to make a new list, then touch and hold that list and tap Export. Source: Export contacts on iPhone

If this does not work

• Save to Files is missing from the sheet? On ours it was in the second row, next to New Quick Note. Pick Mail or Messages instead to send the file to yourself.
• Some details missing from the file? Check the Share Contact page: only the ticked fields go into the file. Source: Export contacts on iPhone

About this guide

Exporting makes a .vcf file you can keep as a backup or open on another phone or computer.

The screenshots are from our iPhone 17e with iOS 27.0.1, in Dark mode. We exported one test contact and deleted it afterwards.

Good to know

To bring the file back in, see how to import contacts from a .vcf file on an iPhone.

In short: Contacts, Lists, hold All Contacts, Export, tick, Save to Files.