How to export contacts on a Samsung Galaxy (to a file or the SIM)

By Saadat Rafiq · 2 min read · 3 steps · Published 7 October 2026

Device

Android

Shown on

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G (SM-A576B), One UI 8.5, Android 16

Real screenshots

2 of 3 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. Open Import or export contacts

   In the Contacts app, tap the menu (three lines), then Manage contacts, then Import or export contacts, then Export.

   Done

2. 

   Check what will be exported

   From shows the source. Ours had All contacts selected, with the number of contacts under it.

   Done

3. 

   Choose where to save them

   Under To, pick Internal storage to save a file on the phone, or SIM 1 to copy them to the SIM card. Then tap Export.

   Done

About this guide

Exporting makes a copy of your contacts that you can keep, move to a computer or load on another phone. It does not remove anything from the phone. The first time you open Contacts it may ask whether it can send you notifications; either answer works for this.

The screenshots are from a Samsung Galaxy A57 5G with One UI 8.5 and Android 16, in Dark mode. Other Galaxy phones on One UI 8 use the same menus; on older One UI versions a few names and positions differ. We stopped before the final Export, so we did not create a file.

Good to know

To have your contacts on every phone without files, keep them in your Google account instead: how to move phone contacts to your Google account.

To load the file on another phone, use the same page and tap Import instead of Export.

In short: Contacts, Menu, Manage contacts, Import or export contacts, Export. From: All contacts. To: Internal storage or SIM. Export.