# Export your contacts

Every phone and address book can export your contacts as one .vcf file, and PrivacyNotes reads that file directly, photos included.

## Export from your iPhone

1. Open Contacts and tap "Lists" in the top-left corner.
2. Touch and hold "All Contacts", then choose Export.
3. Save the .vcf to Files, or AirDrop it to the device you import on.

## Export from your Mac or iCloud

1. In Contacts, select "All Contacts" and press Command-A.
2. Choose File > Export > Export vCard.
3. On [icloud.com/contacts](https://www.icloud.com/contacts), select all, then open the "..." menu and choose "Export vCard".

## Export from Android or Google Contacts

1. In the Google Contacts app, tap "Fix & manage" > "Export to file".
2. On [contacts.google.com](https://contacts.google.com), choose Export, then pick "vCard (for iOS Contacts)".
3. On a Samsung phone, open Contacts > Manage contacts > Import or export contacts > Export.

## Pick vCard, not CSV

Google offers two CSV formats next to vCard. The importer reads only .vcf files, so a CSV does not show up in the file picker. Export again and pick vCard.

## What comes across

Every card in the file comes across: names, phones, email addresses, postal addresses, birthdays and other dates, websites, social profiles and notes. Your own labels stay as you typed them, so "Mum's work line" stays "Mum's work line".

A photo inside the file comes across. A photo that is only a web link stays a link, and nothing is downloaded. [When the photos do not fit in your storage](https://privacynotes.app/help/storage-usage/), the contacts still import and the photos stay out.

## Import the same file again at any time

A second import skips the people you already have. It matches each card by its ID, then by name plus a shared phone number, then by a shared email address. Contacts you already saved are not changed, so your edits here stay safe.

## Import into PrivacyNotes

1. Open PrivacyNotes and go to Settings > Import & Export.
2. Pick **Contacts (vCard)** as the source.
3. Drop in the file you just exported, or click to browse.
4. Check what the preview says will arrive, then start the import.

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Source: https://privacynotes.app/help/import/contacts