How to Transfer Contacts to a New TracFone
By Shea Laverty
Updated August 30, 2017
Switching from your old phone to a new TracFone can be both a pleasure and a grind -- pleasurable because you're switching to a contract-free carrier and have a brand-spanking-new phone, a grind because that means you have to transfer all of your contacts. With some phones, this requires the most dreaded of methods: manual entry, wherein you have to add each new contact and all information one at a time. Thankfully, most phones have an alternate method of contact transfer that won't make you cringe.
Android Phones (with Gmail)
Launch the Contacts app on your old phone and tap the "Options" button or icon, depending on your phone's make and model.
Tap "Import/Export" and select to export to a CSV or VCF file.
Select to export the file to USB storage or an SD card.
Connect your old phone to your computer via its USB cable.
Open a Web browser, navigate to Gmail and log in to your Gmail account.
Click the arrow under "Gmail," select "Contacts," and then click "Import Contacts."
Click "Browse" and navigate to the CSV file. Select the file and click "Import."
Turn on your new phone and add your Google account during the phone's setup. Your Gmail contacts automatically sync to your phone, including those you've imported via the CSV file.
Android Phones (With USB)
Launch the Contacts app on your old phone and tap the "Options" button or icon.
Tap "Import/Export" and select to export to a CSV or VCF file.
Select to export the file to USB storage or an SD card.
Connect your old phone to your computer via the manufacturer-supplied USB cable.
Copy the CSV or VCF file from the phone's internal storage or the SD card to an easy-to-find location on your computer, like the desktop.
Turn on the new phone and run through the setup process by following all on-screen instructions.
Disconnect the old phone from the computer and connect the new one.
Copy and paste the file onto the new phone's internal storage or the SD card.
Launch the Contacts app and tap the "Options" button or icon.
Tap "Import/Export" and select to import contacts.
Select to import from the phone's storage or the SD card. The phone imports the contacts file and adds the contacts to your list.
Bluetooth Phones
Switch Bluetooth to "On" on the original phone.
Switch Bluetooth on for the second phone, and also set the phone to "Visible" or "Discoverable" mode.
Select "Add New" or "Search" on the first phone so that it will attempt to discover the second phone.
Select the second phone's name from the list of devices presented on the first phone, and enter a passkey if prompted. In most cases the passkey is set to "0000" by default. When the second phone prompts you to accept pairing, choose to do so.
Open the "Contacts" menu on the first phone and choose to send contacts via Bluetooth. Depending on your phone, you may be able to transfer all contacts at once or be forced to send them one at a time.
Select the contacts to send and confirm you want to send these contacts when prompted.
Select the second phone from the Bluetooth device list when it appears.
Choose to accept all sent contacts on the second phone and save them.
Tips
The exact steps for activating Bluetooth and performing tasks like pairing devices or sending contacts varies from one make and model to the next. As such, the instructions provided in the Bluetooth section are generalized. For specific instructions for your phones, consult the user guides for each phone.
If your phone uses a SIM card, it may be possible to just transfer the card. It contains basic contact information like short names and numbers, although more detailed information like email and long names are not stored on this card.
Warnings
If none of the methods listed work for you, one or both of your phones may not support transferring contacts. In that case, you've little choice but to dedicate some time to manually inputting the contact information into the new phone, using the old one as a reference. You can make the process a bit easier by asking your friends to send you text messages so you only have to add their names to the incoming phone numbers.
References
Tips
- The exact steps for activating Bluetooth and performing tasks like pairing devices or sending contacts varies from one make and model to the next. As such, the instructions provided in the Bluetooth section are generalized. For specific instructions for your phones, consult the user guides for each phone.
- If your phone uses a SIM card, it may be possible to just transfer the card. It contains basic contact information like short names and numbers, although more detailed information like email and long names are not stored on this card.
Warnings
- If none of the methods listed work for you, one or both of your phones may not support transferring contacts. In that case, you've little choice but to dedicate some time to manually inputting the contact information into the new phone, using the old one as a reference.