How to Save Contacts to SIM Card

Storing contacts on a SIM card is a bit of an old practice. This is primarily due to the limitations of the SIM card storage since a lot of space is taken by the carrier data. With any luck, only one number per contact, no pictures, and short names, you’ll be lucky to save about 200 entries. However, it’s a lifesaver if you put a SIM card in another phone (also known as changing a SIM card or SIM swapping) and don’t have Internet access. Otherwise, you could store an unlimited number of contacts on your Google account and re-download them. Since you obviously can’t, let’s teach you how to save contacts to SIM card.

Steps required to save contacts to SIM Card on Android

Android 4.1 – 4.3.1 (Jelly Bean)

1. Tap on Contacts on your home screen.
   Alternatively, tap Apps, then Contacts.
2. Tap the physical menu button (commonly the bottom left button)
3. From the list of options, tap Import/Export.
4. Select Export to SIM card.
5. Select some or all contacts, and confirm.

Android 4.4 – 6.01 (Kit Kat-Marshmallow)

1. Tap on Apps, then on Contacts.
2. Tap on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Contacts.
5. Tap on Import/export contacts.
6. Select Export to SIM card.
7. If this isn’t available, try tapping on Export to device storage, and see if SIM card is an option next to Device and Google.

You can also try this:

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
2. Select Move device contacts to.
3. Tap on Move to SIM card if available.

Android 7.0, 8.0+ (Nougat, Oreo)

1. Tap on Contacts.
2. Tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
3. In the drop-down list, select Settings.
4. Tap on Import/export contacts.
5. Tap on the Export button in the lower portion of the screen.
6. In the pop-up window, select SIM card.
7. Select contacts you want to move to the SIM card by tapping the circle in front of them.
8. Tap on Done.

Android 9.0 (Pie)

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap on three lines in the upper left corner.
3. Select Manage contacts.
4. Select Import/export contacts.
5. Tap on the Export button.
6. You will see the number of contacts in the circle on the left.
7. Tap on To in the circle on the right if you cannot select the SIM card option below.
8. Select contacts you want to transfer to a SIM card.
9. Tap Export to confirm.

Android 10.0 (Q)

On the majority of phones, the steps are identical to Android 9.0, only there’s a pop-up window between steps 8 and 9 where you have to tap on OK. Some phones using Android 10, such as certain Xiaomi phones, don’t have this option at all. You can only export contacts as .vcf to your device storage. The steps might also be slightly different, so try this on your phone.

1. Open Contacts.
2. Tap on the three lines in the top left corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. Scroll down and tap on Export under Manage contacts.
5. Check if you can export contacts to SIM.

Alternative: Use a third-party application

If you can’t find your way around Android or if the option doesn’t exist, install a third-party application for contact saving on Android. Here are a few popular examples: Copy to SIM Card, SIM Contacts, and Contact2Sim.

Instructions to save contacts to SIM card on iOS

We’ll disappoint you right away – there are none. Apple doesn’t allow this, and it goes against the way they imagined their ecosystem. However, you can store contacts on iCloud or sync them to your Apple computer. Afterward, just download them as you would from a Google account with Android. You can also import contacts from a SIM card you inserted. For full transparency, there’s a possibility if you are desperate, and that is to jailbreak your iOS device. In our opinion, it doesn’t make sense to take such a high risk for a task like this one.