Learn what to do if contacts are saved in your physical SIM card and you want to have them on your iPhone.
If you have a SIM card containing contacts that you want to transfer to your iPhone, this is easy and only takes a few seconds.
First, make sure that the SIM card you have will fit into your iPhone. To find out which size SIM card you can use with your iPhone, check out Apple’s support page.
Now, if you know the card fits, here’s how to import the contacts from that SIM card to your iPhone.
Note:
- iPhone 14 and later models sold in the United States don’t have a physical SIM card slot.
- iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max purchased in the United States, United States Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Guam, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman are e-SIM only.
- iPhone Air is e-SIM only in all countries, including China.
Import contacts saved to the SIM card to your iPhone
- Insert the physical SIM card inside your iPhone.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Apps.
- Select Contacts from the list of installed applications.
- Tap Import SIM Contacts.
- Select the account (iCloud, Gmail, etc.) you want to import those contacts to if you have more than one on your device.
It shouldn’t take long for the process to complete. And when it’s done, you can open the Contacts app to check that you see the imported contacts. If your physical SIM doesn’t have any contacts, nothing will happen after you tap Import SIM Contacts.
And if you have an Android phone that you want to import the contacts from, check out our helpful tutorial: How to transfer contacts from Android to iPhone.
Note: In case you’re wondering, you can’t import physical SIM card contacts to your cellular iPad.
For more help with your SIM card: