How to Transfer Data From Android to iPhone, Step by Step

Bought a new iPhone and still have years of photos, chats and contacts sitting on an Android phone? This guide shows how to transfer data from Android to iPhone using Apple's own tools, plus the manual route for anything that does not come across. Plan on about 15 minutes of setup, then anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour of waiting, depending on how many photos and videos you have.

The single most important thing to know up front: Apple's transfer runs during iPhone setup. If you have already finished setting up the iPhone, you either erase it and start again, or move things over by hand. Both paths are covered below.

Before you start the Android to iPhone move

A few minutes of prep saves a stalled transfer later. Apple's Move from Android to iPhone guide lists these requirements:

• Wi-Fi on. Turn on Wi-Fi on the Android phone, even though the two phones talk to each other directly.
• Both phones on power. Plug the new iPhone and the Android phone into chargers for the whole transfer.
• A USB-C cable (optional). Apple says connecting the phones directly with a USB-C cable gives a faster transfer than Wi-Fi.
• Enough storage. Everything you send, including what is on a microSD card, has to fit on the iPhone. Check your Android storage use first.
• An updated Chrome. If you want your Chrome bookmarks, update Chrome on the Android phone to the latest version.
• The Move to iOS app. Install Move to iOS from Google Play. It is free and published by Apple.

If you plan to move your phone number at the same time, have your carrier account login handy. Apple notes that eSIM activation can send you to your carrier's website partway through.

Start setup on the new iPhone

1. Turn on the iPhone and follow the onscreen prompts until you reach the Quick Start screen.
2. Tap Set Up Without Another Apple Device.
3. Keep going until you see Transfer Your Apps & Data, then tap From Android.
4. Tap Transfer with App.
5. On the Move from Android screen, tap Continue and wait for a six-digit or ten-digit code to appear.

Connect the Android phone with Move to iOS

1. Open Move to iOS on the Android phone and tap Continue.
2. Read the terms and tap Agree.
3. Choose Automatically Send or Don't Send for app usage data. Either choice is fine.
4. Tap Continue and allow Location access if asked. The app needs it to set up the Wi-Fi link between the phones.
5. Tap Continue again and allow notifications if asked.
6. Type in the code shown on the iPhone.
7. The iPhone creates a temporary Wi-Fi network. When the Android phone asks to join it, tap Connect. If you used a cable, you may be asked to change the phone's USB settings first.

Wait for the Transfer Data screen to appear on the Android phone.

Choose what moves and let it finish

1. On the Android phone, pick the content you want: contacts, messages, call history, photos, audio files and so on.
2. Tap Continue.
3. Put both phones down next to each other and leave them alone until the loading bar on the iPhone completes. Even if Android says it is done, the iPhone may still be working.
4. Tap Done on the Android phone, then Continue on the iPhone and finish setup.

According to Apple, this moves contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, photo albums, files and folders, accessibility and display settings, web bookmarks, mail accounts, WhatsApp messages and media, voice memos, call history and calendars. Free apps that exist on both Google Play and the App Store may also come across. Everything else you redownload from the App Store.

The newer option without the app

Apple's support page now describes a route that skips Move to iOS. It needs an Android phone running a compatible version of Android 17 or later, and Apple says to check with your phone maker about support.

1. On the iPhone, tap From Android, then Transfer without App.
2. Place the Android phone next to the iPhone and tap Continue.
3. Scan the QR code on the iPhone with the Android phone's camera.
4. Select the data to move, and tap Continue on the iPhone when it finishes.

If the QR code will not scan, tap Other Options on the iPhone. Then on the Android phone go to Settings > Google Services > All Services > Pair with iPhone or iPad > Copy Data and enter the session ID and pairing code. To move an eSIM this way, select your number on the Android phone and tap Transfer.

Already set up your iPhone? Two ways forward

This is the question people ask most after the fact. Move to iOS only works during setup, so you have two choices.

Erase and start over. If the iPhone is new and holds nothing you need, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings, then run the steps above. Back up anything you added first.

Move things by hand. Apple's manual transfer guide covers each type of content:

• Mail, contacts and calendars. Sign in to the same Google, Exchange or Yahoo account on the iPhone and turn on contacts and calendars for it.
• Photos and videos. Copy them from the Android phone's DCIM folder to a computer, then sync them to the iPhone with Finder or Photos on a Mac or the Apple Devices app on Windows. Signing in to Google Photos on the iPhone is another option if your library is already backed up there.
• Music. Streaming services carry over once you sign in to their iPhone app. Your own music files sync from a computer.
• Books and PDFs. Move these through the Books app on a Mac or the Apple Devices app on a PC. Apple notes these never transfer through Move to iOS anyway.
• Documents. Files in cloud storage appear when you install that service's app. Pages, Numbers and Keynote open most Office files.
• Apps. Download them from the App Store. For data inside third party apps, check the app's own backup or contact its developer.

If you are coming from an older iPhone instead, our guide on setting up a new iPhone from an old one covers Quick Start.

When the transfer stalls or fails

Most failures come from the phones being interrupted or from Wi-Fi interference. Apple suggests working through these in order:

1. Keep Move to iOS on screen. Opening another app or taking a call on the Android phone stops the transfer.
2. Turn off Wi-Fi helpers on Android. Features such as Smart Network Switch can pull the phone off the temporary network. Also open Wi-Fi settings, touch and hold each saved network and forget it.
3. Turn off cellular data on the Android phone during the transfer.
4. Restart both phones and try again.
5. Try a cable. Some Play Store reviewers say a USB-C cable worked after Wi-Fi attempts kept failing, which matches Apple's advice that a wired link is faster.
6. Check storage. If the iPhone ran out of space, erase it, free up room on the Android side, and run the transfer again.

If no code ever appears on the iPhone, Apple has a separate help article for that, linked from its main guide.

A final check before you wipe the Android phone

Once the iPhone is running, open Photos, Messages and Contacts and spot check a few older items. Look for a photo from a few years back, an old text thread and a contact you rarely use. Only after that should you factory reset the Android phone or trade it in. If you are still deciding which phone to keep long term, our iPhone vs Android comparison and the guide on how to choose a smartphone may help, and you can browse more phone guides in Gadgets.