trnsfer

Hello
I transferred my contacts but they are without phone numbers.
I have a Gmail account, an Outlook.com one, and a Comcast account. I have the three in both my phone and pc. How can I get them into my phone accurately.
Should I delete the accounts and start over?
The pc is Word and the phone is android.
I think some synch button caused the faulty transfer.
Should I use a cable or not?
Thank you
Peter

 

I have 3 accounts in my pc; outlook.com, Comcast, Gmail.

I want to transfer contacts to my android phone from my Windows pc.

There are no duplicates. I did not know if I should export to the desktop from the pc and then import from the desktop with the phone or, if there was a program that facilitated this procedure.
I am new to Android.
I have the contacts but they have only email addresses and few phone numbers.

 

I switched from an iPhone to an Android last year. What I did to get my contacts to sync over is export them to a .csv file and import that file to my Gmail account. When I set up the new Android phone I used the gmail account I imported the contacts to on the new phone and they all synced over without a hiccup.

 

I should have done that as I know better. I did synch my contacts and for the most part they are ok. I have to fill in some errant phone numbers.
Thanks

 

Android pulls in Contacts and syncs them based on 'Accounts' - which are simply "email address accounts". The GMAIL address that you use (or create) when you first add it to your Android phone is essentially your identity and who your user is on your phone. Before you begin you may want to backup your entire phone - not necessary but your call.

Now depending on your phone and version of Android these steps may vary just slightly but the end action is the same. You'll want to go to Settings > Accounts > *and delete all of your email profiles *except GMAIL* (Comcast, Exchange, POP, IMAP, etc). If prompted that deleting the profile will delete contacts proceed with YES/OK.

Now hop on your desktop machine and log into your other email accounts and/or Outlook - you'll want to do this step for each email address that contains your contacts. Once in your email client you'll want to "Export contacts as a .CSV file", the process differs for each provider but you can follow the how-to guide here:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12118

Once the contacts are all exported you should have several *.CSV files (one from each source). The next step is to combine them into a single file paying close attention to how the "headers" are labeled for each column of fields. (ex: These will be fields A1, B1, C1, etc. and labeled such as FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, ADDRESS, etc.). These will vary per email provider and the end goal is to organize them in the format that GMAIL reads and parses from. You may want to export your GMAIL contacts as well and use that .CSV file as your "master list" adding the others to it. Once you are done and you dedupe and sort your contacts with data under the correct headers you can Import the master list .CSV into GMAIL. Follow the steps in the how-to guide here:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14024

Now your contacts will all be in one location and you can go back onto your Android phone to check. Go to Settings > Accounts > Google > and you should see your GMAIL account there, make sure all checkboxes are checked as you prefer and then hit MENU > Sync Now. Your contacts will be synced and added to your phone.

 

It was very nice of you to explain how to perform this task. I do have my contacts and accounts squared away now. I did create the .csv file to mention and realized once it is created and this being Android the synching of the accounts was not that difficult.
I notice at times that some contacts have Outlook, Skype and other designations next to them and I have to be careful what I delete.
I have made note of your explicit directions for my Samsung Galaxy S5 and will put them to work if I need to.
My phone is backed up. How does that help me, just in case. In other words if backed up, how do I retrieve?
I am on old Windows person used to imaging to external drives with Acronis and Macrium.
Thanks again.

 

The backup that you're referring to is presumably the checkbox to 'Backup & Reset' your data within the Settings menu. Most use this along with 'automatically backing up photos' within Google+. This will restore your email accounts, settings, WiFi passwords, apps, etc. should you ever wipe and reset your phone or purchase your next Android device.

A better (more robust) backup method is to use a 3rd party app - "My Backup" is one of the best that I've tested. Using those apps there is a restore option.

A true full backup is called a "nandroid" which basically takes a disk image of each partition, both system and userspace partitions. This is accessed through 'recovery' which is loaded before the OS boots up. Its sort of like dropping into a command prompt during the POST process. I grew up on Windows 3.1x so I too had a major learning curve several years back when I started learning Linux filesystems. This is a topic in and of itself and XDA is a pretty good other forum catering to mostly mobile devices.

 

As an educated Windows user re: imaging etc. as opposed to packet back ups, and as an amateur phone user, which back up would you suggest I use in case I need to recover contacts etc.? I may change later but something for now until I learn more. I am not even sure to recover with the simple phone backup.
Yes I did check back up within the phone's settings. I have the Samsung galaxy S5 with Verizon.
Thank you

 

If you're what I call a "normal user" then most of the things you would want to have backed up are already being backed up. Such as your Contacts are not actually stored on your device, they're being constantly imported and synced to your GMail account (+maybe more accounts). So when you enter a new contact's name & phone# you'll see within a minute or so it's available on your phone and on your GMail account through a PC. Therefore all you would need to do say if you 'factory reset your device' is to enter your GMail address during the setup screens and your Contacts would all be there again.

As for anything else it depends what you do on your phone that you want backed up. Obviously things like your browser "bookmarks" are already synced in a similar fashion through Chrome app.

If you use any Word docs or Excel spreadsheets then I would utilize the Google Drive app to constantly keep these files in sync.

Lastly, if you want your Photos, Videos and Screenshots backed up then you can turn that ON through the Google+ Photos app:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch the "menu" button or icon and select "Settings".
3. Touch "Auto Backup" and switch the toggle "On" or "Off".

That should take care of the basics.

 

It sounds like My back Up is the closest feature to imaging with the pc. I will look in to it.
As with the pc, practice makes perfect but tips from people like you are very important; I keep them all in a Galaxy folder, and thank you.