How to Transfer Data From Android to iPhone (Photos, WhatsApp, Contacts)

Here is how to transfer data from Android to iPhone without losing your photos, WhatsApp chats or contacts. The easiest way is Apple’s free Move to iOS app, which copies most of your phone in one go while you set up the new iPhone. This guide walks through every step, shows what moves and what doesn’t, explains how to bring over WhatsApp and Google Photos, and covers the fixes for a transfer that stalls or fails. Every step comes from Apple’s, WhatsApp’s and Google’s own help pages.

Quick answer: Install Move to iOS from Google Play on your Android phone. Turn on the new iPhone, choose Set Up Without Another Apple Device, then on Transfer Your Apps & Data tap From Android and Transfer with App. Type the code the iPhone shows into Move to iOS, pick what to copy (contacts, messages, photos, WhatsApp and more) and leave both phones plugged in and untouched until the bar on the iPhone finishes. Already set up the iPhone? Either erase it and start again, or move things by hand with your Google account and Google Photos.

Which method should you use?

There are several ways to move your stuff. Pick by where you are in the setup and what you need to bring over.

Many people combine them: Move to iOS for the bulk of the phone, Google sync so contacts and calendar stay in step, and Google Photos if they want to keep their photo library where it already is.

Before you start: a 5-minute checklist

• Charge and plug in both phones. Apple asks you to keep both on power for the whole transfer.
• Turn on Wi-Fi on the Android phone. The iPhone creates its own temporary Wi-Fi network that the Android phone joins.
• Have a USB-C cable handy. Apple says connecting the two phones with a cable makes the transfer faster, and Google calls the cable more reliable than Wi-Fi.
• Check storage. Make sure everything on the Android phone, including anything on a microSD card, fits on the new iPhone.
• Update Chrome on Android if you want your Chrome bookmarks to come across.
• Update WhatsApp to the latest version on Android if you want your chats.
• Save your passwords. Passwords aren’t on Apple’s list of things that transfer. If they live in Chrome, see our guide on how to export passwords from Chrome, or keep using a password manager that works on both phones.

How to transfer data from Android to iPhone with Move to iOS

This is Apple’s own method, from its Move from Android to iPhone or iPad (external site) help page. It only works during setup, so do it before you start using the new iPhone.

1. Start setting up the iPhone. Turn it on, place it next to the Android phone and follow the setup screens. On the Quick Start screen, tap Set Up Without Another Apple Device. You may be asked to activate an eSIM at this point.
2. Choose From Android. On the Transfer Your Apps & Data screen, tap From Android, then Transfer with App.
3. Open Move to iOS on Android. If it isn’t installed yet, tap the QR code button on the iPhone and scan the code with the Android camera to open the app in Google Play.
4. Accept the terms. In Move to iOS, tap Continue, read the terms and tap Agree. Choose whether to send app data to Apple, then allow Location and Notification permissions if asked. If you use a cable and see a USB pop-up, adjust the USB settings on Android before you continue.
5. Get the code. On the iPhone, tap Continue on the Move from Android screen and wait for a six-digit or ten-digit code. A weak-connection alert on the Android phone can be ignored.
6. Enter the code in Move to iOS on the Android phone.
7. Join the iPhone’s Wi-Fi. When asked, tap Connect on Android to join the iPhone’s temporary network, then wait for the Transfer Data screen.
8. Pick what to move. Tick the content you want, such as contacts, messages, photos, call history and WhatsApp, then tap Continue.
9. Wait for the iPhone, not the Android. Even if the Android phone says it is done, leave both phones alone until the loading bar on the iPhone finishes. Large photo libraries take a while.
10. Finish up. Tap Done on Android, then tap Continue on the iPhone and finish the setup screens.
11. Check your content and download the rest of your apps from the App Store.

Apple’s page also describes a newer option, Transfer without App, for supported phones running Android 17 or later. You scan a QR code on the iPhone with the Android camera instead of using Move to iOS. Ask your phone maker whether your model supports it; if it doesn’t, use the app as above.

What moves and what doesn’t

Apple lists exactly what Move to iOS carries over. Anything in the right-hand column needs one of the manual methods further down.

For paid Android apps, check the App Store: the iPhone version is a separate download, and you may need to buy it again. Subscriptions you pay for through Google Play don’t move to Apple either, so decide which ones to keep before you retire the Android phone. On the iPhone side, our guide to cancelling subscriptions on iPhone helps you keep track of what you sign up for next.

How to transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone (chats and media)

WhatsApp chats move inside the same Move to iOS transfer, but WhatsApp has its own rules. From WhatsApp’s help page How to move chats from an Android device to an iPhone (external site):

• Android 5 or later on the old phone and iOS 15.5 or later on the iPhone.
• The iPhone must be new or reset to factory settings.
• Use the same phone number on the iPhone.
• Both phones plugged in and on the same Wi-Fi network (or the Android phone connected to the iPhone’s hotspot).
• WhatsApp Business chats can’t currently be moved from Android to iPhone.

Steps:

1. Start Move to iOS as above and enter the code from the iPhone.
2. On the Transfer Data screen, select WhatsApp.
3. Tap START on the Android phone and wait while WhatsApp prepares your data. You are signed out of WhatsApp on Android when it finishes.
4. Tap NEXT to go back to Move to iOS, then CONTINUE to send the data.
5. On the iPhone, install the latest WhatsApp from the App Store, open it and sign in with the same number.
6. Tap Start when asked and let it finish. Your chats appear once setup is done.

What comes across: your account, profile photo and settings, individual and group chats, communities, chat history and media. What doesn’t: call history, your display name, media received through WhatsApp Channels and peer-to-peer payment messages. Your chats are not in iCloud until you make an iCloud backup on the iPhone, so turn that on soon after.

WhatsApp also warns against third-party transfer apps: they aren’t supported and can lose chats. Its transfer troubleshooting page adds two useful tips: keep the old phone’s data until you’ve confirmed the move worked, and restart both phones and try again if you see an error.

How to move photos with Google Photos instead

If your photos already back up to Google Photos, you don’t have to copy them at all. They stay in your Google account and show up in the Google Photos app on the iPhone. This is handy for very large libraries or if you set up the iPhone without Move to iOS.

1. On the Android phone, open Google Photos and tap your profile picture or initial in the top right.
2. Tap Photos settings, then Backup, and turn Backup on (steps from Google Photos Help (external site)).
3. Tap your profile picture again and wait until it says Backup complete.
4. On the iPhone, install Google Photos from the App Store and sign in with the same Google account.

Google’s own Android to iPhone guide adds a tip for Move to iOS users: if you want to keep using Google Photos and Google Calendar, untick Apple Photos and Apple Calendar on the transfer screen. Keep in mind that Google Account storage is shared between Google Photos, Gmail and Google Drive, so a full account stops new backups.

Prefer files on your own computer? Apple’s Move content from Android to iOS page shows the manual route: copy the DCIM folder from the Android phone to your computer, then sync it to the iPhone with Finder on a Mac or the Apple Devices app on a Windows PC.

How to move contacts and calendars after setup

Contacts and calendars kept in your Google account can be added to the iPhone at any time. Google’s Sync your Google Contacts with your iPhone page gives these steps:

1. Open Settings on the iPhone and go to Apps > Contacts.
2. Tap Add account (or Accounts if a Google account is already on the phone), then Google.
3. Sign in, choose which Google apps to sync and tap Save.
4. Open the Contacts app to start syncing.

If your contacts already came across with Move to iOS, you can skip this. Adding the Google account is still useful if you keep using Gmail or Google Calendar on the iPhone.

Music, books, PDFs and documents

Apple’s manual guide covers the rest:

• Streaming music: install the same app (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and so on) from the App Store and sign in. Nothing to copy.
• Music files you own: copy the Music folder from Android to a computer, add it to the Music app (Mac) or Apple Devices (Windows), then sync to the iPhone.
• Ebooks: install the Kindle, Nook or Google Play Books app and sign in. ePub files and PDFs can be copied to a computer and synced into the Books app.
• Documents: if they’re in Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, install that app on the iPhone and sign in. They also show up in the Files app.

Already set up the iPhone? Two options

Move to iOS only appears during setup. If you’ve already finished setting up the iPhone, Apple gives two choices:

• Erase the iPhone and start again. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings (path from Apple’s factory reset guide). This deletes everything on the iPhone, so only do it on a new phone with nothing on it you need. Then run Move to iOS from the start.
• Move things by hand. Add your Google account for contacts, calendar and mail, use Google Photos for pictures, and copy music and documents through a computer, as described above. WhatsApp chats are the one thing that needs a new or reset iPhone.

Transfer stuck or failed? Fixes that work

From Apple’s troubleshooting list, in the order worth trying:

1. Leave both phones alone. Move to iOS must stay open on the screen. Opening another app or taking a phone call on the Android phone can stop the transfer.
2. Turn off Wi-Fi helpers on Android. Disable apps or settings that switch networks on their own, such as Smart Network Switch.
3. Forget saved Wi-Fi networks. On Android, open Settings > Wi-Fi, touch and hold each saved network and forget it, then try again.
4. Turn off mobile data on the Android phone and try again.
5. Restart both phones and start the transfer over.
6. Use a USB-C cable between the phones if Wi-Fi keeps dropping.
7. Ran out of space? If only part of your content arrived because the iPhone filled up, erase the iPhone, make sure your Android content fits, and transfer again.

After the move, if Messages won’t sign in or your Android apps are missing, open the App Store and download the apps, and check Apple’s help pages linked above for Messages. Then set up Find My right away; our guide on finding a lost iPhone with Find My explains what to turn on.

After the transfer: a quick checklist

• Open Photos, Contacts, Messages and WhatsApp and spot-check that everything is there.
• Download your remaining apps from the App Store and sign in to each.
• Turn on iCloud Backup so your WhatsApp chats and the rest of the phone are backed up.
• Keep the Android phone as it is for a week or two. WhatsApp’s help says your Android phone keeps its data unless you delete WhatsApp or wipe it, so it’s your safety copy.
• Only when you’re sure nothing is missing, reset the Android phone before you sell or give it away.

FAQ

Can I transfer data from Android to iPhone after setup?

Not with Move to iOS. Apple says you need to erase the iPhone and start setup again, or move content by hand. Contacts, calendars, Gmail and Google Photos can all be added later by signing in to your Google account on the iPhone.

Does transferring data from Android to iPhone delete everything on the Android?

No. Move to iOS copies your content to the iPhone. WhatsApp’s help page also says the Android phone keeps its data unless you delete WhatsApp or wipe the phone, though you are signed out of WhatsApp on Android during the move.

Does transferring data from Android to iPhone need Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi must be on for the Android phone, but you don’t need a home network: the iPhone creates its own temporary Wi-Fi network that the Android phone joins. You can also connect the two phones with a USB-C cable for a faster transfer.

Why is my data transfer from Android to iPhone stuck?

The usual causes are the Android screen leaving Move to iOS, a call or app interrupting it, or Android switching Wi-Fi networks. Keep both phones plugged in and next to each other, turn off mobile data and Wi-Fi helpers on Android, restart both phones and try again, or use a cable.

Can I transfer WhatsApp Business from Android to iPhone?

Not at the moment. WhatsApp’s help page says WhatsApp Business chats can’t currently be moved from Android to iPhone with this method.

Do my apps transfer from Android to iPhone?

Not directly. Apple says some free apps that are on both Google Play and the App Store are matched so you can download them, and you get the rest from the App Store yourself. App data, such as game progress, depends on each app; ask the app’s developer.

Can I transfer data from Android to iPhone with a cable?

Yes. Apple and Google both suggest connecting the phones with a USB-C cable during Move to iOS. Apple says it is faster, and Google says it is more reliable than Wi-Fi.