Where Are Contacts Stored on Android?

Any Android user can access the contacts saved on their device by going to the Contacts app. But what if you needed to export all your contacts to another device? Selecting contacts one by one and then sending them to another device will take an eternity. And where are these contacts stored on Android devices?

But this will only work if you have stored contacts in your devices’ internal storage. What happens if you save contacts on your memory card or Google Cloud?

Below will discuss how to access contacts on Android no matter where they are stored. We will also discuss how you can save your contacts on Google Cloud so you never lose them.

Find Contacts Stored on Android

We will now go through each method of how to find contacts on Android, no matter where they are stored. Follow the below methods to find the exact storage location on your contacts no matter where they are stored (i.e., internal storage, memory card, or SIM card).

Method #1: Contacts Stored in Internal Storage

Contacts are usually stored in the internal storage unless you specify another location, such as an SD card or the Google Cloud. So this is the first place where you should check. 

Follow the below steps to find contacts stored on your Androids’ internal storage.

1. Open your File Manager. In some versions, it may have a different name.
2. Click on “Internal Storage” to access data stored on the device’s memory.
3. Open the “Android” folder.
4. Open the “Data” folder.
5. Open the “com.android.providers.contacts” folder.
6. Click the “Databases” folder and inside it the contacts.db folder has all your contact files.

The contacts.db stores all the saved contacts in the internal memory. You can select all the files inside and import/upload them anywhere you want.

Method #2: Contacts Stored in SD Card

Android devices create the same folder paths for files when storing them in the SD card as in the internal storage. So if you have saved contacts on the SD card, you will follow the same steps discussed in method #1 to find stored contacts on your Android.

Follow the below steps to find contacts stored on an SD card.

1. Open your File Manager. In some versions, it may have a different name.
2. Click the SD Card/Memory Card to access data stored on the SD card.
3. Open the “Android” folder.
4. Open the “Data” folder.
5. Open the “com.android.providers.contacts” folder.
6. Click the “Databases” folder and inside it the contacts.db folder has all your contact files.

Method #3: Contacts Stored in SIM Card

The contacts saved on the SIM card can not be accessed using the previous methods, and you can not view them from the Android contacts folder. But we can import these contacts to the internal storage and view them in the Android contacts folder.

Follow these steps to import contacts from the SIM card to internal storage.

1. Open the Contact app on your Android.
2. Click “Menu” to see the options available.
3. Click “Settings”.
4. Click the “Import from SIM” option.

All contacts saved on your SIM have now been imported to your internal storage/SD card, and you can access these stored contacts using method 1 or 2.

How To Create a Backup of Contacts?

Backing up your contacts to your Google account means you will never lose them as long as you have access to that account. To do this, go to Android Settings and scroll down to find the “Accounts” option. Click it and then click “Google”. Inside the new window, make sure that you check the box that says “Sync Contacts”.

Now, open your Contact app and go to its Settings. Now, select the option that says “Import Contacts” or “Move Contacts”. When asked where you want to save the imported contacts, select your Google account. All your contacts will be imported to your Google account. 

You can visit https://contacts.google.com/ to view contacts saved on your Google account.

Conclusion

Android devices have multiple options when it comes to storing contacts. Even though you can view all saved contacts from the built-in contacts app, you can not view your contact files from this application. We have gone through how to view stored contact files from the internal storage, SD card, and SIM card.