How to Find Out Where Your Contacts Are Saved on Android and iPhone

On Android devices, including Samsung Galaxies, you can easily find out if your contacts are saved on your phone, SIM card, or cloud accounts.

View All Contacts Storage Locations

View All Contacts Storage Locations
View All Contacts Storage Locations

Open the Contacts app on your Android or Samsung Galaxy. You will see storage locations labeled at the top – this shows where the visible contacts are saved.

Tap the menu icon (3 dots or 3 bars) and tap Contacts to display or Configure contact lists. Choose Phone, SIM card or connected cloud accounts like Google to only view contacts stored there. All contacts shows contacts from all sources, though sometimes sim card is not detected on Samsung.

Find Specific Contact's Storage Location

Open the Contacts app and tap the contact. Tap the menu icon (3 dots) and choose View linked contacts. Any accounts syncing that contact will display.

You can also tap Storage locations on Samsung devices at the bottom of the open contact to see where it's saved.

Moving Contacts Between Accounts

To move an Android contact to another account, open it, tap the menu icon (3 dots), and select Move to another account. Pick an account on the next screen.

On Samsung devices, tap the menu icon (3 bars), and choose Manage contacts > Move contacts to shift contacts between accounts.

Locating Your Contacts on iPhones

Locating Your Contacts on iPhones  
Locating Your Contacts on iPhones

On iPhones, contacts typically save to iCloud. To check:

Open Settings > Contacts > Default Account to see what account new contacts save to.

In Contacts app, tap Groups or Lists. Accounts that can show contacts will display.

Tap an account (e.g. All iCloud or All Gmail) to only view contacts stored there.

You can't directly view SIM card contacts on iPhones. First, import them by going to Settings > Contacts > Import SIM Contacts.

Transferring Between Accounts

On iPhone, set the default account in Settings > Contacts > Default Account to change where new contacts save.

Import individual SIM contacts by going to Settings > Contacts > Import SIM Contacts.

Android allows exporting contacts to SIM cards in the Contacts app's Settings. iPhone does not support exporting contacts to SIM cards.

Conclusion

This covers the main steps to check contacts storage on Android devices, Samsung Galaxy phones, and iPhones.

Knowing where your contacts are saved lets you easily manage them across accounts and devices.