How to Transfer Everything from Your Old Phone to a New One

Getting a new phone and finding everything you need is already there—contacts, photos, apps, favourites—is a genuinely satisfying feeling. Getting a new phone and spending three days wondering where everything went is not.

The transfer process has got much simpler in the last few years, but there are still some traps to avoid. Here’s how to do it properly.

iPhone to iPhone

Apple’s built-in transfer method is called Quick Start, and it’s the easiest way to move everything from one iPhone to another.

What you need:

• Both iPhones—old and new
• Both switched on and close together
• A few hours (large phones can take a while to transfer)

How it works:

1. Turn on your new iPhone and bring it close to your old one
2. A screen appears on your old iPhone asking if you want to set up the new one—tap Continue
3. Hold the new iPhone over the old one and scan the animation that appears
4. Enter your old iPhone’s passcode on the new one
5. Choose Transfer from iPhone (not Restore from iCloud Backup)
6. Leave both phones near each other and plugged into power—the transfer runs over a direct wireless connection between the two phones

This transfers everything: photos, messages, apps, settings, Apple Pay, passwords. It usually takes 30–90 minutes depending on how much is on the old phone.

Android to Android

Most Android phones now come with a setup wizard that offers to transfer from your old phone when you first turn on the new one. The exact steps depend on the brand, but the process is broadly the same.

During initial setup of your new phone:

1. When asked how you’d like to set up, choose Copy data from another Android phone or Restore from backup
2. On the old phone, open the Google app or scan a QR code shown on the new phone
3. Follow the prompts—you can choose what to transfer (contacts, apps, photos, etc.)
4. Leave both phones close together and connected to WiFi

If you’ve already set up the new phone without doing this, you can still restore most things from your Google account:

• Contacts—sign into Google on the new phone and they’ll sync automatically
• Photos—sign into Google Photos on the new phone
• Apps—go to Google Play → your profile → My apps and install them from your history

iPhone to Android (or Android to iPhone)

Switching platforms is a bit more involved because the two systems don’t speak the same language natively.

iPhone to Android:

1. Download Google Photos on your iPhone and let it back up all your photos before you switch
2. Export your contacts: Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Contacts → turn on sync—then on Android, sign into the same Google account and import them
3. Apps: you’ll need to reinstall them from the Google Play Store—you can’t transfer apps directly between platforms
4. Messages: iMessages won’t transfer to Android. Before switching, go to Settings → Messages → turn off iMessage on your old iPhone to make sure texts switch back to standard SMS

Android to iPhone:

1. Apple has an app called Move to iOS (download it on Android from Google Play)
2. During iPhone setup, choose Move Data from Android
3. Open Move to iOS on Android and follow the steps—it transfers contacts, photos, messages, and Google Calendar entries over a direct WiFi connection

What won’t transfer

Regardless of how you transfer, some things don’t move:

• App data for games—your progress in many games is saved on the device, not the cloud. Some games back up via a login; many don’t.
• Text messages (when switching platforms)
• WhatsApp messages—these can be transferred but need a separate process. It’s easier if both phones are on the same platform.

Before you hand over or sell your old phone

Once you’re sure everything is on the new phone, do a factory reset on the old one before passing it on. This erases all your personal data.

iPhone: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings

Android: Settings → General Management (or System) → Reset → Factory Data Reset

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If you’d like help setting up your new phone, transferring everything across, or making sure nothing gets left behind, I visit homes across Falkirk and Central Scotland.

Find out more about phone setup help and photo backup and data transfer, or call 07944 156 453. No fix, no fee, 7 days a week.