Move the contact cards you choose from connected providers to one destination—with a clear review of additions and updates before anything is written.
Start with the result
The safest workflow depends on whether you want visibility, a separate copy, a provider change, or continuous mirroring.
You may not need to copy them. Enabling Google, Microsoft, or another contact account in device settings can keep that provider as the owner. Use Cloud Contacts when you want to inspect, clean, or deliberately create a copy elsewhere.
Choose the existing provider under From and Apple Contacts under To. Cloud Contacts shows the resolved destination account and prepares additions and updates for review.
Connect the old and new accounts, select one writable destination, and approve the proposed copy. Your source records stay where they are until you remove them separately.
Sync Contacts is not an always-on two-way mirror. It is a manual, one-way workflow. Choose a source of truth and repeat a reviewed plan when you want to refresh its destination copy.
Apple Contacts
The address book used by Apple apps
iCloud
One provider that can store and carry those cards
An important distinction
Apple Contacts is the address book available to the Contacts, Phone, Messages, Mail, Siri, and related apps. iCloud is one provider that can store and synchronize those contact cards. Google, Microsoft, and other accounts can also appear in Apple Contacts when enabled on the device.
Want the result on iPhone, iPad, and Mac?
Select Apple Contacts as the destination, confirm that the displayed default account is iCloud, and enable iCloud Contacts on every device signed in to the same Apple Account. Cloud Contacts writes once; iCloud handles propagation.
The complete workflow
Six explicit decisions take you from connected source to verified destination.
Open Contact Providers and add Google Contacts, Microsoft Outlook, iCloud/CardDAV, a compatible JMAP Contacts server, or another supported source. You can also import from Apple Contacts after granting permission.
In Cloud Contacts, open Organize, then choose Sync Contacts. Merely opening the workflow does not change any contact.
Start with one or more eligible providers. Optionally narrow the plan by groups and then by individual contacts. No group selection means all eligible contacts in the selected providers remain available.
Select Apple Contacts or exactly one connected, active provider that supports writing. The destination is excluded from the source so a plan cannot copy back into itself.
Cloud Contacts compares the selected cards with the destination and separates proposed additions from proposed updates. Matching rules differ by destination, so review every proposed update before approving it.
Approve the displayed direction and counts, then check the completion result for successes or failures. Apple Contacts transfers also appear in Sync History; remote-provider transfers do not currently use that history.
A group can narrow the From list when usable membership data exists. The plan does not recreate group names, folders, distribution lists, labels, or memberships at the destination. CardDAV group synchronization is not supported in the current release.
Common destinations
Every run has an explicit From, one To, and an expected result.
Approved cards are written to the iCloud-backed Contacts account; Google stays unchanged.
Approved contact cards become available to Apple apps; Google stays unchanged.
Selected supported fields are copied after review, subject to your organization’s policy.
Destination-owned cards are created or updated; the source remains intact.
Supported contact-card fields are copied; group structures are not transferred.
Approved cards are created or updated when the connected destination supports writing.
Only the chosen destination receives the reviewed cards; nothing is broadcast everywhere.
Apple Contacts currently receives name components, one organization and title, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, and a photo. Remote-provider adapters may support additional fields—including notes, dates, websites, and social details—when the destination accepts them.
Sources, destinations, writable fields, and account limits depend on the app edition, subscription, provider adapter, permissions, and server implementation. Remote provider destinations require Cloud Sync; Apple Contacts availability follows the current app edition.
On iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Allow Contacts permission, choose Apple Contacts under To, and confirm the default destination account shown during review.
Run the same reviewed workflow. To see the result on both iPhone and iPad, enable the destination provider’s Contacts account on both devices.
Cloud Contacts can run the review on Mac too. Enable the same destination account in Contacts settings so its cards appear in the Contacts app.
The destination provider—not the screen you used—determines where the records live. Use the same provider account on every device when you want provider-backed contacts to follow you.
Safety by design
An all-provider source never means sending every contact to every account.
Apple Contacts uses the system’s smart matching. Remote providers prefer established links and unique identity signals. Always review proposed updates.
Provider-to-provider sync creates or updates destination cards. It does not turn a copy into an unexplained move.
The app rechecks destination eligibility and matching before writing. If contact details changed after review, return and prepare the plan again.
Network, permission, subscription, server, and record failures are reported instead of being labeled a successful sync.
Review and writing use bounded batches rather than trying to keep an entire contact graph in memory.
Questions, answered
No. Sync Contacts is a manual, reviewed, one-way copy to one destination. Connected-provider background refresh is a separate feature and does not automatically rerun a cross-provider plan.
No. A provider-to-provider run creates or updates cards in the destination. Source contacts stay in place unless you remove them separately.
Choose Apple Contacts as the destination. If you want iCloud to carry the result across devices, make iCloud the default Contacts account and enable iCloud Contacts on every device signed in to the same Apple Account.
No. Apple Contacts is the address book used by Apple’s Contacts, Phone, Messages, Mail, and related apps. iCloud is one provider that can store those cards. Cloud Contacts displays the resolved default Contacts account before writing.
Choose Google Contacts under From and Apple Contacts under To, then confirm that the displayed default Contacts account is iCloud. Review the Add and Update candidates and approve the copy. This does not create a continuous two-way bridge between Google and iCloud.
No contact tool should make that promise. Cloud Contacts uses established destination links and unique matching signals, then separates Add and Update candidates so you can review the plan before writing.
No. Groups can narrow the source selection, but provider group models are different and the cross-provider workflow copies contact cards, not group structures. CardDAV group synchronization is not supported in the current release.
The account may be read-only, disconnected, unsupported for writing, restricted by the app edition or subscription, or missing permission. Compatible JMAP Contacts support is required; JMAP mail support alone is not enough.
Contact providers do not expose identical data models. For Apple Contacts, the current transfer covers name components, one organization and title, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, and a photo. Remote destinations may support additional fields such as notes, dates, websites, and social details through their adapters.
Usually not. Run the transfer on one supported device, then enable the destination provider’s Contacts account on the other devices. A contact stored only on one device will not synchronize itself elsewhere.
No. A mistaken edit can synchronize too. Before a large migration, create a separate recovery snapshot if you need a rollback point.
Ready when you are
Connect your providers, choose one destination, review the proposed additions and updates, and approve only the transfer you intend.