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I have about 20 contacts on my iPhone that is in the wrong group. How can I move them to another group?

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  • next time, make sure to add, at least the Windows talk so we know that you talk from a Windows perspective, as this is Apple forum, I always assume, if not mention otherwise that it's a Mac you have.
    – balexandre
    Commented Sep 24, 2010 at 6:26

11 Answers 11

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You need to use your AddressBook application for that and sync the iPhone again.

There is no Group support but for reading on iOS.

  • you can't create groups

  • you can't move to and from groups

  • you can only create a contact in a group if a group exists － Windows user can edit your group through iCloud.com/contacts

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  • Will the AddressBook application also work in Windows?
    – Espo
    Commented Sep 23, 2010 at 10:38
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    The Address Book application is Mac OS X specific. On Windows use either Outlook or the Windows Address Book depending on your setup and what you have chosen to sync your contacts with (check iTunes as it should say).
    – Asinine Monkey
    Commented Sep 23, 2010 at 12:28
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    unbelievable that there is no out of the box function for that.
    – gsharp
    Commented Oct 28, 2011 at 3:55
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    In newer macOS versions, it's the Contacts app. If you have a Mac, this is the easier than the highest-voted answer. You can drag-and-drop multiple contacts from one account to another.
    – thameera
    Commented Nov 24, 2016 at 15:08
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I had the same problem. I found this page looking or a solution. I wasn't satisfied with the above. So I did the following:

  • Email the contacts to yourself (share contact).
  • In the contacts app, make sure you are in the proper group (for me, my gmail account with exchange)
  • Import the contact. It should be adde to the group you selected in the previous step.
  • Now go check the contact is in the correct group, and if so, delete the one in the old group.
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  • Jason's answer didn't work for me; it saved to "All Contacts." But the strategy is a good one. So, I went into the "correct" group, added a new contact and just typed the person's last name, then "added" the emailed contact to that new "abbreviated" contact.
    – user6709
    Commented May 23, 2011 at 23:40
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    Jason's answer works, but you need to set your default contacts group to the desired destination before importing the vcf. It's under the mail, cal, contacts settings page at the bottom of the contact options.
    – user7762
    Commented Jul 12, 2011 at 6:15
  • This is very time consuming, but to this day actually works, unlike many other answers i have found.
    – ZomoXYZ
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 3:41
  • I've found that you can share by texting the contact to yourself, then ensuring your group is set correctly, and re-add them in. Verify then delete the old contact.
    – ferventcoder
    Commented Nov 15, 2019 at 22:13
  • To add to that - verify then delete the old contact. When you are verifying, you may need to copy over notes or other bits as they may not share, but you can do that between the two before you delete the iPhone contact version.
    – ferventcoder
    Commented Nov 15, 2019 at 22:34
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Orbicontacts worked very well for me, and it is free

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    It also works nicely for transferring between groups that aren't synced to the PC but over the air, like two gmail accounts. And it is free.
    – Matthew Lowe
    Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 19:21
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    It looks like this iOS app has changed to become "Orbi Tools" (itunes.apple.com/es/app/orbicontacts/id470885623) but is no longer free, and from the 1 review does not appear to perform this functionality any longer. :-(
    – Simon East
    Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 22:28
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I have been using Copytrans Contacts - the difference between this app and I would say most of the rest is that:

  • You can use it to add/edit/remove contact groups on your iPhone via your computer

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  • You can easily move iPhone contacts between groups via drag/drop

enter image description here

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3

The Speed Names app will do it. How could they have missed doing this in iOS 5? All those clever people at Infinite Loop and no one wants to move a contact from one group to another? Or perhaps they have no friends?

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    I just used Speed Names to copy contacts from my phone to my exchange account, it worked perfectly
    – James Healy
    Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 11:48
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it will work to email yourself the contacts but you need to be sure to first go to the settings menu/mail,contacts,calendar/look down the menu under contacts for default account and set it to exchange. then it will save the contacts you email yourself in exchange.

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There are several apps that can do this, for example VisuContacts.

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  • There's nothing on the iOS app store named VisuContacts.
    – Simon East
    Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 22:30
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ContactMover costs $4.99 and EasyGroup crashes. Though the interface is terrible, HachiContact works and is free. Oh, and it hasn't crashed on me yet.

I've been able to add groups, remove groups, and even move contacts between groups. I still don't understand why this functionality isn't built into the iPhone OS.

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  • HachiContact did not appear to let me move contacts between my "On iPhone" address book and my Gmail address book. :-(
    – Simon East
    Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 22:37
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The [ContactMover][1] iPhone app does this. [1]: http://www.immense.net/contactmover/

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This is similar to Jason's answer but quicker as it's more integrated.

You'll need two Apple devices (such as an iPhone and an iPad or possibly a Mac). I've gone into details but it's actually easy and reliable.

In the following instructions we'll be moving contact(s) from source group 'A' (selected on the iPhone) to target group 'B' (on the iPad). It doesn't matter which device is used for what role; in the end, both devices can still show contacts from both groups, if so desired.

  1. Ensure iPhone and iPad both have Bluetooth enabled. On both devices go to Settings -> General -> AirDrop and ensure either "Contacts Only" (or "Everyone") is selected.
  2. iPhone: open Contacts, click on 'Groups' (top left) and select only group 'A'; do the same thing on the iPad but select only group 'B'.
  3. iPad: go to Settings -> Contacts and make sure group 'B' is set as "Default Account".
  4. iPhone: select a contact you want to transfer, tap "Share Contact", then select your iPad with the AirDrop symbol (blue circles over white background).
  5. iPad: click "Save" on the top right hand corner of the contact card that has just appeared.
  6. (optional but advisable): iPhone, click 'Edit' on top-left of the contact card you have just transferred, scroll to the bottom of the card, press 'Delete' and confirm deletion. If you don't do this, you'll end up with duplicates (one in each group 'A' and 'B').
  7. Repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 ad nauseam.

Once you're done transferring the contacts, you may re-select the groups you care about in the Contacts app of both devices (step 2). It may also be worth checking that the Default Account (step 3) is set to something sensible on all your devices if you find that new contacts land in the wrong group.

These instructions refer to iOS 15; this likely works similarly on older and newer versions.

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I am using a free iPhone application to manage groups of contacts. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-group/id461469079?l=fr&ls=1&mt=8

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    This doesn't seem to do what the question is about. That app creates groups and allows texting and emailing to that group but it doesn't let you move contacts between accounts
    – Isak Savo
    Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 15:19

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