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Getting a New Phone? How to Move Everything Across

5 min read · Updated 13 November 2026

How to transfer photos, contacts, apps, WhatsApp chats and more to a new iPhone or Android phone, including switching between iPhone and Android.

Setting up a new phone is much easier than it used to be. Most of your data can move across automatically. A little preparation makes sure nothing gets left behind.

Before you start

  1. Back up your old phone (see our backup guide).
  2. Make sure you know your passwords, especially your Apple ID or Google account. A password manager helps here.
  3. Charge both phones and connect to Wi-Fi.
  4. Check your authenticator app. If you use one for two-step codes, check how it moves to a new phone before you wipe the old one, or you could lock yourself out of accounts.

iPhone to iPhone

Turn on the new iPhone and place it next to your old one. Quick Start appears on the old phone. Follow the prompts to transfer everything directly. You can also restore from your latest iCloud backup during setup.

Android to Android

During setup, choose to copy apps and data from your old phone. You can connect the phones with a cable or wirelessly, or restore from your Google backup. Samsung users can use the Smart Switch app, which also copies many Samsung-specific settings.

Android to iPhone

Install Apple's Move to iOS app on your Android phone. During the new iPhone's setup, choose Move Data from Android and enter the code shown. Contacts, messages, photos, email accounts and calendars can move across. Apps don't transfer, but free equivalents can be downloaded on the iPhone.

iPhone to Android

Most new Android phones offer to copy data from an iPhone during setup, using a cable or an app. Before switching, turn off iMessage and FaceTime on your iPhone (Settings > Messages and FaceTime). Otherwise texts from iPhone users may not reach your new phone.

Don't forget WhatsApp

For phones of the same type, WhatsApp chats come back when you restore from your chat backup. For switching between iPhone and Android, use the chat transfer option in WhatsApp's Settings > Chats > Transfer chats (the exact steps depend on the direction you're moving). Check this before resetting your old phone.

Before you sell or recycle the old phone

  1. Check everything is on the new phone: photos, contacts, messages and important apps.
  2. Sign out of your Apple ID or Google account. On iPhone, this turns off Find My, which a buyer needs.
  3. Remove any SIM or memory card.
  4. Reset the old phone to factory settings to wipe your data.
Banking apps: most need setting up again on a new phone and may ask you to verify your identity. Leave yourself a little time before you need to make an urgent payment.

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