How to save contacts on Gmail

You use Gmail as your main email service, are you tired of having to remember the addresses to write to by heart every time and would like to understand how to save your contacts directly on the famous Google home email service? Well, then I would say that you have landed on the right guide at the right time. With this tutorial of mine today I want to show you, in a simple but at the same time detailed sex, how to save contacts on Gmail.

The operation, I anticipate it immediately, is extremely simple to carry out, contrary to what you may think at the moment, and is feasible both from mobile (from Android and from iOS) and from computer (acting via the Web or through the intended apps contact organization for Windows and Mac). If you are interested in this, I anticipate that an automatic saving system is also available, very useful in case you want to avoid having to enter “manually” the various contacts you want to save each time.

How do you say? Were they not the email addresses you usually write to that you wanted to save on your Gmail account but the phone numbers on your mobile phone in order to store the entire address book directly on your Google account? Don’t worry, I had thought of that too. The same goes for what concerns the possibility of importing and exporting contacts. I will show you how to proceed even in these cases. But now just chat and let’s get to work. I wish you, as usual, a good read.

Index

• Save contacts to Gmail from smartphones and tablets
  • From Android
  • From iOS
• Save contacts to Gmail from computer
  • From the Web
  • From Windows
  • From Mac
• Import and export contacts
  • On Android
  • On iOS
  • Via the Web

Save contacts to Gmail from smartphones and tablets

First of all, let’s try to understand how to save contacts on Gmail by acting as a smartphone, to be precise from Android and iOS. This is feasible without resorting to the use of third-party tools, based on exploiting the applications used to manage the “standard” contacts of the mobile platforms in question. To find out more, keep reading.

From Android

Since Android is the mobile platform of Google, the management of contacts, both as regards email addresses and telephone numbers, takes place almost completely automatically and it is not necessary to make special configurations. Consequently, unless you have made specific changes to the device settings, your smartphone or tablet should already be able to save contacts on Gmail by itself.

However, if, as anticipated, you have changed the settings of the device (even incorrectly), the saving of the contacts may not take place or in any case not correctly. Given the situation, you would therefore like to explain how to proceed in that case.

First of all, proceed to associate (obviously if you have not already done so), your Gmail account to the device in your possession. To do this, press the Settings icon (the gear-shaped one ) located on the device screen where there are all the applications, step on the Account item in the General section, then on Add account and select the ‘Google icon then provide the data requested: Gmail address, associated password and security code (if you have enabled two-factor authentication).

Then scroll down the next screen, step on the Yes, I accept button to accept the Google terms of use, press  Accept, check the box next to the wording No thanks and click  Continue. Done!

At this point, you can add new contacts by going to save them on Gmail simply by going to the screen where all the applications are grouped, pressing on the Address Book app  (the one with the address book symbol), then on the [+] button at the top of right, tapping on your Gmail account from the menu you see appearing and filling out the form displayed by typing name, email addresses, number etc. Then tap on the Add mail item at the top to save the contact.

In the event that while putting into practice the instructions I have just given you, the synchronization of the address book does not occur automatically, you can easily solve it by going to the section of the Android settings dedicated to account management as seen together above, by pressing on the Google logo, then on your Gmail address and then on the item Synchronize contacts in order to enable the related function.

From iOS

Do you have an iPhone or an iPad and would like to understand how to save contacts on Gmail in this case? Well, to begin with, access the home screen of the device and tap the Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear ), step on the wording Account and password that you find by slightly scrolling the screen, presses on Add account and select the Google logo on the next screen.

Then type your Gmail account in the appropriate field and step on Next, enter the password for your account and press Next again, type the code that was provided to you by Google (if you have enabled two-factor authentication) and stop again on Next. Then check that the lever next to the Contacts item is ON (and if not, you can do it yourself) then press Save.

Proceed now by going to set your Gmail account as the default for address book synchronization. To do this, go to the main Settings screen, presses the wording  Contacts, select  Default account and then step on  Gmail. Done! From now on, all the contacts that you are going to save in the address book on your iDevice will be automatically added to the Gmail contact list. It was easy, wasn’t it?

At this point, to save a new contact on Gmail by acting from your “iPhone by” or from the iPad, all you have to do is tap on the icon on the home screen of the Contacts application (the one with the address book ), press the [+] symbol at the top right and fill in the proposed form by entering the name and surname in the first lines, the reference e-mail address in the add e-mail field, the telephone number in the add telephone field etc. Then press on the End item at the top right to save the contact.

Save contacts to Gmail from the computer

Now let’s see how to save contacts on Gmail by acting as a computer, to be precise from the dedicated Web app and from the standard contact management application available on Windows and Mac. You will find everything explained in detail right below.

From the Web

If you want to find out how to save contacts on Gmail from the service’s web interface, the first step you need to take is to connect to the Google Contacts online application. If necessary, log in by typing your Gmail address and password in the appropriate fields on the screen.

Now, to add a new contact, press the [+] button at the bottom right, fill in the form displayed by typing name, e-mail address, telephone number, etc. in the appropriate fields and click on the Save button. Done!

However, keep in mind that by default all the email addresses you write to are automatically saved in the Gmail address book. If you want to deactivate this function or in any case, if you had disabled it in the past and now you want to activate it again, log in to Gmail via the Web, press the gear at the top right and choose Settings from the menu that appears.

Then locate the item  Create contacts for automatic completion: in the General tab that has opened and choose the desired option by ticking the appropriate option on the right. Then save the changes made by pressing the Save changes button at the bottom.

From Windows

If what you are using is a PC with Windows 10 installed, you can save contacts to Gmail using the pre-installed Contacts application. To do this, call up the application via the Start menu, press the Start button in the window that appeared on the desktop and press on  Import contacts.

Then select the Google item, enter your Gmail e-mail address, the associated password, and the verification code (if you have activated two-factor authentication) by always pressing on Next and then click on the Allow button. Enter your name in the appropriate field that you later see appear, then click first on login and then on  Done.

Once this is done, you can start saving new contacts on your Gmail account by clicking on the [+] button in the left sidebar and then filling out the appropriate form you see appear on the right by first choosing  Gmail from the Save in menu, typing address email, telephone number, etc., in the various fields and then pressing the Save button at the bottom.

From Mac

Are you using a Mac and want to understand how to save contacts to Gmail from your Apple-branded computer using the Contacts application included in macOS? Then first configure your Gmail account on your computer by clicking on the System Preferences icon (the one with the gear ) that is on the Dock bar. In the window that opened on the desk, presses on Internet Accounts.

Now, click on the Google logo in the right part of the window and fill in the fields you see appear on the screen by typing your Gmail address, the associated password and the security code (if you have enabled two-factor authentication). Then check the box next to Contacts and then click Finish. Here it is!

Once this is done, you can save your contacts on Gmail by acting directly from the pre-installed Contacts application on Mac. How to do it? Nothing easier. Access the latter by clicking on its icon (the one with the address book ) found on the Dock bar, press the [+] button at the bottom left, choose  New  Contact from the menu that appears, fill in the fields displayed by typing name, surname, address e-mail, telephone number and all the various other info of the reference contact and press the Finish button.

Import and export contacts

Were you interested in figuring out how to save contacts on Gmail in the sense that you would like to import or export them? Then follow the instructions on what to do that you find below and you will see that in no time you will be able to understand how to proceed.

On Android

If you want to transfer the contacts saved on the SIM card inserted in your smartphone or tablet to your Gmail account or if you want to export the contacts already saved in Gmail to an SD card or other media, all you have to do is open the Address Book application (the one with the address book symbol), tap the button with the three vertical dots at the top right, click on Settings and then on Import / Export contacts.

In the screen that you will see appear at this point, choose the option you prefer and follow the instructions that are shown on the screen to complete the entire procedure. For more info on what to do, you can consult my tutorial dedicated to how to save Android phonebook.

On iOS

Do you want to understand how to transfer the contacts saved on the SIM card inserted inside your iPhone or iPad to your Gmail account? Then presses the Settings icon (the one with the gear ) that is on the home screen, select the Contacts item from the screen that appears, presses on  Import SIM contacts and follow the simple procedure that is proposed to you on the screen.

As for the ability to copy the address book already saved on iOS to your Gmail account, unfortunately there is no standard function. However, it is possible to remedy this by using some special applications and then taking advantage of the vCard import feature integrated in Gmail. To understand exactly how to proceed, I invite you to read my tutorial dedicated to how to synchronize iPhone contacts with Gmail.

Via the Web

Do you want to import contacts into Gmail and have a VCF file or CSV file that contains them? Then connected to the old version of the Gmail Contacts Web app, if necessary login to your account by typing your credentials in the fields on the screen, click on the  Import contacts … item located in the bar on the left of the new proposed page, click on the Choose button file, upload the reference file and follow the suggested wizard.

For what concerns the export, just select the reference contact group from the left sidebar, press the Other button at the top, select the Export item … from the menu that opens, indicate the desired format and press on Export. For more details, you can read my article on how to export Gmail contacts.