How do I import contacts from my PC?

[BSmith714]

I am new to Galaxy/Android and want to import my contacts from a VCF file on my PC. I connected the phone to the PC and can move files back and forth, but the Phone's Contact app's menu list does not include the prescribed import/export function. I am perplexed. HELP!

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

Log into your Gmail account via the website on your computer. In the Contacts area, you can import the VCF file or a similar format in your Gmail contacts. Google will sync them to the phone.

[BSmith714]

Ann: Thanks for the response. I ended up on-line chatting with Samsung support which resulted with needing to completely factory-reset the phone. This restored (enabled?) the Import/Export menu item which had been missing previously. Thankfully, the phone was brand new with little data already entered as the reset erased nearly everything!

[bearone21]

reset "restored" import/export on the phone????

as ann154 mentioned, import contacts into gmail contacts on a pc, not the phone.

select "sync" contacts on the phone & anything added to contacts on the pc get to the phone.

[BSmith714]

The original problem was inability to import a VCF file of contacts from a  PC into the phone's Contact app. The file was copied to the phone's memory, but the Contact app's menu did not include the import/export function that should have been there according to the instruction book. Samsung customer support walked me through a variety of fixes, but none worked and as a last resort we did a full "factory reset" of the phone. That solved the problem, the import/export function was restored.and I as able to import the VCF file of contacts.

[Dave-in-Decatur]

Interesting--I actually didn't know importing from a VCF on the phone was possible. Always something new to learn!

As Ann154 and others have said, though, it's also possible (and may be more common) to add contacts that are on your PC by importing them into your Gmail account, which is maintained online by Google. These contacts will then be automatically synced to the phone (as the one you added via the Contacts app will be synced to the online Gmail account, and thus show up when you view that on your PC).

[BSmith714]

Yes, I read the post about importing from Google, however I had already seen the Instruction Book section on importing a VCF file and I was determined to make it work. Thankfully it was a brand new phone so the reset didn't erase anything consequential. In the future, the Google approach looks easier!