123 Contacts Backup And Transfer - Documentation
Choose a topic:
- How can you send your phone contacts via email as a file attachment
- How to transfer your contacts between two phones
- How to save (export) your phone contacts to a file
- How to open (import) contacts from a file
- File Folders - Locations for the exported and imported files
- How to manage duplicate entries
- CSV file format, imported and exported fields
- Error Messages & Troubleshooting
How can you send your phone contacts via email as a file attachment
Click the Email as attachment button
Enter the destination email address (ie the email address to which the message will be sent) and click the Next Step button.
Choose the format of the extracted file, whether it is Excel or CSV / Text. The exported fields (name, phone, email, etc.) are described below in a separate section.Note that the CSV format is preferred because it takes less storage space and can be read by both a plain text editor and a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Office Excel or Open Office Calc.
When you select the type for the extracted file, click the Next Step button to continue.
Select the mail application you will use to complete the process.
The list of all available mail apps will appear when you click the Select Mail From List button.
If you have Android, you can simply choose the Gmail app, which in most cases is configured properly and is ready for use.
Keep in mind that the app does not send the email but prepares the message and opens the mail application to send it. So once the mail application of your choice opens, you have to click the "Send" button.
How to transfer your contacts between two phones
Before you start, it's important to understand that this process involves two phones (one sends the contacts and the other receives them), so you must install this application on both phones before you start the transfer.
Below is a brief illustration of the whole process:
As you can see, contacts are exported to a file and then transferred to a server where they stay for up to 24 hours waiting for the other phone to retrieve them.
Now that you know the process, click on the Send to another phone button to start the transfer.
After reading the instructions, click Next Step to continue.
In the second step, you will see the transfer code you will need to retrieve the contacts in the receiving phone. Write it down to remember it and click on the Next Step to continue.
If everything went smoothly, you will see the message informing you that the process has been successfully completed.
You are now ready to go to the other phone and get the contacts.
In the receiving phone click on the Receive from another phone button to retrieve contacts from the server.
The first step presents an overview of the process. Once you've read it, click on the Next Step button to continue.
In the next step you will be asked to enter the Transfer code you received when you exported the contacts on the sending phone.
Make sure you are online and click the Next Step button. If everything went smoothly, the success message will appear.
Keep in mind that managing duplicate entries (e.g., contacts with the same phone number or e-mail address) will be based on the User Preferences that you can customize as shown in How to manage duplicate entries below.
How to save (export) your phone contacts to a file
Click on the Save to File button to start the process.
Type the preferred file name or leave the default name, and then click on the Next Step to continue.
If everything went smoothly, you will see a success message with the number of exported contacts and the folder on which the file was saved.
How to open (import) contacts from a file
Click on the Open from File button to start the process.
Specify the source file that contains the contacts you want to import using the File Name field. The source files are expected to be in a specific folder as described in the following paragraph.
When you have made the file selection, click on the Next Step to continue.
If everything went smoothly you will see a message with the number of contacts successfully imported.
Keep in mind that duplicate entries (eg contacts with the same phone number or e-mail address) will be managed based on the User preferences that you can customize as shown in How to manage duplicate entries below.
File Folders - Locations for the exported and imported files
Based on your mobile platform, the exported contact file(s) will be stored in a different location.
Platform | Android | iOS/iPhone |
---|---|---|
File System Path | /var/mobile/Applications/<UUID>/Library/NoCloud/ |
Note that the actual directory name depends on your mobile phone and the operating system you use to read the phone's storage. For example, for an Android phone that is read by a Windows 8 operating system, the actual file path is This Computer\GT-S6810P\Phone\Android\data\gr.alterora.apps.contacts.en\files. The GT-S6810P represents the phone model (Samsung Galaxy Fame S6810).
How to manage duplicate entries
By default, all entries with the same values in the following fields will be ignored:
- Display Name
- Phones
- Emails
- IMs (Instant Messenger)
For example, if a new entry contains a phone field with the value "888-88888" and there are other contacts with a phone number equal to "888-8888", the new entry will be ignored. It's easy to change the default settings if you go to the User Preferences as shown in the images below. When editing user preferences, do not forget to click on the Save button.
CSV file format, imported and exported fields
- The character encoding is UTF-8
- The data field delimiter character is the comma (,)
- The enclosing character is the double quotes
The following fields can be exported/imported, provided that they are supported by the corresponding phone platform ( iphone, android, windows):
Name
- name-givenName
- name-middleName
- name-familyName
- name-formatted
- name-honorificPrefix
- name-honorificSuffix
Example:
name-givenName | name-familyName |
---|---|
John | Smith |
Display Name
The display name is usually auto-generated from other name fields, but it can be used as a separate field as well.
Example:
displayName |
---|
John Smith |
Nickname
The nickname is an optional field.
Example:
nickname |
---|
Johny |
Phone(s)
As there can be more than one phones, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the phone (e.g. -1- or -2-). The fields "type" and "value" are required.
- phone-n-type
- phone-n-value
Example:
phone-1-type | phone-1-value | phone-2-type | phone-2-value | phone-3-type | phone-3-value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
mobile | 555-55555 | home | 777-777777 | work | 888-88888 |
Tip: Here is a list of the most common phone types:
- mobile
- work
- home
- work fax
- other
Email(s)
As there can be more than one emails, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the email (e.g. -1- or -2-). The fields "type" and "value" are required.
- email-n-type
- email-n-value
Example:
email-1-type | email-1-value | email-2-type | email-2-value |
---|---|---|---|
home | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | work | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Tip: Here is a list of the most common email types:
- work
- home
- other
IMs
As there can be more than one Instant Messengers, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the IM (e.g. -1- or -2-). The fields "type" and "value" are required.
- ims-n-type
- ims-n-value
Example:
ims-1-type | ims-1-value |
---|---|
Skype | avgjoe |
Tip: Here is a list of the most common IM types:
- Hangouts
- Skype
- Yahoo
- AIM
URL(s)
As there can be more than one URLs, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the email (e.g. -1- or -2-). The fields "type" and "value" are required.
- url-n-type
- url-n-value
Example:
url-1-type | url-1-value |
---|---|
work | www.company.com |
Tip: Here is a list of the most common url types:
- work
- home
- other
Address(es)
As there can be more than one addresses, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the address (e.g. -1- or -2-). All the fields are optional, so you can use as many as you want.
- address-n-streetAddress
- address-n-locality
- address-n-region
- address-n-postalCode
- address-n-country
- address-n-formatted
Example:
address-1-streetAddress | address-1-locality | address-1-region | address-1-postalCode |
---|---|---|---|
123 State Street | Santa Barbara | CA | 93101 |
Organization(s)
As there can be more than one organizations, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the organization (e.g. -1- or -2-). All the fields are optional, so you can use as many as you want.
- organization-n-type
- organization-n-name
- organization-n-department
- organization-n-title
Example:
organization-1-type | organization-1-name | organization-1-department | organization-1-title |
---|---|---|---|
Private | My Company | Accounting | Manager |
Category
As there can be more than one categories, you should replace the -n- with the actual number which indicates the order of the organization (e.g. -1- or -2-). All the fields are optional, so you can use as many as you want.
- category-n-type
- category-n-value
Example:
category-1-type | category-1-value |
---|---|
other | Supplier |
Birthday
The birthday is an optional field and if specified it must be in a valid date format.
Example:
birthday |
---|
1984-03-23 |
Note
The note is an optional field and can be omitted. It is used to hold a note/comment about the contact.
Example:
note |
---|
Classmates in elementary school. |
Putting it all together
Here is a complete example of the CSV file:
"name-givenName","name-familyName","phone-1-type","phone-1-value","phone-2-type","phone-2-value","email-1-type","email-1-value","url-1-type","url-1-value" "James","White","mobile",6971234567,"work",6971234567,,,, "Anna","Carmen","mobile",6942233444,,,"work","This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.",, "Patrick","Sallivan",,,"work",6942883344,"home","This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.","work","patricktools.com"
Error Messages & Troubleshooting
It takes a long time to start the app
On older devices, such as smartphones running Android 4.3 or earlier, the initialization process may take up to 10-15 seconds, especially when the application is running for the first time. In order to resolve this, just be patient, as the application will be initialized and executed as expected.
Cannot transfer contacts to the server
In most cases this is because your phone is not connected to the internet. Make sure your phone has an active Internet connection and try again. In the rare case that the server is down, wait a few hours before trying again. If the issue persists, please contact us to report it.
Contacts cannot be retrieved from the server
This can happen for one of the following reasons:
- Your phone is not connected to the internet.
- The transfer ID is invalid.
- The transfer ID was valid but the link has expired (after 24 hours).
- Our intermediate server is down.
Resolutions:
To (1) just connect to the internet
For (2) the error message is similar to:
For (3) the error message is similar to:
For (4) wait a few hours and try again. If the problem persists, please contact us to report this issue.