Back up and sync of contacts across multiple devices

[Chestec]

I want to back up and sync my contacts list from multiple devices ( Windows PC / Laptop / Iphone 6 / Ipod Touch ) in one place.  Can I do this via Vodafone and if so, how ? Any advice welcome...thanks

[thesoupdragon · Accepted solution]

One of the easiest ways to accomplish this across multiple Platforms and devices is to use a Google Account.

• Create a Gmail account
• import all your Contacts into your Google account
• All platforms and devices offer a "import from Google" option for contacts

[Getafix]

You can use Hotmail as well.

[jeffkinn]

I use a Hosted Microsoft Exchange Account. This can be accessed using a browser, Outlook on a MAc or PC or most other mail clients and all mobile devices.

Anything done on any device - sending/deleting/reading an email or changing a contact or calendar entry - will automatically be mirrored on all devices. It isn't free but for around £8 a month it's excellent value in my opinion.

[hrym]

As well as syncing - I'll second the suggestion to use an online account such as Google - you can back up by using the export option.   On Android devices (I don't know about others), it's in the Contacts app menu and exports your contacts to a vcard file you can import elsewhere, including other devcies and online services.   I do this regularly and keep copies on my pc and two cloud services.  You may have several hundred contacts, so as many backups as you can manage makes a lot of sense.

Android 5 (Lollipop) requires you to add a password, which will limit where you can re-import (it warns you about this), which is a bit of a shame.  Security is a good thing, but I also prefer to decide for myself where I want it.