With so much data residing on the phone, it has become important to back them up. Contacts, easily the most valuable information, can be backed up on an external device or in the cloud. One simple way is to connect the phone to the computer, and copy the contacts to the PC. They get saved as .vcf file. These vCard files can be imported to email clients like Gmail.
Most phones come with computer software CD or you can download them. For example Nokia Suite, Samsung Kies and BlackBerry desktop software. Connect the phone to the PC and sync data. Another easy way is to back up on the memory card.
Storing in the cloud is convenient. Android users can automatically back up their phone numbers, addresses, notes to Gmail, by enabling ‘account sync’. It works the other way as well: changes done on Gmail contact on the web will automatically reflect in the phone. For Windows Phone users, a similar backing up can be done in their Outlook account by signing in. Some phone security software like Norton and McAfee too provide options to back up contacts.
