How to Transfer Your Data From a Samsung to an iPhone

This article explains the best and easiest way to switch from Samsung to iPhone without losing data. While there are lots of way to change smartphone platforms and rather than listing every single one—some of which take too many steps or too much time—just follow these tips.

Is It Hard to Switch From Samsung to iPhone?

Not at all! In fact, Apple makes it very easy to switch from Samsung to iPhone.

Before we begin, it's a good idea to back up your Samsung phone. The Samsung application called Smart Switch will help you backup your Samsung phone. You shouldn't need the backup, but it's smart to have a copy of your data.

Once the backup is done, follow these steps:

1. Use Move to iOS. Apple's free Move to iOS app for Android does most of the work for you when switching from a Samsung phone to an iPhone. Download Move to iOS from Google Play and install it on your Samsung phone. It scans your Samsung for key data—contacts, photos, texts, calendars, web browser bookmarks, email accounts—and prepares to transfer them to your iPhone. Connect the two phones wirelessly and all of data moves from the Samsung into the correct apps on your iPhone.

2. Transfer Photos. Move to iOS should move your photos, but if you've got a lot of photos or don't want to use Apple's pre-installed Photos app, you may want to transfer them separately. Check out How to Transfer Photos From iPhone to Android (the instructions work in the other direction, too) or transfer photos to your computer and then sync photos to your new iPhone.

3. Download Apps. Move to iOS doesn't move apps (because they wouldn't work). Luckily, many apps have both iPhone and Android versions. On your iPhone, open the App Store app, search for the apps you need, and download them. If there's no iPhone version of an Android app, there's probably an equivalent.

   If you've got an account in an app, you should be able to log into the same account on the iPhone. In-app purchases from your Samsung may or may not transfer to the iPhone, depending on the app. If the purchases don't transfer, contact the app's developer.

4. Move Music. Moving your music when you switch is pretty simple—assuming you use Spotify, Apple Music, or another streaming service. Just download the iPhone app, sign in, and your music library will appear. You'll need to download songs for offline listening again. If you have music ripped to your computer, import it into iTunes (or Music, on a Mac) and sync the music to your iPhone.

5. Transfer Podcasts. Transferring podcasts is harder. There are tons of great podcast apps for iPhone, and you can get your favorite podcasts using all of them. You probably can't—easily, at least—transfer podcast episodes you've already downloaded. It's best to re-subscribe to the podcast in your iPhone podcast app and re-download the episodes you want.

6. Move Movies and TV. Like podcasts, moving movies or TV episodes you've purchased on your Samsung is tricky. If there's an iPhone app for the service that you purchased the movie or episode from, you'll be fine. Just download the app, log in with your account, and your purchases will be available. If there's no app, or if the movie or episode uses DRM that the iPhone doesn't support, you won't be able to transfer the content to your iPhone.

7. Transfer eBooks. Moving eBooks is easy—as long as there's an iPhone app for the service you bought them from (and there probably is). Whether you bought from Amazon's Kindle app, Google Books, Kobo, or something else, install the iPhone app, log into your account, and download your books. Depending on the file type, you may also be able to sync the books directly from your computer to an app like Apple Books.

How Do I Transfer Contacts From Samsung to iPhone?

Don't want to go through the hassle of transferring all of the data from your Samsung and just want to make sure your contacts are moved? That's pretty easy. Move to iOS is a great option, but it's not the only one.

Explore all of your options and get step-by-step instructions in How to Transfer Your Contacts From Android to iPhone.