Why do some of my contacts not sync with Google?

Question

When I add a new contact on my iPhone then after a few seconds I see it in my Google contacts. When I remove it from Google contacts, then within few seconds it's removed from my phone. So far so good.

However, I have a few contacts that I must have added on my phone in some strange way (maybe through another app like WhatsApp) that do not get synced. They are on my phone, but I do not find them in my Google contacts.

Does anyone experience similar? How can I fix this issue? Is there a way to force "all contacts sync" from my phone to Google?

device: iPhone X

iOS version: 12.3.1

Default account : Gmail with mail, contacts and calendar sync ON, no other account with contacts enabled; sync method : automatic fetch

Answer 1

Based on your description and follow-up comment it sounds like those few contacts got added to the On my phone group. You can check this by tapping the Groups button within Contacts (first screenshot below for reference) and then unchecking Gmail, which should leave just On my phone selected. If that shows the troublesome contacts, you have your answer.

Unfortunately there's no easy way to move contacts between accounts from Contacts. You have two options:

1. Copy each one manually.
2. You could tap Share Contact, Save to Files, delete the person from Contacts, then open in Files, open the Share Sheet, and tap Copy to Contacts. That should import it to your default account of Gmail. Second and third screenshots below for reference.

Answer 2

(I wanted to add a comment to @ankii's answer but I don't have enough reputation)

His Groups trick is pretty handy.

While trying to look up for the solution myself I found a way on Tom's Guide to copy contacts in bulk instead of doing one by one.

1) Go to icould.com website (make sure iPhone Contacts sync to iCloud is enabled for the time being so all your phone contacts are there)

2) Select all contacts. Export vCard (VCF)

3) Import vCard to Google Contacts.

If you end up with some duplicates Google will help you merge them on the fly.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/import-iphone-contacts-into-gmail,news-21221.html

Answer 3

"Is there a way to force "all contacts sync" from my phone to Google?"

If you happen to have a Mac, you can try the following:

1. Open Contacts
2. Click on "All iCloud" so that only these contacts are displayed
3. Click on the first contact to select it
4. Scroll to the last contact, then Shift + click it. All (iCloud) contacts will be selected
5. Drag them to "All Google". You might get some warnings about duplicates, choose for yourself how to proceed.
6. They should appear in Google Contacts within a few seconds