To transfer data to a new iPhone, use Quick Start: turn on the new phone, hold it next to your old one, scan the on-screen animation, enter your old passcode, and then choose to transfer directly from your old iPhone or download from an iCloud backup. This copies your apps, photos, settings, and accounts across so the new phone feels like your old one. Here is the full process, plus what to do if you are switching from Android.

Before you begin, do one thing: make a fresh backup of your old iPhone. Even a flawless transfer benefits from a safety net, and it takes only minutes. See how to back up your iPhone if you need the steps.

Before you start

  1. Back up your old iPhone to iCloud or a computer.
  2. Make sure both phones are charged, ideally plugged in, since a transfer can take a while.
  3. Connect to a reliable Wi-Fi network.
  4. Turn on Bluetooth on the old phone, and have your old device’s passcode and Apple Account password ready.

Transfer with Quick Start

Quick Start is Apple’s built-in setup-time transfer and the method most people should use:

  1. Turn on your new iPhone and place it next to your old one. A Quick Start screen appears on the old phone offering to set up the new device with your Apple Account. Tap Continue.
  2. An animation appears on the new iPhone. Hold your old iPhone over it so the animation fits within the camera frame to pair them.
  3. When prompted, enter your old iPhone’s passcode on the new phone, then set up Face ID or Touch ID.
  4. At the Transfer Your Data screen, choose Transfer from iPhone for a direct device-to-device copy, or Download from iCloud to restore from your latest backup.
  5. Keep both phones close, on Wi-Fi, and powered until the transfer finishes.

Direct transfer vs. iCloud download

The two Quick Start options suit different situations:

  • Transfer from iPhone copies everything directly between the two devices. It does not depend on having a recent backup and can move data your backup might not include. For the fastest, most complete direct move, you can connect the two iPhones with a cable using a Lightning-to-USB or USB-C adapter.
  • Download from iCloud pulls your apps and data from your iCloud backup in the background, so you can start using the new phone sooner while content fills in over the next while. This is ideal if you no longer have the old phone on hand, as long as you have a recent backup.

Set up from an iCloud backup instead

If you do not have your old iPhone with you, you can restore during setup instead:

  1. On the new iPhone, follow setup until the Apps & Data (or Transfer Your Data) screen.
  2. Tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
  3. Sign in with your Apple Account.
  4. Choose the most recent backup from the list.
  5. Stay connected to Wi-Fi and power until the restore completes, then finish the remaining setup steps.

After it finishes, keep the phone on Wi-Fi and plugged in for a while so photos, music, and apps stored in iCloud finish downloading in the background.

Switching from Android

Moving from an Android phone works during the same setup flow:

  1. On the new iPhone, go to the Apps & Data screen and tap Move Data from Android.
  2. On your Android phone, install and open Apple’s free Move to iOS app.
  3. Follow the prompts to generate and enter a code, then connect the two phones.
  4. Select what to bring over, such as contacts, message history, photos, and videos, and wait for it to complete.

If the transfer gets stuck

Transfers occasionally stall, and a few simple checks resolve most cases. Make sure both phones stay close together and awake, because locking or separating them can pause a direct transfer. Confirm both are on the same Wi-Fi network and, ideally, plugged into power. If a progress bar seems frozen for a long time, give it a while first, since a large photo library can look stuck while it is still working through the data. If it genuinely will not move, restart both phones and begin Quick Start again, or fall back to restoring the new iPhone from an iCloud or computer backup instead. Because you backed up your old phone at the start, no data is at risk if you have to retry from scratch.

After the transfer

Once your new iPhone is up and running, sign in to apps that require it, check that Messages and email are receiving, and confirm your photos have finished downloading. It is also a good moment to check your iPhone storage so you know how much space the transfer used. Keep your old iPhone until you are certain everything moved across correctly, and erase it only after you have confirmed the new phone has all your data.