How to share contact info on Android
To share contact info on Android, open the Contacts app, tap the contact, then tap Share — on some phones it sits under the three-dot menu. Android packages it as a .vcf file and offers Quick Share for a nearby Android phone, or any messaging app or email for everyone else. Because a .vcf opens natively on iPhone too, the same method works whatever phone the other person is carrying.
Where the Share button is on your phone
Android is not one contacts app — every manufacturer ships its own, and they hide Share in slightly different places. Google Contacts works the same on all of them, so if these steps do not match your phone, install or open Google Contacts and follow that instead.
| Phone | Where Share lives |
|---|---|
| Google Pixel (Google Contacts) | Open the contact → three-dot menu → Share |
| Samsung Galaxy (Samsung Contacts) | Open the contact → Share at the bottom |
| Xiaomi / Redmi (Mi Contacts) | Open the contact → Share → choose vCard |
| OnePlus / Oppo | Open the contact → three-dot menu → Share contact |
| Any Android, in a browser | contacts.google.com → open contact → Share |
The three ways to share a contact on Android
Only the first is Android-to-Android. The other two reach anyone, on any platform.
1. Quick Share — Android to Android, nearby
Formerly Nearby Share. Works between Android phones, Chromebooks and Windows PCs — not iPhones.
- Open the Contacts app and tap the contact.
- Tap Share (on some phones it is under the three-dot menu).
- Choose Quick Share and tap the nearby device that appears.
- The other person taps Accept and saves the contact.
If their device does not show up, ask them to open Quick Share from the quick settings panel and set visibility to Everyone for a few minutes — the default only shows contacts they already have.
2. Share from Google Contacts — works with anyone
- Open Google Contacts (the app, or contacts.google.com in a browser).
- Tap the contact, then the three-dot menu › Share.
- Pick any app — Gmail, WhatsApp, Messages. The contact is sent as a .vcf file.
- iPhone recipients tap the attachment and choose Add to Contacts; it opens natively, with no app to install.
3. Export several contacts as one .vcf
Easier on Android than on iPhone — useful for handing over a team, or moving to a new phone.
- In Google Contacts, long-press one contact to enter selection mode.
- Tap every other contact you want to include.
- Tap Share — they export together as a single .vcf file containing every card.
- Attach it to an email or message like any other file; the recipient imports them all in one go.
Sharing your own details (Android has no “My Card”)
This is the real difference from iPhone. iOS pins a special My Card entry to the top of Contacts and every share feature reads from it. Android has no equivalent — your Google account profile appears at the top of Google Contacts, but sharing it directly is not supported on every phone.
The workaround most people settle on is to create a normal contact for yourself holding only what you are happy to hand out — work email, mobile, company, job title — and share that. Keeping a separate "work card" entry alongside your personal one means you never have to remember to untick a home address in the moment.
Sharing from Android to an iPhone
Quick Share cannot reach an iPhone, and NameDrop cannot reach an Android phone — the proximity features do not cross the platform line in either direction. What does cross is the vCard: share the contact through a messaging app or email and the iPhone opens the .vcf attachment straight into Contacts. In person, a contact QR code is faster, because the iPhone camera reads one natively.
Full walkthrough: sharing contacts between iPhone and Android.
When a QR code beats every method above
Every method on this page assumes the other person is nearby or already in a conversation with you, and that your details will never change. A contact QR code covers what they cannot:
- People who are not near you — a QR code in an email signature, slide deck, or website shares your details with anyone who sees it, at any time.
- Mixed rooms — one code works for every phone, so you stop asking "are you on Android or iPhone?" before every exchange.
- Printed materials — a business card or flyer cannot Quick Share. A printed QR code is the only way paper puts a contact into a phone.
- Details that change — a .vcf or static QR is frozen the moment you send it. Put a link behind the code and you can change job, number, or company without reprinting anything.
You can make one in about a minute with our free vCard QR code generator — no account, nothing uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How do I share a contact on Android?
Open the Contacts app, tap the contact you want to send, then tap Share — on some phones it sits under the three-dot menu. Android packages the contact as a .vcf file and offers every way you can send it: Quick Share to a nearby Android phone, or Gmail, WhatsApp, or Messages to anyone at all. The .vcf opens natively on iPhone too, so the recipient does not need to match your platform.
How do I share my own contact info on Android?
Android has no single "My Card" the way iPhone does, so the practical approach is to create a normal contact for yourself holding exactly the details you are happy to hand out — work email, mobile, company, job title — and share that. Many people keep two: a full personal entry, and a "work card" entry that is safe to send to anyone. Google Contacts also shows your own Google account profile at the top, but sharing it is not supported on every phone.
What is Quick Share and how is it different from Nearby Share?
They are the same feature — Google renamed Nearby Share to Quick Share in 2024 after merging it with Samsung’s version. It sends files and contacts between nearby Android phones, Chromebooks, and Windows PCs over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It does not work with iPhones: there is no Quick Share to iOS, and no NameDrop from an iPhone to an Android phone.
How do I share a contact from Android to an iPhone?
Use the ordinary Share option rather than Quick Share, and send the contact through any messaging app or email. It arrives as a .vcf attachment, which the iPhone opens straight into the Contacts app — the recipient taps it and chooses Add to Contacts. In person, a contact QR code works just as well, because the iPhone camera reads vCard QR codes natively without any app.
Why does my Android phone’s share menu look different?
Because manufacturers ship their own Contacts app. Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus and others each lay the menu out slightly differently, and the Share option can sit behind a three-dot menu, a share icon, or a long-press. Google Contacts — installed or installable on nearly every Android phone — behaves the same on all of them, which is why the steps in this guide use it as the reference.
Can I share several contacts at once on Android?
Yes, and it is easier on Android than on iPhone. In Google Contacts, long-press one contact to enter selection mode, tap the others you want, then tap Share. They export together as a single .vcf file containing every card, which the recipient can import in one go. This is the quickest way to hand over a whole team’s details or move contacts to a new phone.
What is a .vcf file?
A .vcf file — a vCard — is the standard format for a contact card: one small file holding a name, phone numbers, emails, company, and more. Every major contacts app can export and open one, including iPhone Contacts, Google Contacts, and Outlook. That universality is why it is the reliable way to move a contact between an Android phone and an iPhone, and it is what actually gets sent whenever you tap Share on either platform.
How do I share contact info with someone who is not nearby?
Quick Share needs the other device physically close, so for anyone remote you send the card instead: share the contact through Gmail or a messaging app and it travels as a .vcf attachment. For sharing at scale, put a contact QR code or a link to a digital business card in your email signature and profiles, so people can save your details whenever they come across them rather than only when you are in the room.
Why do the contacts I shared go out of date?
A .vcf and a static QR code are both snapshots. Whatever you sent is what the other person keeps, so a new number or a new job silently invalidates every card you have ever shared, with no way to correct them. A digital business card stores a link behind the code rather than the data itself, so the code stays valid and the details behind it update everywhere at once.