How to Import SIM Contacts to Google Galaxy Nexus

A while ago I talked about how to import and sync contacts with Gmail on an LG Optimus phone and it was a rather tedious process. Today I got a Google Galaxy Nexus HSPA+. Since it is  a true “Google Phone” and came directly from Google, I wanted to see how easy it is to import contacts from my old SIM card and synchronize with my Gmail account.

In short, it is a very straightforward process, but not without hiccups.

First of all, the phone/call app doesn’t show any of my contacts on the SIM card. Instead, you have to work with the People app to find and import them. This may be a well-known fact for you guys who have had newer versions of Android, but it took me a little while to figure out.

Now that I know where my contacts are, the next step is to import them from the SIM card to the phone. The process is indeed simple:

  1. From the Home screen, open the People app;
  2. Touch Menu icon (the three little squares), then Import/Export;
  3. Touch Import from SIM card;
  4. I only had one Google account set up on the phone so it didn’t ask me to choose an account;
  5. To import contacts one at a time, touch them;
  6. To import all at once, touch Menu icon, then Import All.

But wait, where is the “Import All” option? In fact, I didn’t even see the menu icon after step 4. There is no way I was going to  import all my contacts one by one, so I restarted the process, but with the same result. While searching for an answer online I tried a couple more times…and Bam! There it is! I don’t know if it is a bug in Android ICS 4.0 or the phone, but it appears that it takes a few tries to get the menu icon to show up. And after that it is smooth sailing and I was able to see all my contacts in Google right away.

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