How To Transfer Passwords To New Phone

Passwords are usually tricky to remember and especially difficult to save them again on your other device manually. But, if you want to share your passwords with someone or switch to another phone and use your old passwords, you can instantly transfer them.

However, the steps are different depending on the phone you’re using, your backup settings, and more. So, let’s quickly jump into how to transfer passwords to new phone.

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How to Transfer Passwords to New Phone (iPhone)?

Apple has a useful feature called iCloud Keychain that helps keep your passwords safe. You can use this tool along with other quick ways, like AirDrop, to use your old saved passwords on your new iPhone. Let’s take a closer look.

Using Airdrop

Airdrop is an instant way to share files across Apple devices unconditionally. So, you can use it to share your passwords from one iPhone to another as well. First, make sure to keep both phones within proximity. Then, turn on both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both iPhones.

Note: Both the iPhones must be of at least iOS 11 or above for this method to work properly.

Turn on AirDrop on both phones. You can do so by swiping down on your home screen and accessing the Control Center.
Long-press the Wi-fi icon and then tap on AirDrop.
Tap on Everyone.

On the iPhone with the passwords,
Go to Settings > Passwords.
Now, tap on Passwords.
Then, tap on the Share icon. Select the Airdrop option.
Select your destination iPhone on the Devices list.
Tap on Done.
On your other iPhone, tap on Accept on the AirDrop alert.

Using iCloud Keychain

This method doesn’t involve transferring passwords but includes signing in with the same Apple ID and gaining access to your passwords. The iCloud Keychain is Apple’s password manager that saves all your passwords, credit card information, and more. So, if the new iPhone is for your secondary use and you want to continue using it with the same Apple ID, you can use iCloud Keychain.

Here’s how you can turn on the iCloud Keychain on both your iPhones.

Tap on your name and then tap on iCloud.
Select the Keychain option and slide the toggle to enable iCloud Keychain.
When setting up your new iPhone, log in with the same Apple ID credentials. Doing so will send an alert to your old phone asking for your approval to continue using the same Apple ID. You can then tap on Continue to approve using passwords from the iCloud Keychain.
Follow the same methods to turn iCloud Keychain on your new iPhone. Then, it will take a while for your passwords to load.

Using iTunes

You can access your saved passwords on your other iPhone using iTunes. With it, you’ll need to backup your iPhone data, including the passwords, and restore it on your new iPhone. Before following the steps below, make sure both the iPhones are running on the same iOS version to avoid any bugs.

Note: The general iPhone backup data doesn’t include the passwords. To back up your passwords as well, it’s important to tick the box that says Encrypt Local backup on iTunes.

Open iTunes and connect your source iPhone to your computer.
Once detected, click on the iPhone icon and go to Summary.
From the Backups section, click on This Computer. Also, select Encrypt Local Backup below it.
Now, click on Back Up Now.
Turn on your new iPhone and tap on the option Restore from Mac or PC from the first few setup pages.
Again connect your new iPhone to a computer and launch iTunes.
Click on the iPhone icon and then click on the Restore Backup option.
Select your more recent backup file.
Wait for the process to complete.

You can now find all your saved passwords on your new iPhone.

How to Transfer Passwords to New Phone (Android)?

Similar to the Apple ID, a popular way to manage passwords on Android is Smart Lock, which uses your Google account. You can’t directly transfer your saved passwords to another Android phone. However, you can enable Chrome sync and log in using your same Google account on your new phone.

This way, you can have access to all your passwords of most apps and websites on your new device, whether it’s Android or Apple.

Here’s how you can enable Chrome Sync:

Launch the Chrome app.
Tap on the three dots options and then go to Settings.
Tap on the Turn on Sync option.
Select your desired Google account.
Now, tap on Yes, I’m in.

Why Can’t I Transfer Passwords to Another iPhone?

To successfully transfer passwords to another iPhone, make sure you’ve correctly checked all the settings. For instance, check if AirDrop is enabled on both iPhones. Similarly, check if the iCloud Keychain is enabled as well.

If you’ve followed all the steps above, but your new iPhone is not suggesting your passwords when logging in to sites, check if Autofill is turned on.

Here’s how to do it: