As Ken has mentioned in a few posts already, I’ve recently detached myself from a morbid and somewhat archaic connection to my trusty Nokia E72 and I’ve migrated to the Nexus S. Google’s Nexus S is an Android phone that’s essentially naked, meaning that it runs an untarnished version of the Android operating system. It’s brilliant.
I won’t go into the details as to why I went with Android…. but needless to say I’m not a huge fan of Apple products. I’m not an “Apple hater” as many of my colleagues would like to think; it’s just I’m somebody that is deeply invested into open source applications.
I’ve written Android applications for about a year now and haven’t really had the chance to explore the platform in the kind of detail I would like – and I’ve had to use emulation software to test everything I build. It’s hardly perfect. I’ve refrained from releasing anything into the Android Market for these reasons.
Part of the reason I hadn’t switched from my Nokia previously was the inherent nightmare involved with porting applications, messages and contacts across to a new operating system. Anybody that’s lived with a Nokia handset (and isn’t that all of us?) had to face this geek of faith at some point. Having said that, the advantages offered by Android far outweigh the challenges. Certainly, from my perspective, not changing teams sooner will forever remain a secret shame.
So, the first two biggest issues that I confronted was the process of porting my messages and contacts across to the new device. Here’s how I accomplished the task in about 20 minutes.
Porting Nokia contacts to the Nexus S
The Nexus and Google applications are a magnificent marriage and the handset integrates seamlessly with virtually all of Google’s online offerings – including Google Mail. The contacts in your Android handset should synchronise by default with Google to ensure that your database is up-to-date. All you have to do is update your Gmail contacts which will, in turn, push the updated information into your phone.
Gmail contacts gives you the option of importing a CSV file into the their mail application via a web browser. If you want to move your contacts from your Nokia to your Nexus, all you have to do is create a CSV file with Nokia PC Suite that you’ll likely already have installed on your PC, and import that list into Gmail. If you don’t have PC Suite, you can download it here.
Before you start this process, make sure you export a copy of your contacts from Gmail as a backup. You can do so in multiple formats. I never used Gmail as a means of storing contact information so I simply deleted them all (after a backup).
If you don’t have Google Mail and don’t want to sign up for it…
- Back up your the contacts using Nokia PC Suite as you did above
- On the Nokia PC Suite Contacts tab, select “File”… “Send”… “Contact via Email”.
- This will open an Outlook or Outlook Express tab (if you’re using Windows) and your contacts will be attached as VCF files
- Connect your Nexus to your PC as storage
- In your mail program, select “File” then “Save attachments”. You must save it to your Nexus SD card to a location of your choosing. You can create a folder if you like.
- Unnmount the Nexus One from your PC
- From your contacts menu, select “Menu” then “Import/Export”
Importing Nokia Messages into your Nexus Handset
First, you will need to download a copy of Nokia2AndroidSMS. We’ll use this application to create a list of your messages in an XML format that can be imported into your handset.
Second, you will need to download the SMS Backup & Restore application from the Android market. Search from your handset or scan this QR code if you have a barcode scanner on your handset. This app will read the fomatted XML file created with the previous application
You will also need a copy of Nokia PC Suite and Nokia OVI Suite on your machine.
Importing the contacts into your handset can be a little challenging if you’re really new to the phone but it is easy, and it is fast. Some of these instructions are copied from a post at simail.si.
Step 1 : You’ll first have to download Nokia Ovi Suite. Once it’s installed you’ll be prompted for a username and password – don’t worry about that. It’s not necessary for the process we’re describing below.
Step 2 : Open up Ovi Suite and synchronise your Nokia handset with your computer (via USB cable, bluetooth or however). This will create a local copy of your data on your PC. When the synchronisation is complete, make sure you completely exit the program by selecting File -> Exit. It’s designed to minimise to your system tray which is something you don’t want to happen.
Exporting from Nokia Ovi : Sync -> Sync now -> Contacts
Step 3 : Using Nokia2AndroidSMS (which you can extract to any directory – maybe your desktop), double click on Nokia2AndroidSMS.exe and it will open up a small dialog box. You should see something like this:
Nokia2AndroidSMS dialog box
If the process should fail to detect Datastores 1 (as shown in the image above) you’ll have to find it by yourself. You can either drag and drop datastore file from Windows Explorer onto the Nokia2AndroidSMS window or use the ‘open button’ to find it… but it should be there. If not, it’s entirely possible that the above process didn’t work.
If you have more than one phone in the datastore than you can select for which you’d like to export the messages, they are listed by their IMEI number.
If you get: “Failed to load DLL library. System error number was 126“, your antivirus probably prevented proper extraction of archive, so you need to extract it again and/or disable antivirus when extracting. The most problematic AV software found was Bitdefender.
Step 4 : Click “Convert”. This will create an XML file that contains all your message data in the same directory as the executable file.
Nokia2AndroidSMS will output
Here comes the ‘tricky’ part.
Step 5 : You must now connect your handset to your computer and move the XML file (it’s likely called sms_All Phones.xml) into the SMSBackupRestore folder on your Nexus handset (the folder is case sensitive). If the folder doesn’t exist, you’ll have to manually create it. If you don’t know how to create a folder, see below.
Step 6 : Fire up the SMS Backup & Restore Android application and you’ll find an option to import messages from the XML files you’ve just created.
Manually Creating a Folder on your SD Card
If you’re new to the operating system, it’s likely that you’re not overly familiar with how to create a directory on your SD card. To accomplish this, you’ll need to install a ‘File Explorer’ from the App Market (if you don’t have one installed already). A free application like ES File Explorer will do the trick, but there are literally hundreds to choose from.
With a file explorer it’ll be easy to port over any images and video from old handset.
Next Time
Next time you hear from me ramble about Android, it’ll be with regard to the first five applications I installed onto my handset and why. We’ll be publishing a stack of free Andoird applications over coming months! If you have any suggestions or requests, let us know.
If you have any questions regarding what I’ve described above, please email or leave a comment. I’ll be happy to help
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About Marty
Marty has been involved with online application development for a number of years and has worked with large scale applications both as a coder and project manager. He is currently actively contributing to 7 blogs and maintains over 300 websites. 
BeliefMedia Pty Limited. BeliedMedia is a media company based in Sydney, Australia. We specialise in all facets of media, including: online marketing, podcast production, programming, software development, Android/iDevice development, voiceovers and television production. Make contact with us via our 
Hi, i bought a Nexus S today and am trying to transfer my messages from my Nokia 6303. I’ve followed your instructions but got stuck on step 5….. I connected my Nexus via USB to the laptop but I don’t have a “pc suite” like I do with Nokia and there is no SD card for this phone either.
I’m stuck (although I may just be being overly blonde!) I would be very grateful if you could help me :-)
Thanks, Vickie
PS – I downloaded the SMSBackup & Restore and ES File Explorer to the handset
Hi Vickie. Once you connect your handset, you should be able to browse it as a drive. If that doesn’t work for some reason, you can always email the sms_All Phones.xml to yourself and save the attachment to the SMSBackupRestore folder that was either automatically created or you created yourself.
Personally, I use AndFTP to move files onto my handset from my server, but it’s certainly not the easiest option.
Let me know how you go with the email option.
Hi Marty,
Thanks for your reply. I’ve tried again I’ve managed to save the xml file on the phone via USB, when I emailed it to myself it wouldnt open the attachment as it asked me to insert the SD card – there isn’t a slot for an SD card(!?), and when I go to the SMS backup restore app there isn’t an option to import, only “backup”, “restore”, “view”, “delete backup” and “delete messages”. I must have done something wrong somewhere along the line :-(
Cheers, Vickie
Should have added SMS Backup and restore says backup failed. No write access to file: etc….
Hi Vickie. You will want to select the “restore” option. You’ll have to locate the sms_All Phones.xml file which should be in your SMSBackupRestore folder. If it isn’t, you’ll have to find it and move it there.
If you have any issues at all, give me a buzz on Skype. My username is “martinkhoury”. It may be easier if I talk you through parts of the process.
By the way, your 16 GB ‘SD card’ in the Nexus is built in… so I’m confused why it didn’t find it.
Let me know how you go.
Genius!! It worked!!
The problem was that I had the Nexus connected to the laptop, as soon as I unplugged it transferred everything – told you I was blonde haha!
Thanks for your help Marty – mwah! x
Brilliant! Let me know if you need further help with anything at all.
It’s a fantastic phone… don’t let those awful iPhone people get you down :)
Take care.
Trust me Marty, any problems with my phone and I am coming straight to you!
x
hi marty. i have syncd the messages to the pc suite. on opening nokia2android sms and clicking on convert, it throws a popup which says no messages exported, make sure u have connected to ovi suite.
how do i locate the datastore file or use drag & drop ??
KIndly let me know a way forward.
Thank you for these instructions. I didn’t want to have to upload all my contacts to Google just to be able to copy them to my phone. Your post saved me a lot of time!
Hi,
I’ve followed this step by step. I managed to create the XML file, copy it to a manually created ‘SMSBackupRestore’ folder on my Nexus S. In the SMS Backup and Restore app I hit ‘Restore’ (no ‘Import’ option) and it says ‘Restore completed’ Successful:0 Failed:0 Total:0. I think the XML file is the problem, it is less then 1kb in size and I am transferring over 1500 SMS from my Nokia X6?
Thankyou in advance
Hi Mitch. It’s almost certainly an XML file problem. If you drag the XML file into notepad you’ll probably find that it’s empty – it should be much larger than 1k. At some point in the process of creating the file there’s been an error. The first thing I would suggest is you go back through the process (step by step) of creating the file. If you don’t pick up on where the error was made, perhaps a quick Skype call will help?
heya marty, actually im facing the same problem that Mitch has faced. i have 900 odd messages. i have created the xml files a few times as well but no luck. its still shows ‘Restore completed’ Successful:0 Failed:0 Total:0.
please help.
Hi Marty, thanks for taking the time to reply.
I went through step by step, however this time I used the Nokia2AndroidSMS download thats linked on this page (as opposed to an earlier version I had previously found), however this version doesn’t even create the XML file, when I click ‘convert’. An error appears ‘No messages exported. Did you forget to synchronize your phone messages with OVI?’ Obviously I did sync my SMS’s with Nokia OVI Suite. I can create a .csv file if thats any help?
Unfortunetly I don’t have Skype.
Thanks again
Hi Mitch. I wrote a reply then realised that I had answered somebody else’s question. I’ll have to have a think about what may have gone wrong. I’ll shortly go through the process myself all over again and attempt to replicate the error.
I have same problem as reported by Mitch. did somebody find a solution for that problem?
Thanks for comments…
Hi Hans. The problem si with the export to XML file…. but it could have happened anywhere. Once your XML file is created, drag it into notepad and make sure its populated with data. If it is not, it means that the process didn’t work. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to pinpoint the problem when I can’t see what you’re doing.
I’m always happy to help via Skype (remote help or video) if you get stuck.
Marty what about uploading contacts from an older nokia like the 6230i where you don’t have a usb option – any ideas? Thanks
The 6230i does have a Pop-Port for a data cable but if you don’t have one, you can still communicate with Nokia Software via bluetooth. The Nokia software should guide you through each step once you’re connected.
same problem as Mitch. An error appears ‘No messages exported. Did you forget to synchronize your phone messages with OVI?’
same problem as saurabh. An error appears ‘No messages exported. Did you forget to synchronize your phone messages with OVI?’
It seems like a common problem. I’ll make a video (in the next few days) of what has to be done.
Dear marty,
My problem is to migrate nokia n95 messages to blackberry 9900 .can u help me in this case. i so tires with this as i have alot of messages in nokia and i want to use it on blackberry
Hi Marty,
I’m facing the same problem too. ‘No messages exported. Did you forget to synchronize your phone messages with OVI?’.
I’m facing the same problem too. ‘No messages exported. Did you forget to synchronize your phone messages with OVI?’.
Works only with Nokia OVI Suite 2.1 !!!
hey,
I’ve got the same problem as the others with “no messages exported. Did you forget…”
Is there now a solution?
I’d be very happy if it worked :)
I’d love to help, but I’ve well and truly deleted any and all references to Nokia tools off all my machines. I’ll try and figure out another solution (and, perhaps, build my own tool to convert the data).