Using Facebook photos as contact photos on your Android phone is a great way to easily add pictures to your contacts. With Facebook integration in Android, it only takes a few taps to set a friend’s profile photo as their contact image. This can help you quickly identify callers and senders by displaying their picture.
In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to use Facebook photos for contacts on Android phones. We’ll cover:
- Enabling Facebook integration in your Android contacts
- Matching your Facebook friends to contacts
- Setting a Facebook profile photo as a contact photo
- Troubleshooting tips
With the right settings enabled, you can seamlessly pull Facebook profile pictures into your contacts on any Android 8.0 Oreo phone or newer.
Enabling Facebook Integration
The first step is making sure your Android contacts app has permission to access your Facebook friends list and photos. Here’s how to check:
- Open the Contacts app on your Android phone.
- Tap the three-line menu button in the top left.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap “Accounts.”
- Under “Add account,” tap “Facebook.”
You may be prompted to sign into your Facebook account at this point if you aren’t already signed in on your device. Enter your Facebook login details if needed.
Once connected, toggle the switch next to “Contacts” to the On position. This allows Facebook integration with your contacts.
You can also enable Calendar and Messenger here if desired. Toggle them On to sync your Facebook events and messages into the native apps on your device.
Granting Contact Permissions
When enabling Facebook integration for the first time, you’ll need to give permission for Contacts to access your Facebook data. Tap “Allow” when prompted to let Facebook share your friends list and other info with your contacts.
This allows your device to pull in profile photos and match friends from Facebook with your existing contacts.
Matching Contacts
With Facebook enabled in your contacts, you can start matching friends to their profiles. Open the Contacts app and find any entry that is also one of your Facebook friends.
Tap the contact, then select “Link” near the top of the screen. This will prompt you to match that contact to their Facebook profile. Simply tap the correct friend to link them.
Manually Matching Contacts
If contacts don’t automatically match, you can manually link them:
- Open the contact you want to match.
- Tap “Link.”
- Tap “Choose from Facebook friends.”
- Select the matching Facebook friend.
Any contact matched to a Facebook friend will display their profile picture if you’ve enabled photo syncing.
Auto-Matching
Your device will also attempt to automatically match contacts to Facebook friends with the same name and info. To manage automatic matching:
- Open the Contacts app.
- Tap the menu button.
- Go to “Manage Linked Accounts.”
- Tap “Automatic Matching.”
- Adjust the matching options as desired.
You can choose to auto-match existing contacts as well as new contacts added going forward. Useful for keeping your contacts in sync across platforms.
Setting Contact Photos
Once your Facebook friends are matched up to contacts, you can start using their Facebook photos as contact pictures. There are a couple ways to do this:
Individual Contacts
To set a Facebook photo for a single contact:
- Open the contact.
- Tap the empty placeholder image.
- Tap “Use Facebook photo” to pick their Facebook profile picture.
This will download their current Facebook profile photo and set it as their contact picture.
Multiple Contacts
You can also choose to enable Facebook pictures for multiple contacts at once:
- Open the Contacts app.
- Tap the menu button.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap “Display options.”
- Enable “Show social network photos.”
With this setting on, all matched contacts will display their Facebook profile pictures if available. Toggle this off to only show contact photos stored on your device.
Refreshing Pictures
Keep in mind that enabling Facebook photos in your contacts does not automatically refresh those pictures if the contact changes their Facebook profile image. To update to their latest photo:
- Open the contact.
- Tap the three-dot menu.
- Tap “Refresh.”
This will re-download the profile photo from Facebook to get their latest profile picture.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you’re having trouble getting Facebook contact photos to sync properly, here are some troubleshooting steps:
- Make sure Contacts has permission to access Facebook information in your Facebook app settings or the Contacts app settings.
- Check that automatic and manual contact matching are enabled and working properly.
- Confirm the “Show social network photos” setting is on.
- Try re-linking any unmatched contacts to their Facebook profiles.
- Force refresh the Facebook photos by tapping the refresh option.
- Update the Facebook and Contacts apps to their latest versions.
- Restart your Android device to clear any app cache issues.
- Disable and re-enable Facebook integration if still not working after other steps.
Following these tips should get Facebook profile pictures showing up correctly in your Android contacts.
Using Contact Photos
Once you’ve got Facebook photos enabled for your contacts, there are a few ways you can use them:
- See who’s calling or texting you by the picture that pops up.
- Add your favorite or most frequent contacts to your home screen with contact photo widgets.
- Create contact groups with pictures for family, friends, coworkers and more.
- Customize which contacts have photos vs standard icons in your Contacts list.
Having contact photos makes your phone more personal and easy to navigate. Facebook integration provides an effortless way to get pictures for all your connections right on your Android device.
Conclusion
Syncing Facebook profile photos as Android contact pictures only takes a few taps once properly set up. By enabling Facebook in your Contacts app and matching friends to their profiles, you can have their latest profile pics automatically available as contact photos.
With Facebook and Contacts linked, you can quickly refresh any contact’s picture with their newest Facebook profile image. Keep your favorites up-to-date by periodically syncing to download their latest photo.
Using Facebook photos as contact pictures on Android allows you to easily see who is getting in touch and personalize your device with images of friends and family. With the steps in this guide, you’ll be able to integrate Facebook into your contacts and access user profile photos in just a few minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Facebook syncing work on all Android phones?
Facebook contact photo syncing works on Android 8.0 Oreo and newer. Older Android versions do not have built-in Facebook integration. You need the native Facebook app and Contacts app with sync permissions enabled.
Can I set a Facebook photo for someone not already a contact?
Yes, you can use someone’s Facebook profile picture even if they weren’t previously in your contacts. Just create them as a new contact, link to their Facebook profile, and enable photo syncing to download their current profile picture.
What size are the Facebook contact photos?
The Facebook photos are medium resolution, around 320×320 pixels. This provides a clear image that isn’t too large for contact icon purposes. The images will be cropped to a circle shape.
How do I remove a synced Facebook contact photo?
If you wish to revert to the default contact icon, open the contact, tap the profile photo, and select Remove. This will delete the synced Facebook photo. You can also turn off social network photo syncing entirely.
Can I sync contact photos from other social networks?
At the moment, Android only allows syncing contact photos from Facebook accounts. However, apps like Sync.Me can extract contact photos from other services like Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ as well.
Summary
– Enable Facebook integration in Contacts app
– Match Facebook friends to existing contacts
– Set individual or multiple contact photos from Facebook
– Refresh photos anytime to get latest profile pics
– Troubleshoot issues with syncing or displaying photos
– Customize contact experience using synced images
Other Tips for Managing Contacts
Here are some additional ways to organize and manage your contacts using Facebook integration:
Create Facebook Contact Groups
Categorize your contacts into custom groups based on connections, like Facebook friends, family, coworkers and more. Tap Groups in the Contacts app menu to get started.
View Contact Timeline Activity
See recent updates and shared content from linked contacts via the Timeline tab on their contact profile. Get a feed of their Facebook activity.
Merge Duplicate Contacts
Find and combine duplicate contacts into one entry for easier management. The Contacts app can auto-suggest potential duplicates for merging.
Back Up Contacts
Securely back up your contacts including synced Facebook info by exporting to your phone storage or syncing with your Google account. Recover if ever needed.
Share Contacts
Quickly share contacts with others by tapping the share icon in the contact details and selecting an app or connection method. Useful for sending contact info.
Conclusion
Integrating your Facebook friends directly into your Android contacts makes it easier to access their information and share with them across apps. With profile pictures synced as contact photos, you can quickly recognize connections and personalize your experience.
We’ve shown the key steps to enable Facebook integration, match friends, download their latest pictures, and troubleshoot issues. With this guide, you should have seamless Facebook contact photo sync set up in just a few minutes.
So sync your Facebook photos to your Android contacts today. Having the faces of your connections will help streamline communication and give your phone a more personal touch.