CSV to VCF is the step that turns a spreadsheet of contacts into a file your phone can import.
A CSV file holds your contacts as a table, but a phone does not import a table directly. A VCF file holds the same contacts as cards, which a phone can import.
That change is what makes the contacts usable on a phone. You do not need to retype every name, phone number, and email into a contact app. You convert the file you already have, and you get the same contacts in a format a phone can read.
What is a VCF file?
A VCF file is a vCard file, and phones use vCard, not CSV. It is the standard way phones and contact apps share contact cards, one card per person, in a text format. When you import contacts into a phone, you often import a single VCF file that holds many cards at once.
Each card in the file holds the details for one person. That can include a name, a phone number, and an email address, among other details. The file itself is text, but it is structured for contact apps, with each card wrapped in markers that show where it starts and ends.
Pro tip: Keep your original CSV file after converting, so you always have a backup of the contacts as they were in the spreadsheet.
How to format your CSV
The first row of your CSV file should have headers like Name, Phone, Email. That header row tells the tool which column holds which detail, so it can map each column to the right vCard field. Without a clear header row, the tool cannot know which value is a name and which is a phone number.
The tool reads the first row as headers, and parses subsequent rows as data. Each later row should hold one contact, with values under the matching headers. Keep the values simple, one value per cell.
| CSV Column Header | vCard 3.0 Field | Example Value |
|---|---|---|
| Name / Full Name | FN | John Doe |
| Phone / Mobile / Cell | TEL;TYPE=CELL | (555) 123-4567 |
| Email / Work Email | john.doe@example.com |
Pro tip: Open your CSV file in a spreadsheet first, and check that the first row really is headers, not a contact, before you upload it.
CSV to vCard conversion: from spreadsheet to contact cards
This CSV to vCard conversion turns each spreadsheet row into a vCard card, ready to import into a phone. This CSV to VCF converter runs in your browser, with no upload to a server. Before converting, fix the spreadsheet itself, because the tool reads the first row as headers and maps those headers to vCard fields.
Save your Excel file as CSV first
If your contacts are in Excel, save the file as CSV before converting. Excel does not import directly into a phone as a contact file, but a CSV file from Excel can be converted to VCF.
- Open your contact spreadsheet in Excel.
- Click File, then Save As.
- Choose CSV as the file type, and save the file.
- If your version of Excel offers a CSV UTF-8 option, choose it, so accented names and non-Latin characters survive the save.
If your contacts are in Google Sheets, click File, then Download, then Comma Separated Values (.csv), and save the downloaded file.
Before converting, open the CSV file in a spreadsheet and check two things. First, check that the first row really is headers, not a contact. Second, check the phone column, because Excel sometimes strips leading zeros or reformats numbers, and that happens before the converter ever sees the file.
Formatting your CSV for vCard
The tool maps columns to FN, TEL, and EMAIL, from headers like Name, Phone, and Email. It does not do automatic field mapping, and it does not offer a manual mapping step, so fix any headers that do not match before converting.
| If your CSV has | Do this before converting |
|---|---|
| First Name and Last Name in separate columns | Combine them into one Name column in your spreadsheet |
| Mobile, Telephone, or a similar phone header | Rename that header to Phone |
| E-mail Address, E-mail, or a similar email header | Rename that header to Email |
| Company, Address, or other extra columns | Do not rely on them appearing in the VCF file, because this tool extracts Name, Phone, and Email only |
| No header row at all | Add a header row first, with Name, Phone, and Email |
After fixing headers, convert a small sample first if you can, and check the first card. If a name, phone, or email lands in the wrong place, fix the header in the spreadsheet and convert again, rather than editing the VCF file by hand.
Privacy
Contacts are sensitive, and browser-based conversion is safer for contacts than uploading them. A spreadsheet of contacts can hold phone numbers and emails for people you know, and those details should not be sent to a server just to change a file format.
The conversion runs in your browser, and your contacts are not uploaded to a server. That means the parsing, mapping, and VCF building happen on your own device, during the conversion itself. No contact data needs to leave your computer or phone for the file to change format.
Pro tip: After you finish, check your downloads folder and delete any extra VCF copies you do not need, so old contact lists do not linger.
Why convert CSV to VCF?
Phones need VCF, and spreadsheets give you CSV. That is the practical reason for this conversion: the file you have is in the wrong format for the job you want to do. A VCF file imports as contacts into a phone, while a CSV file opens as a table in a spreadsheet.
Converting also saves the retyping work. A contact list with dozens or hundreds of people would take a long time to type into a phone by hand. Conversion takes the values straight from the CSV file, so the phone starts with the same details.
| Format part | CSV | VCF |
|---|---|---|
| File type | Spreadsheet table file | vCard contact file |
| Contacts per file | Rows in a table | Cards wrapped in BEGIN/END markers |
| Direct phone import | Not supported by phone dialers | Supported natively on iOS & Android |
| File extension | .csv | .vcf |
Using the VCF file on iPhone, Android, and Google Contacts
After conversion, you have a VCF file you can import into an iPhone, Android phone, or Google Contacts. To import CSV to iPhone contacts, first convert the CSV file to VCF, then import the VCF file into your phone's Contacts app. The same order works for Android and Google Contacts.
If you need the reverse direction later, the VCF to CSV converter turns contact cards back into a spreadsheet.
Pro tip: Back up your phone's existing contacts before a large import, so you can restore them if the import creates duplicates you do not want.
Importing the VCF file
After downloading the VCF file, import it into the device or app where you want the contacts. Follow the route for your destination below, in order, and test with one contact first if you can.
iPhone
Send the VCF file to your device by AirDrop or email, then tap the file to import the contacts. Tapping the file opens the import prompt, and all contacts in the file can be added in one step. Back up your existing contacts first, so you can restore them if the import creates duplicates you do not want.
Android
Open your Contacts app or file manager, and select the VCF file to import. The Contacts app reads the cards in the file and adds them as contacts. Check a few imported contacts after the import, to confirm names, phones, and emails landed in the right fields.
Google Contacts
Go to Google Contacts, click Import in the left menu, and upload your VCF file. The contacts appear in Google Contacts, and from there they can sync to a phone signed in with the same Google account. Check a few contacts after import, before importing a large list.
Microsoft Outlook
Open Outlook, and go to File, then Open and Export, then Import and Export, then Import a vCard (.vcf). Select your VCF file, and follow the import prompts on your computer. Note that Outlook may display only a single contact from a multi-contact file in some views, so check the imported contacts in your Contacts folder after importing.
Menu labels can differ by device, app, and version, so follow the Import labels on your own device if they differ slightly from the steps above.
Troubleshooting before you import
Most conversion problems are spreadsheet problems, not VCF problems, so check the spreadsheet before converting again.
- Missing header row: Add a header row with Name, Phone, and Email, and make sure it is the very first row, with no title or blank row above it.
- Empty rows or columns: Remove completely empty rows and columns before converting, so they do not become empty cards or empty fields.
- Phone numbers changed by Excel: Check the phone column in the spreadsheet, and fix any leading zeros or reformatted numbers there, before converting.
- Accented names look wrong: Save the spreadsheet as CSV UTF-8 if your spreadsheet offers that option, then convert again, and check the first card.
- A card looks wrong after conversion: Fix the row in the original CSV file and convert again, rather than editing the VCF file by hand, so the spreadsheet stays as your master list.