CSV to VCF converter: turn a spreadsheet of contacts into a vCard file
A CSV to VCF converter turns a spreadsheet of contacts into a vCard (.vcf) file, the format iPhone, Android, Google Contacts and Outlook import. Paste a CSV or upload an Excel file above: name, phone, email and company columns are matched for you, phone numbers can be written in international format, and you download one contacts.vcf.
Used for numbers written without a + country code.
Sample result
Your CSV became 1 vCard with 1 phone number and 1 email.
- Contacts
- 1 vCard
- Phone numbers
- 1
- Emails
- 1
What this means for you
Import the .vcf into iPhone, Android or Outlook in one go instead of typing contacts by hand.
- Matches name, phone, email and company columns
- Optional E.164 formatting for phone numbers
- One .vcf file for iPhone, Android or Outlook
- Reads Google, Outlook and iCloud CSV exports
- vCard
- CSV
- Contacts
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
How do I convert CSV to VCF?
- Paste your contacts as CSV with a header row, or upload a .csv, .xlsx or .ods file up to 25 MB. Exports from Google Contacts, Outlook and most CRMs work as they are.
- Leave Write phone numbers in international format on and pick the country most numbers are from, so numbers like (415) 555-2671 become +14155552671 and dial from any phone.
- Press Convert to VCF. Check Which column is which and change any column the tool guessed wrong; the file rebuilds as you change it.
- Download contacts.vcf and open it on your phone, or import it in iCloud, Google Contacts or Outlook.
Example
- You enter
- A CSV with a header row and one contact: Jane Doe, Example Ltd,
+14155550132,jane@acme.example, with international format on. - You get
- A contacts.vcf with 1 vCard 3.0 entry holding the name, company, the phone as
TEL;TYPE=CELL,VOICE:+14155550132and the email, with 0 empty rows skipped. - Limits
- Uploaded CSV or Excel files can be up to 25 MB; there is no cap on contacts, and the file never leaves your browser.
How do I convert CSV to VCF?
Upload or paste the CSV above and download the .vcf. The first row has to name the columns; the tool reads headers like First Name, Last Name, Mobile Phone, E-mail Address and Company in English, plus the exact layouts Google Contacts and Outlook export, including Google's Phone 1 - Value columns with several numbers separated by :::.
Each row becomes one vCard 3.0 entry, the version defined in RFC 2426 and the one iPhone and Google export themselves. Commas, semicolons and line breaks inside a value are escaped, and long lines are folded at 75 bytes as the standard requires, so names with accents and multi-line notes come through intact.
How do I import CSV contacts to my iPhone?
Convert the CSV to a .vcf first, because iPhone and iCloud import vCards, not CSV. Then send the .vcf to the phone by AirDrop, email or Files and open it: iOS offers Add All Contacts. To add them to every device on the account at once, use Import vCard in Contacts on iCloud.com, as described in Apple's iCloud guide.
On Android, open the .vcf from Files or import it in the Contacts app. Google Contacts on the web imports both CSV and vCard, as its import help explains, so a .vcf made here works there too.
How do I convert an Excel contact list to vCard?
Upload the .xlsx file directly. The tool reads the first sheet in your browser, numbers included, so phone numbers Excel stored as numbers come through as digits instead of being dropped. Excel can't save a .vcf itself; its Save As list covers CSV but not vCard.
If the sheet has a leading 0 stripped from phone numbers, which Excel does to numbers typed into a General cell, the international-format option can't recover it. Format the column as Text, retype or paste the numbers, and convert again.
What's the difference between CSV and VCF?
A CSV is a plain table, one contact per row, defined loosely by RFC 4180; every app names its columns differently. A VCF is a list of vCards, where each field is labelled (TEL;TYPE=CELL, EMAIL, ORG) and a contact can have any number of phones and emails. Phones and contact apps import vCards, while spreadsheets and CRMs prefer CSV.
To go the other way, from a phone's export back to a spreadsheet, use the VCF to CSV converter.
Should I import contacts as CSV or VCF?
| VCF (vCard) | CSV | |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone and iCloud import | Yes | No |
| Android Contacts app | Yes | Via Google Contacts |
| Google Contacts and Outlook | Yes | Yes, with their own column names |
| Several phones or emails per contact | Yes, each labelled | One column each |
| Edit in a spreadsheet | No | Yes |
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Sales teams
- Load a lead list from a CRM export onto a work phone so incoming calls show a name, without syncing the whole CRM.
- Event organisers
- Turn an attendee spreadsheet into contacts for the staff phones on the day, with phone numbers already in + format.
- Small businesses
- Move customer contacts from a sheet or an old system into iCloud or Google Contacts in one import.
- Recruiters
- Add a shortlist of candidates from an ATS export to a phone before a day of calls.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- It converts what's in the sheet. It can't tell you whether a number still works, is a mobile, or reaches the same person.
- One address per contact: Outlook exports with both home and business address columns are joined into one.
- Photos, groups and custom fields aren't carried over; vCards from here contain text fields only.
- Phone formatting uses one default country for numbers written without a + code; numbers from elsewhere stay as written.
- Legacy .xls workbooks aren't read; save them as .xlsx or CSV first.
Common questions
- How do I convert CSV to VCF?
- Paste or upload the CSV above, check the column matches, and download contacts.vcf. It runs in your browser, so the contact list isn't uploaded anywhere.
- How to convert CSV to VCF in Excel?
- Excel can't save as VCF. Save the sheet as CSV, or upload the .xlsx here as it is, and download the .vcf from this tool.
- How to convert CSV to VCF on iPhone?
- Convert it here first, then AirDrop, email or save the .vcf to Files and open it on the iPhone; iOS offers to add all the contacts. iPhone can't import a CSV directly.
- How to convert CSV to VCF in Android?
- Make the .vcf here, copy it to the phone and open it with the Contacts app, or import the CSV or VCF in Google Contacts on the web so it syncs to the phone.
- What is a VCF file?
- A vCard file: a plain-text contact format with labelled fields for name, phones, emails, company, address and notes. One .vcf can hold one contact or thousands.
- Are VCF files safe?
- A .vcf is plain text and can't run code, so opening one is generally safe. Only import files you expect, since a vCard can carry links and contact details from anyone.
- Can I open a VCF file in Excel?
- Not usefully; Excel shows the raw vCard lines. Convert it with the VCF to CSV converter instead, which gives one row per contact.
Sources
Well formatted is not the same as reachable.
This tool fixes how numbers are written. It cannot tell you whether a line is mobile, landline or VoIP, or which carrier holds it. That takes a live carrier lookup, which is what the Email + Phone plan adds.
- Upload a CSV up to 100,000 rows with an email or phone column
- 5,000 live carrier lookups a month: carrier name and real line type
- Emails in the same file get a real SMTP mailbox check
One plan, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.