How to Convert vCard to CSV on Mac: 3 Easy Ways

Jose Henline
time January 06, 2023 Preview 24.9K
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This article will show you how to convert VCF to CSV on Mac easily.

vCard, aka VCF (Virtual Contact File), is standard file format for storing contact information. vCard has two file extensions: .vcard and .vcf. Mac’s Contacts app can import and export VCF files. Sometimes there are situations where you need to convert VCF to a more common format like CSV (Comma-Separated Values). But a Mac computer doesn’t offer a built-in tool for this task.

Don’t worry. It’s actually not difficult to convert VCF to CSV on Mac. In this article, you will find three easy way to convert VCF to CSV on Mac. Thanks to the conversion, the contact data in a VCF file can be opened in a spreadsheet app or text editor and become usable for many apps.

 

Method 1. How to convert VCF to CSV on Mac with ContactsMate

You can easily convert VCF to CSV and other common formats using Cisdem ContactsMate, the best contact manager app for Mac. This application allows you to convert VCF to a CSV file at ease.

A single vCard can contain one or many contacts. With this app, you can effortlessly convert one or multiple vCards to CSV at once.

Easy steps on how to Convert VCF to CSV on Mac with ContactsMate

1. Download Cisdem ContactsMate and launch it.

Free Download

2. The first time you open it, click OK to access Mac contacts.

click OK

3. In the left sidebar, control-click On My Mac and choose New Group.

choose New Group

4. Click Import in the toolbar and import one or multiple VCF files.

5. Click Last Import in the sidebar, select all contacts there and drag them into the new group created.

6. Now control-click the new group and choose Export.

choose Export

7. To convert VCF to CSV on Mac, select CSV or CSV (Outlook) as the output format. Click Save.

select the CSV format to convert a VCF file to CSV

Now your VCF file is converted to CSV successfully. You can open the exported CSV file to check the conversion result. The CSV file can be opened by almost all spreadsheet and database management apps such as Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, and LibreOffice Calc. In the CSV file, you will find that each piece of contact information (such as name or address) is in the column that it should be in.

Tips

  • In step 7, you can customize the conversion if needed. By default, the exported CSV file will display the contact name in one column. You can set it to display the name in two columns (First Name and Last Name).
  • To convert VCF to Excel, just select Excel as the export format in step 7.
  • Sometimes, you convert a VCF file to a CSV file so that you can import the contact data to certain apps or services such as an email app. Some apps and services may require you to prepare the CSV file to ensure a successful import. In such a case, try making sure that the columns in the CSV file have appropriate headings.
  • Once the conversion is done, you may want to delete the new group created in step 3 and the contacts within it. To do this, click the new group in the sidebar, select all contacts there, press the Delete key and click the Remove from group button.

Also read: How to Export Mac Contacts to CSV and Excel with 1 Click

Method 2. How to convert VCF to CSV on Mac with Google Contacts

Google Contacts is a web-based contact management tool from Google. The tool works well as long as you have a Gmail account. It offers a number of useful features and can help you convert VCF to CSV on Mac.

The best thing is that this method is available for both Mac and Windows users. But the downside is that your Gmail contacts will get mixed up with contacts in the VCF files. If you don’t mind this, you can follow the steps below to convert VCF to CSV on Mac.

Steps on how to convert VCF to CSV on Mac with Google Contacts

  1. Open your web browser and go to https://contacts.google.com/.
  2. Sign in to Google Contacts using your Gmail account.
  3. On the left panel, click Import.
  4. Click Select file, choose a VCF file and click Open.
  5. Under the Labels , find the imported contacts (labeled with the date of import).
  6. On the left panel, click Export.
  7. From the drop-down list, choose the imported contacts.
  8. Choose Google CSV or Outlook CSV as the target format. Click Export.
    export vcf to csv via google

This method can only handle one VCF file at a time. You can’t select multiple VCF files in step 4. If you have two or more vCards to convert, you need to do it one by one and repeat the steps above.

Another point that you need to note is that the size of vCard file should be under 20 MB. Otherwise, the file couldn’t be converted to CSV.

Method 3. How to use an online converter to convert vCard to CSV on Mac

There are also free online tools dedicated to converting VCF file to CSV or Excel on Mac. The web page https://tribulant.com/vcard-csv/ is one of them. This VCF to CSV converter is free to use and easily accessible. It offers three output formats: CSV, Gmail (CSV) and LDIF. When converting VCF to CSV, it lets you choose to separate values with tab, semicolon or comma.

This vCard to CSV converter is easy to use, providing you with the options that you may need. Note that it doesn’t support files that are larger than 8 MB. Below are steps on how to convert vCard to CSV on Mac using an online converter.

Steps on How to convert VCF to CSV on Mac with an online converter

  1. Go to https://tribulant.com/vcard-csv/.
  2. Click Choose File.click Choose File
  3. Select the vCard file that you’re going to convert.
  4. Choose CSV as the output format.
  5. Choose to use Comma to separate values.
  6. (Optional but recommended) Enable Add header line.
  7. Click convert to convert VCF to CSV on Mac.

In step 5, if you choose the option Tab or Semicolon, all data (such first name, last name, email address, mobile phone, etc.) will appear in one single column, which may cause inconvenience.

Another good choice is https://www.aconvert.com/document/vcf-to-csv/. In addition to vCard, it enables you to convert VCF to Excel. It also offers an informative comparison between the VCF format and the CSV format.

VCF vs. CSV

After reading the instructions above, you must have a clear mind of how to convert VCF to CSV on Mac. For your convenience, we provide you a comparison chart between VCF and CSV. You can learn more about the two commonly used formats.

 

VCF

CSV

Full Name

Virtual Contact File

Comma Separated Values

File Extension

.vcf, .vcard

.csv

Introduction

VCF, also know as vCard, is a standard file format for electronic business cards. VCF files are plain and store contacts information, including name, phone number, address, email, image, etc.

A CSV file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. It looks like a spreadsheet and can contain thousands of lines with different fields. Since CSV files are enable to store large contacts information, they are commonly used to exchange data for individuals and companies.

Benefits

The VCF files are easily to read and you can share contacts information to others conveniently using this format. In addition, vCard can also store contacts photos, audio clips, etc.

As a plain text file, CSV is smaller in size and easier to edit. This format is supported by most programs and is widely used to transfer data between different systems. It is an easily compatible format.

How to open on Mac

On a Mac, vCard Explorer and Address Book can open, view and edit VCF files.

CSV files can be used by many spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, Google Spreadsheets.

Contacts app on Mac

Contacts app on Mac an export and import vCards.

Contacts app on Mac doesn’t support CSV files.

Bonus tip: How to manually create a CSV file

CSV files can be created in many programs like Excel, Google Sheets, and Notepad, etc. Let’s look at how to manually create a CSV file with Excel.

1.Open Microsoft Excel. Type the title of the table in the first row of the spreadsheet. (For example: name, email address, phone number, etc.)

2. Enter the contacts data in each column of the spreadsheet.

3. Click on File and choose Save as. Select Comma-separated Values (.csv) from the Save as type drop down menu.

4. Type in the CSV file name and save it on your computer.

Conclusion

Some platforms and apps require CSV format. Above are the three common ways to convert VCF to CSV on Mac. If you want to easily get the conversion done and effectively manage your contacts, Cisdem ContactsMate is definitely the best solution. It allows you to convert multiple VCF files to CSV at a time and convert Mac vCard to Excel, PDF, HTML, TXT, Numbers. In comparison, converting VCF to CSV with Google Contacts or Online converters can only export one VCF file to CSV at a time, and they are more available for VCF files with small size.

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Jose Henline
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Jose specializes in reviews, how-to guides, top lists, etc. on PDF, data recovery and multi-media. On his spare time, he likes to travel or challenge some extreme sports.

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