This article will show you how to convert VCF to CSV on Mac and Windows PC easily.
vCard (with the extension .vcf) is also known as VCF (Virtual Contact File). It’s a standard file format for storing contact information. A single vCard can contain one or multiple contacts. Sometimes there are situations where you need to convert VCF to a more commonly supported 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 or Windows PC. In this article, you will find easy ways to convert VCF to CSV on Mac and PC. Thanks to the conversion, the contact data in a VCF file can be opened in a spreadsheet app or text editor and be used in many apps or services.
Cisdem ContactsMate
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If you are a Mac user, you can easily convert VCF to CSV and other common formats using Cisdem ContactsMate, the best contact manager app for Mac. This app allows you to do the conversion with ease and customizability. With this app, you can also convert one or multiple vCards to CSV at a time.
Below are the steps.
1. Download and install ContactsMate.
2. The first time you open it, click OK in the message that appears.
3. In the sidebar on the left, control-click On My Mac and choose New Group.
4. Click Import in the toolbar to import one or multiple VCF files.
5. Click Last Import in the sidebar. Select all contacts there with Command-A and drag them into the new group created.
6. Control-click the new group and choose Export.
7. To convert VCF to CSV on Mac, select CSV or CSV (Outlook) as the output format. Click Save.
In step 7, you can customize the conversion if needed.
Now your VCF file is converted to CSV successfully. You can open the exported CSV file to check the conversion result. You will find that each piece of contact information (such as name or address) is in the column that it should be in.
To convert VCF to Excel, just select Excel as the out format in step 7.
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 Delete button. Now, click the new group in the sidebar again, press the Delete key and click the Delete button.
Also read: How to Export Mac Contacts to CSV and Excel with 1 Click
If you are a Windows user, this method is for you. Included in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and Vista, Windows Contacts can help you with the conversion, because its Export feature supports the CSV format. This method is easy. However, without knowing a trick, you will find that this method cannot work. I’ll tell you what the trick is.
1. On your PC, right-click the VCF file. Choose Open with > Windows Contacts.
2. Click Add to my contacts, in the window that appears. Click OK, and then click OK again.
3. On the taskbar, click the search icon 
. Search for wab.exe. Click wab.exe, which will open Windows Contacts.
4. You will find the contact you just added. It has the .contact file extension. Select this contact.
5. Click the Export option. Choose CSV in the dialog that appears. Click Export.
6. Choose a location to save the CSV. Click Next. Give it a name. Click Save.
7. Select the fields you wish to export. Click Finish.
When the conversion is complete, a message will appear to inform you.
If you directly move the VCF file to Windows Contacts and then do the conversion, you won’t succeed. The trick is to add the VCF file to Windows Contacts first. The Export feature only works with files with the .contact extension.
If your VCF file has multiple contacts, you need to add them one by one in step 2. And they will appear as individual contacts in Windows Contacts. If you select them all in step 4, you can convert them into a single CSV file.
Google Contacts is a web-based contact management tool from Google. It offers a number of useful features and can help you convert VCF to CSV on Mac and Windows computer. Note that using Google Contacts requires you to have a Gmail account.
The downside of this method is that you can only convert one vCard at a time. If there are many vCards, this method is not efficient. Another downside is that you can’t convert more than 3,000 contacts at a time. Otherwise the conversion will fail.
1. In your browser, go to https://contacts.google.com/.
2. Sign in with your Gmail account.
3. In the Fix and manage section, click Import.
4. Click Select file, select a VCF file, and click Open. Click Import.
5. Click the Export icon 
in the upper-right part of the page.
6. Click the down arrow icon. In the Labels section, choose the contacts you just imported.
7. Select Google CSV or Outlook CSV as the export format. Click Export.
After exporting your vCard to CSV, you can delete the contacts imported to Google Contacts if you don’t need them there.
There are also free online tools dedicated to converting VCF file to CSV or Excel. 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 also provides users with customizability. However, it doesn’t support VCF files that are larger than 8 MB.
As mentioned, there’s customizability. This converter provides three options to separate values: Tab, Semicolon, and Comma. But if you choose the option Tab or Semicolon, all contact information (such first name, last name, email address and mobile phone) will appear in the first column in the exported CSV file, which is likely to make this CSV file invalid when you import it to an app or service. The option Comma is recommended.
Another converter available is https://www.aconvert.com/document/vcf-to-csv/. In addition to CSV, it enables you to convert VCF to Excel.
Once the conversion is complete, you can check the conversion result. You can view the exported CSV file using a spreadsheet or database management app like the following ones.
One of the most common reasons to convert a VCF file to a CSV file is to be able to import the contact information stored in this VCF to an app or service that supports CSV but not VCF. If so, you need to make sure that that exported CSV file is valid for import.
The good news is that the methods talked about in this article provide good conversion results.
Some apps or services supports importing contact information from CSV files but not vCards. Therefore, a conversion is needed. This article talks about how to convert VCF to CSV on Mac and Windows in different ways. I hope it’s helpful. The first two methods can work offline. The last two methods require the internet connection. If you want to convert large vCards or convert multiple vCards at once, the first method is the best choice.
Rosa has worked in Mac software industry for more than eight years. She believes that the purpose of software is to make life better and work more productively. In addition to writing, Rosa is also an avid runner.
C.M.
Hey there! Just finished reading your awesome article on converting vCards to CSV. Loved the variety of methods you covered! Quick question: have you come across any challenges or limitations with any of these methods, especially when dealing with large vCard files? Thanks for the helpful tips!