Would you like to know how to create and share a VCF vCard file? It's probably easier than you think!
Since we just launched our brand new vCard feature at Letsignit, we thought it was the perfect time to go back to the basics of it. Here's everything you need to know about vCards (also called "virtual cards")!
Definition: What is a vCard?
To put it simply: the vCard is a text file with the .vcf extension (Virtual Contact File). Created by the Versit Consortium (an initiative involving Apple Computer, AT&T, IBM, and Siemens) in 1990, the vCard was intended to become the new virtual business card of a world transitioning to the digital age. The term vCard stands for: "v" for virtual or Versit (from the Versit Consortium) and "card" for, well, card.
What is the purpose of a vCard?
This universal format makes it easier to exchange contact details between different systems and applications.
Versatile and perfectly integrated into many modern technological tools (smartphones, email software, different operating systems, etc.), these files are now widely used by millions of people.
What information can a vCard contain?
The concept of the vCard is quite simple: providing a simple, yet standardized structure to easily store and share various personal or professional data.
A vCard typically includes the following information:
Full name and title;
Contact details (phone, email, postal address);
Professional information (company, role);
Social media links;
Photo and logo.
And sometimes, depending on the case, additional information can be added, such as:
➔ Gender;
➔ The type of email software used;
➔ The language used;
➔ Geographic coordinates;
➔ Tags;
➔ The date of birth;
➔ Additional notes;
➔ Etc.
The person creating the card just needs to choose the information they want.
For example, at Letsignit, we systematically include the following information in the vCards of our clients' employees (which they can later choose to keep or hide):
➔ Last name;
➔ First name;
➔ Company name;
➔ Phone number(s);
➔ Job title;
➔ Email;
➔ Profile photo.
What is a VCF contact?
A VCF file (Virtual Contact File) is a standardized format for encoding and sharing a person's contact information. In reality, a VCF contact and a vCard are (almost) the same thing.
The internal structure of the .vcf file consists of fields that are delimited by specific tags.
The content of a VCF file always starts with "BEGIN:VCARD" and ends with "END:VCARD." Between these tags, you will find lines like "PROPERTY:VALUE".
For example:
« N:LastName;FirstName » for the full name ;
« TEL:+33123456789 » for the phone number ;
« EMAIL:address@email.com » for the email address ;
« ROLE:Content Factory Manager » for the person's role within the company ;
« LANG:fr-FR » for the contact's spoken language ;
« BDAY:19900109 » for the date of birth (in YYYYMMDD format) ;
Etc.
To find out what information you can add, you can refer to the vCard Wikipedia page, which is very comprehensive on this aspect.
A bit more technical info: VCF files can also include more complex data, such as photos or logos, encoded in base64. Additionally, compatibility between different systems is ensured by using the "Quoted-Printable" encoding for special characters.
What is the difference between a vCard and a VCF file?
Although often confused, vCard and VCF do not mean EXACTLY the same thing. The "vCard" is a virtual business card created as a set of data following a specific structure, while "VCF" represents the file extension (.vcf) associated with the vCard.
How to open and export a VCF file (vCard)?
Open a VCF file
Wondering what you can use to open a vCard file? It's quite simple. It just depends on what exactly you mean by "open":
If you want to open a VCF file to edit it, then a simple text editor—like Notepad on PC and TextEdit on Mac—can allow you to open and edit it;
If you want to import a VCF file to your smartphone or computer to add it to your contacts, selecting the VCF file should launch your Contacts app or another default app to import the contact.
How to import a .vcf file into Microsoft Outlook and Gmail?
Microsoft Outlook: Import the file by going to File > Open and Export > Import;
Gmail: To import your VCF file, go to the "Contacts" app > Import > Select a file.
How to export a VCF file?
Just like importing, exporting VCF files is quite simple. Here's how to do it:
On PC/Microsoft Outlook:
Open Outlook and go to Contacts;
Select the contacts to export;
Right-click on them;
Choose "Forward Contact";
Then select "As Business Card";
Just send it to yourself or to the person who wants to download it!
On Mac (default app):
Open the "Contacts" app;
Select the contact(s) you wish to export;
Right-click on them and choose "Export vCard...";
Choose the file location and name it;
Click "Finish."
On Gmail:
Go to contacts.google.com;
Select the contacts to export;
Click "More > Export";
Choose "vCard" as the export format;
Click "Export";
The .vcf file will be downloaded.
How to share a vCard?
To share a vCard, you have several options:
You can directly share the .vcf file;
You can share a contact from your default contact app, whether on your computer or mobile;
On iPhone, you can also bring two devices together and confirm the share when a notification appears (this is the "NameDrop" feature, available only from iOS 17).
At Letsignit: our vCard feature allows our clients to generate vCards with a single click for all of their employees. Once a vCard is created, a unique URL and a unique QR code are generated. You can then, if needed, share your unique URL, your QR code, or add your vCard link directly to your email signature templates!
What software to open a VCF file?
To edit a .vcf file simply, a text editor (Notepad, TextEdit) can do the job. However, to go further in manipulating and viewing your vCard, some specialized software might interest you.
Here are some free options:
SysTools vCard Viewer (PC): Free, it allows you to view contact details and associated photos;
Turgs vCard Viewer (PC): Offers an intuitive interface to quickly browse multiple VCF files;
vCard Viewer (Mac): An all-in-one solution for managing your personal and professional contacts;
Contacts VCF (Android): An app that allows you to manage your contacts and edit the .vcf file directly on your smartphone.
How to read contacts in a VCF file?
To extract data from a .vcf document, you can simply open it via a text editor (as explained earlier). However, this approach can be impractical for large volumes of contacts.
The free tools listed in the previous section can make reading this information easier. For simple analysis, you can also use your email tool (e.g. Outlook, Gmail, or iCloud) and drop your file directly there.
For more in-depth analysis, a good Python script or some specialized (and paid) software can help you go even further.
How to create a vCard?
You can create your vCard in VCF format in several ways:
By using Letsignit! (This is the simple, professional, and hassle-free option). Our vCard feature in the email signature tool allows you to generate a vCard in one click for all your employees;
You can fill out your own information sheet ("Contacts > My Profile" on iPhone and "Contacts > [Your Profile Name]" on Android);
On Outlook and Gmail: You can create a new contact and fill out the various fields. You can later export this information in .vcf format;
On your computer, you can also go to sites likevcardmaker.com to easily generate a vCard.
For those who want to take it a step further and create their own vCard by hand, you can also build it from scratch using a simple text editor.
It is recommended to avoid encoded special characters (e.g. “/” and “?”) as they can make direct reading difficult.
How to read a vCard file?
In reality, it's very simple. Just open your .vcf file in a basic text editor, then look for key tags like "BEGIN:VCARD" and "END:VCARD" that delimit each contact.
The essential information will be between these tags and identified by specific prefixes:
➔ "FN:" for the full name;
➔ "TEL:" for phone numbers;
➔ "EMAIL:" for email addresses;
➔ "N:LastName;FirstName" for the full name;
➔ "TEL:" for the phone number;
➔ "EMAIL:" for the email address;
➔ "ROLE:" for the person's role within the company;
➔ "LANG:fr-FR" for the contact's spoken language;
➔ "BDAY:19900109" for the birthday (in YYYYMMDD format);
➔ Etc.
Feel free to use custom scripts to automate the extraction of specific information from large vCard files.
How to digitize a business card?
Have a business card and want to turn it into a virtual card? Here, too, several options are available to you:
You can automatically generate the vCards of your company's employees to share them as links or QR codes. This is, for example, the feature we offer at Letsignit (in addition to allowing you to share your vCards directly in your email signatures!);
You can create a virtual card yourself by using an app or creating your own VCF file.
Alternatively, you can digitize your existing physical cards using an app like covve. This approach is useful if you want to maintain the aesthetic of your current business card or if you receive many cards from people you meet;
Lastly, there's the intermediate step: where you keep your physical card but add a QR code. With a scan of this QR code on a smartphone, someone will be redirected to a virtual business card you've created beforehand.
How to convert your vCard to a new format?
How to convert a VCF format to CSV?
It is absolutely possible to convert a vCard in .vcf format to a .csv file.
Here are the steps to do this easily:
Open the VCF document with a basic text editor (e.g., Notepad on PC, TextEdit on Mac);
Copy the content and paste it into a spreadsheet such as Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice;
Use the "Text to Columns" function to separate the data;
Select the appropriate delimiter (comma or semicolon);
Adjust the column headers as needed;
Finally, save it all as a CSV file.
And that's it!
To automate the process, you can also use online tools like AnyConv or CloudConvert. If you need to perform this operation regularly, consider creating a Python script (see our section “How to read contacts from a VCF file”), to automate the whole thing and take your data structuring even further.
How to convert a VCF format to vCard Excel?
To transform your contacts into an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet, several methods are available to you.
You can use a specialized software to greatly simplify the process. Tools like VCF Converter or Excel VCF Wizard allow for fast and accurate data migration;
Alternatively, you can opt for a manual approach:
Open your .vcf file with a text editor;
Simply copy its content and paste it into an Excel document (or Google Sheets);
Use the "Text to Columns" function to separate the information;
And that's it, your Excel or Google Sheets file is formatted and ready to use!
Of course, make sure to check the integrity of the data after this conversion.
What about Letsignit's vCard feature?
Letsignit's new vCard feature is designed to simplify, or even automate, the sharing of employees' vCards within a company. With this feature, you can generate vCards for all your employees with a single click, without having to edit text files or create complex Python code. Sharing is then easy and fast, via a QR code or directly integrated into employees' email signatures.
No more complicated tasks to ensure the correct information is shared! The contact details are automatically updated based on your Active Directory information. No need to manually integrate a .csv file into your database every time a phone number or address changes: all vCards are updated in real time.
Guillaume is the Content Factory Manager at Letsignit! Through words, he creates various types of content (textual, videos, and in the most extreme cases, telepathic) to increase Letsignit's visibility on the web. The legend has it that at the age of 3, Guillaume built his first multichannel web marketing strategy using a dictionary, a baby bottle, and a little ink. We're not sure if it's true, but that's the story going around...
About Letsignit
Letsignit is an email signature management solution that enables organizations to transform their employees' email signatures into a powerful 1-1 engagement medium for their brands and campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
1
What is a VCF file?
If you haven't understood yet, it might be because we haven't used the right words. So, here's another explanation: A .vcf file is a text document that can be read by different devices. Once imported onto your smartphone or into the appropriate app on your computer, your VCF file appears as one or more contacts. This is the famous vCard! The vCard exists as a file with the ".vcf" extension and can be read by most devices, making it very easy to share.
2
Can you create a vCard for free?
Absolutely! There are many free options available to generate your personalized vCard. Here are the main ones:
1 - As we mentioned, you can create your .vcf file yourself using a text editor, and of course, this option is completely free!
2 - Alternatively, you can also use online platforms like vcardmaker.com to generate it easily in just a few clicks.
3 - You can also use your email software (Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) to create a contact with your name, which you can then share as a .vcf file.
4 - Finally, you can use the native application on your computer (Contacts on Mac, People on PC) or on your smartphone to set up your personal card. Then, simply share this card with those interested!
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