ToolyWhich download to pick
Excel (.xlsx)
The safest choice for Excel. Phone numbers are stored as text, so the + and every digit stay put, whatever your computer's region settings are. Double-click and it opens.
CSV
The universal format for CRMs, mail-merge and scripts. UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, so Excel shows accents correctly, comma-separated and fully quoted. Columns: Name, First Name, Last Name, Phone 1…, Email…, Company, Note.
Google CSV
Uses the column names Google Contacts' importer recognises (Given Name, Family Name, Phone 1 - Type, Phone 1 - Value…), keeping each number's Mobile / Home / Work label.
vCard 3.0
Back to .vcf, cleaned: 2.1 files come out as UTF-8 3.0, numbers get their country code, duplicates are merged. Useful when an old Android export shows garbled names on an iPhone.
Getting a .vcf out of your phone or account
iPhone
- On the phone (iOS 16 and later): Contacts → Lists, touch and hold a list such as All iCloud, then Export.
- On a computer: icloud.com/contacts, select all (Ctrl/Cmd + A), then Export vCard from the menu.
Android
- Google Contacts app: Fix & manage → Export to file.
- Samsung Contacts: ☰ → Manage contacts → Import or export contacts → Export.
- Both often write vCard 2.1, which this page decodes.
Google Contacts on the web
- contacts.google.com → Export, pick a label or all contacts, then choose vCard.
- A Google CSV export works here too. Drop it in and download a clean .xlsx.
Many single-contact files?
Shared contacts often arrive as one .vcf per person. Select them all in the file picker (or drop them together) and they're merged into one sheet. No need to combine them on the command line first.
Opening the CSV in Excel without breaking the numbers
Double-clicking a CSV lets Excel guess each column's type. It sees +5511987654321, decides it's a number, drops the plus and shows 5.51199E+12. On a computer set to a comma-decimal region it may also cram every column into column A, because it expects semicolons. Three ways to avoid both:
- Download the Excel (.xlsx) version above. Nothing to configure.
- In Excel: Data → From Text/CSV, choose the file, click Transform Data, and set the phone columns to Text before loading.
- In Google Sheets: File → Import → Upload, then untick Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas.
What is carried over, and what isn't
Each contact keeps its name (full name plus first and last, taken from the vCard's N field when present), every phone number with its type, every email, the company and the note. Photos, postal addresses, birthdays and social profiles are left out. They are what makes big .vcf files big, and a spreadsheet cell can't hold a photo anyway. Escaped characters (\, \; \n) are turned back into real commas, semicolons and line breaks.
Common problems
| What you see | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
Names like =C3=A3 or João | A vCard 2.1 file with QUOTED-PRINTABLE text, or a UTF-8 file read as another encoding. Both are decoded here, so the CSV has the real letters. |
| The CSV has only one contact | Some tools export one .vcf per person. Select all the files at once and they're merged. |
| All data sits in column A | Your Excel expects semicolons. Download the .xlsx, or use Data → From Text/CSV with comma as the delimiter. |
| Numbers flagged "check this number" | Stored without a country code and not valid for the default country selected. Pick the country most of your contacts are from; numbers that still fail are exported as typed. |
| Fewer rows than contacts on the phone | "Merge duplicate numbers" combined cards that share the same number, adding any extra emails to the kept card. Untick it to keep every card as its own row. |
Need your WhatsApp contacts in a spreadsheet? A .vcf only holds what's in your phone's address book. For the people in your WhatsApp (members of a group you're in, or chats you've had), Tooly, our Chrome extension, exports your own WhatsApp Web contacts to CSV or Excel on your device. Chrome Web Store.
Frequently asked questions
Is my .vcf file uploaded?
No. The vCard is read and converted inside your browser tab and the CSV or Excel file is created on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.
What happens to photos, addresses and birthdays?
They are left out. The converter keeps names, every phone number, email addresses, company and notes, which is what spreadsheets and contact importers use. Photos in particular are large encoded blobs that a spreadsheet cell cannot display.
Why do my numbers look wrong when I open the CSV in Excel?
Excel converts +5511987654321 into a number, drops the plus and shows 5.51199E+12. Download the Excel (.xlsx) version instead, where numbers are stored as text, or import the CSV with Data → From Text/CSV and set the phone columns to Text.
Can I convert several .vcf files at once?
Yes. Select or drop all the .vcf files together and they are merged into one list, with duplicate numbers merged if that option is on.