.vcard File Extension
.vcard contact file contains, which apps open it, how Poly supports it, and when to use the more common .vcf extension. File extension details for .vcard
Partial Support| File type | vCard contact file |
|---|---|
| MIME type | |
| Encoding | Line-oriented text; UTF-8 in vCard 4.0, with legacy encodings possible in older versions |
| Operating systems | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android |
| Opens with | Apple Contacts, Google Contacts, Microsoft Outlook, Trusted text editors |
| Poly support | Partial. Poly stores .vcard files and recognizes them when classified as text/vcard. |
| Indexed by Poly | Partial. Files are searchable by name, but contact fields are not currently content-indexed. |
| Preview in Poly | Yes. A recognized vCard opens as readable source text, not as an imported contact. |
| Poly agent | No. The Poly agent cannot currently read .vcard contents directly. |
What kind of file is a .vcard?
A .vcard file stores contact information in the vCard format. It can contain names, phone numbers, email and postal addresses, organizations, photos, notes, and other directory fields. One file may hold one contact or several. IANA registers .vcard and the much more common .vcf suffix for the text/vcard MIME type.1
There is no fixed magic number. A sensible content check looks for a card beginning with BEGIN:VCARD, a VERSION property such as 3.0 or 4.0, and a closing END:VCARD. Those text markers are useful evidence, but a vCard-aware parser must still validate properties, escaping, and folded lines.2
.vcard file to .vcf changes only its filename. It may improve application compatibility, but it does not convert malformed data or change the vCard version.How do I open a .vcard on my computer?
Use a contacts application if you intend to import the entries. Apple Contacts on macOS imports vCards, while Google Contacts and Microsoft Outlook document vCard import using the .vcf spelling.345 If one of those applications does not recognize .vcard, make a copy with the .vcf suffix and try that copy.
A trusted text editor can inspect the source without adding anyone to your address book. Check how many BEGIN:VCARD blocks the file contains before importing it, because a single file can create multiple contacts. Keep the original until names with accents, repeated phone numbers, labels, photos, and notes have transferred correctly.
Poly support for .vcard
Poly stores .vcard files and makes them searchable by filename. When a file is correctly identified as text/vcard, Poly lets you inspect its readable source without importing it into an address book.
Support is not contact-aware. Poly does not render a formatted contact card, index names and phone numbers inside the file, or make those fields available to the Poly agent. Because the extension has no magic number and filename inference can vary, preserve the text/vcard media type when moving the file between systems.
History of .vcard
vCard 3.0 became an IETF specification with RFC 2426 in September 1998. The current vCard 4.0 specification, RFC 6350, followed in August 2011 and requires UTF-8.26 The newer RFC also registered .vcard alongside .vcf, but application documentation and export interfaces usually present .vcf to users.
The filename does not identify the vCard version. Inspect the VERSION line in each card. Older formats remain common and are similar, but they are not strictly compatible with vCard 4.0.1
Working with .vcard and alternatives
Choose an output based on the receiving system:
| Format | Best use | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
.vcf | Broad contact-app interchange | Same vCard data, but app support still varies by vCard version |
| CSV | Reviewing or mapping contacts in a spreadsheet | Repeated numbers, labels, photos, and structured addresses may flatten poorly |
| jCard JSON | Standards-based JSON APIs | Consumers need jCard support; arbitrary JSON is not equivalent |
Use a vCard-aware converter when changing versions or exporting to CSV. Editing only the VERSION property is not a conversion, because property syntax, value types, character handling, and supported fields differ. For sensitive contacts, remove unnecessary fields and verify the converted result before sharing it.
Footnotes
- Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
text/vcardMedia Type Registration. The registration lists.vcfand.vcard, no magic number, and older media types that are now deprecated. ↩ ↩2 - Internet Engineering Task Force. RFC 6350: vCard Format Specification. The standard defines vCard 4.0 structure, UTF-8 encoding, line folding, version handling, and security considerations. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
- Apple Support. Import Contacts into Contacts on Mac. ↩
- Google Contacts Help. Import Your Contacts into Google Contacts. ↩
- Microsoft Support. Import vCards to Outlook Contacts. ↩
- Internet Engineering Task Force. RFC 2426: vCard MIME Directory Profile. This September 1998 RFC standardized vCard 3.0. ↩