How to export contacts from your phone as a vCard file
On iPhone, share a contact and choose to send it as a file; for everything at once, export from iCloud on a computer. On Android, use the Contacts app’s Export option, which writes a .vcf file to your device storage. A .vcf is plain text and opens in any contacts app.
Takes: 5 minutes
One contact, on either platform
- 1
Open the contact and share it
On iPhone, open the contact, scroll down and tap Share Contact. On Android, open the contact, tap the menu and choose Share. Both produce a .vcf file attached to whatever you send it through.
- 2
Choose a destination that keeps the file
Mail and Files keep the attachment as a file. Some messaging apps render the contact as a card instead and the recipient cannot save the underlying file, which is a common surprise.
Your whole address book, on iPhone
iOS has no bulk export on the device itself, which is the step most guides skip past.
- 3
Make sure Contacts is syncing to iCloud
Settings, your name, iCloud, then confirm Contacts is on. Without this the website will not have your contacts.
- 4
Open iCloud.com on a computer and go to Contacts
Sign in with the same Apple account. A phone browser will usually redirect you to the app, so this step genuinely needs a computer.
- 5
Select all, then Export vCard
Use the settings or more menu and choose Export vCard. You get a single .vcf containing every contact.
Your whole address book, on Android
- 6
Open the Contacts app and find Export
In Google Contacts it is under the menu, then Settings, then Export. Samsung’s own Contacts app puts it under Manage contacts.
- 7
Choose the account to export from
Contacts can be split across a Google account, the device itself and the SIM. Exporting one account silently leaves out the others, which is why an export sometimes comes back smaller than expected.
- 8
Save the .vcf file
It lands in device storage, usually Downloads, from where you can mail it or copy it off.
Common questions
What is inside a .vcf file?
Plain text in the vCard format: name, phone numbers, emails, addresses and sometimes a photo encoded as text. You can open one in a text editor and read it, which is also why you should not mail your whole address book around casually.
Will photos and notes come across?
Photos usually do, which makes a full export surprisingly large. Notes and custom fields are less reliable and often dropped by the receiving app.
Can I import a .vcf into Outlook or Google Contacts?
Yes, both accept vCard import. Google Contacts has an Import option that takes .vcf directly; Outlook imports single contacts cleanly and multi-contact files less so, depending on version.