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vCard 3.0 vs 4.0: What Is the Difference?

vCard 3.0 (RFC 2426, 1998) and vCard 4.0 (RFC 6350, 2011) are two versions of the standard contact file format. Version 4.0 mandates UTF-8 text and adds fields and cleaner rules, while 3.0 is older and has been the most widely imported version across phones and address books.

The Versions

Version 2.1 came first and is still read by many devices. Version 3.0 was published as RFC 2426 in 1998 and brought a more regular syntax. Version 4.0 was published as RFC 6350 in 2011 and is the current standard. Each file states its version on a VERSION line near the top, so a reader knows how to interpret it.

What Changed in 4.0

Version 4.0 requires UTF-8 as the encoding, where 3.0 allowed others to be declared. It adds properties such as KIND, which says whether a card describes a person, an organisation or a group, and a cleaner way to express preferences between multiple phone numbers or addresses. It tightens parameter rules and drops some older properties. None of that matters for a card holding a name, a number and an email.

Which One Do Devices Read

Most phones and desktop address books import 3.0 without trouble, because it has been the common default for so long. Support for 4.0 is less even: some software reads it fully, some ignores the new properties, and a few mishandle it. A file in a version a device does not understand can import with missing fields.

Which to Choose

Pick the version the people receiving the file are likeliest to read. For a contact file handed to strangers on unknown phones, that is 3.0. Version 4.0 makes more sense inside systems you control, where the extra properties are read on both ends.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between vCard 3.0 and 4.0?

Version 4.0 (RFC 6350) requires UTF-8 and adds properties and cleaner rules. Version 3.0 (RFC 2426) is older and imports more widely.

Which vCard version works on iPhone and Android?

Both import version 3.0 as a long established default. Version 4.0 support is less consistent across devices and software.

How do I tell which version a VCF file is?

Open it in a text editor. The VERSION line near the top reads 2.1, 3.0 or 4.0.

Keep reading

Related terms

vCardA vCard is a standard file format for contact details, usually saved with a .vcf extension, that phones and email clients can read directly into an address book. It stores structured fields such as name, organisation, several phone numbers, several email addresses, a postal address and a photo.vCard File (.vcf)A .vcf file is a vCard saved to disk: a plain-text file with the extension .vcf that holds one or more people’s contact details. Opening it on a phone or computer offers to add those contacts to the address book, which makes it the standard way to move contacts between devices and apps.MeCardMeCard is a compact contact format designed to be encoded into a QR code. It holds the same basic fields as a vCard, name, telephone, email and a few others, in far fewer characters, which produces a smaller and easier-to-scan code. It is widely readable on Android and unevenly supported on iPhone.Contact CardA contact card is a single entry in an address book holding one person’s details, such as name, phone numbers, email addresses and company. The same phrase is also used for a shareable card, whether paper, a file or a web page, that exists to put those details into someone else’s address book.

Put this into practice with your own card

Put your details on one card page, share it by link or QR code, and change them whenever they change. The printed code keeps working. No credit card required to start.

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