How to open, view and edit a .VCF file
The .VCF format can be extremely useful for businesses looking to store particular, potentially sensitive information.
Find out what it is today and how to work with and convert these handy file types.
The .VCF format can be extremely useful for businesses looking to store particular, potentially sensitive information.
Find out what it is today and how to work with and convert these handy file types.
The .VCF format is a type of text file/data format used to store contact information. Based on the vCard file system, it stores the contact details of an individual - which can then be easily exchanged across platforms due to its simple text file foundation.
Indeed, you can transfer data and open VCF files across various devices and apps.
The VCF extension stands for 'Virtual Contact File" or vCard file. The name reflects the format's function as a text file storing contact details.
One thing to bear in mind, however, is that the .VCF abbreviation is in fact used for two different formats, which often leads to confusion.
Other than the Virtual Contact file, the “Variant Call format” is used as a standard text file format for storing information about genetic variations. But this is far less commonly utilised than the type we are discussing here.
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The .VCF format was developed in 1996 by the Internet Mail Consortium as the standard format for the exchange of contact data.
Built with a focus on simplifying contact info exchange, the system initially focused on email communication, but it quickly spread to other systems including mobile apps and more integrative contact/database management systems.
VCF files are generally used to manage contact information.
This usually compromises info such as:
With the development of more complex contact database systems, .VCF files have started to integrate more contact info. Customised fields that may be relevant to specific notes (such as likes/dislikes in marketing, income for finance etc.) are often implemented into the files.
Due to their popularity in this specific use case, VCF files are now accessible through a variety of services and are supported by major software tools like Apple contacts and Microsoft Outlook.
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Pros.
Cons.
There are several ways to open the .VCF file format, depending upon what software and hardware you are using:
To create and edit .VCF files, you have several optrmation.
The most basic option is to open a plain text file and use the appropriate code tags to create the file. A basic example would be as follows:
Alternatively, you can convert stored data from other formats such as .XLSX or .CSV to .VCF files using online tools. This makes managing the raw data much easier due to a more robust viewing set-up on more complex tools.
Finally, there are dedicated editors that make it simple to create and view .VCF files. Some great free options include SysTools vCard viewer and Turgs vCard viewer for Windows and MacUncle .VCF file viewer for Macs.
Explore our other Adobe guides to learn more about other text-based and data file types and gain insights into their use.
Learn more about the report file type and how to work with it.
Discover more about the standard text document, that can be opened and edited in any text editing or word processing programme.
Find out how to save a document as an XPS file and much more in our guide.
Excel’s standard spreadsheet file can be extremely handy for storing and working with data and information.
Discover more document file types and data file formats today.
Yes, you can! By opening the .VCF file as a text file and using the text import wizard tool, you can easily import the data from a .VCF file into an Excel file. You can also work the other way and convert data from Excel files to a .VCF format. If you want to convert your Excel file to a PDF, this is also simple with Adobe’s Excel to PDF tool online.
Although commonly confused, as both these formats are often text files and have the same “.VCF” abbreviation, they are quite different. The virtual contact file format is used to store contact information, while the variation call format is used in bioinformatics for storing genetic sequence variations.
Yes! Due to its simple core structure, you can easily access .VCF files via mobiles, tablets and e-readers if you don’t have access to a computer. There are a variety of apps available for each platform from which can view .VCF files and import contact data.
The .VCF format was invented in 1996 as the standard for maintaining contact data. Developed by the Internet Mail Consortium, it was initially meant for use in email, but it quickly became the go-to format for contact management across the majority of systems.
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