CSV to VCF converter that turns a lead sheet into phone contacts

Converting CSV to VCF turns rows of a spreadsheet into contacts a phone can import. A CSV file holds one row per person, with a name and a mobile number in columns; a VCF file, also called a vCard file, holds one block per person that starts with BEGIN:VCARD and ends with END:VCARD. Phones cannot read the first but import the second in one step. This free converter from Weo Dialer reads your CSV in the browser, finds the name and phone columns from headings such as Name, Mobile or Phone Number, writes Indian mobiles as +91 followed by 10 digits, leaves out repeated numbers and rows without a number, and lets you add a prefix such as “Lead” so the new contacts are easy to find. It shows the first five contacts before you download, in vCard 3.0 or 4.0. The file is never uploaded. Weo Dialer is a calling CRM app that can import the same CSV as a list of leads to call.

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
N:;Anjali Verma;;;
FN:Anjali Verma
TEL;TYPE=CELL:+919876543210
END:VCARD

CSV to VCF steps

CSV to VCF format

The vCard format is an open standard. Its current version, 4.0, is defined in RFC 6350 from August 2011, which also registers the file extension .vcf and the media type text/vcard. A vCard must have a VERSION line straight after BEGIN:VCARD and a formatted name (FN). Phone numbers go in a TEL line, whose TYPE can be cell for a mobile. One contact from this converter looks like this in version 3.0:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
N:;Anjali Verma;;;
FN:Anjali Verma
TEL;TYPE=CELL:+919876543210
END:VCARD

In version 4.0 the number is written as a tel: address, which is what the standard recommends. A comma or semicolon inside a name is escaped with a backslash so it does not break the file. Hindi and other non-English names are kept as typed.

CSV to VCF import on Android and iPhone

Once the .vcf file is on the phone, importing takes a minute:

1. Android: open the Contacts app, tap Organize, then Import from file. If the phone has several accounts, choose the one that should keep the contacts, then select the file. These are the steps in Google’s own help.
2. iPhone: send the file to yourself by email or a message and tap the .vcf attachment, as Apple’s guide describes.
3. iCloud on a computer: open icloud.com/contacts, choose Import Contact and select the file. Every person in it becomes a separate entry.

Import into a work account if you have one, so the contacts can be removed together later.

CSV to VCF for calling teams

Saving leads as contacts helps in one specific way: when the customer calls back, the phone shows a name instead of a bare number. For a team that calls the same list every day, a calling app does that and more. Weo Dialer names callers from your own leads, clients and contacts first, so a returning customer is recognised even if the number was never saved. It imports the CSV directly as a list of leads with source tags and custom fields, as covered on the lead management app page, and can also save each new caller as a contact 60 seconds after the call, with a prefix, a setting that can be switched off. The phone-app side of this is on the dialer app for business page. If the sheet is messy, clean the numbers first with the remove duplicate phone numbers tool.

CSV to VCF example

An illustration with round numbers, not a customer result.

A wedding photography studio in Chandigarh keeps enquiries from an exhibition in a sheet of 300 rows with columns for name, mobile number and event date. The owner wants the couples saved on the studio phone so their names show when they call. The converter picks Name and Mobile Number as the columns, finds 12 repeated numbers and 6 rows without one, and prepares 282 contacts with the prefix “Expo”. The owner downloads the vCard 3.0 file, mails it to the studio phone and imports it from the Contacts app. A search for “Expo” now lists every couple from the exhibition, and the studio can delete them together after the season.

CSV to VCF limits

• One name column. If first and last names are in separate columns, join them in the sheet first, or the contact gets only the first name.
• One number per contact. A second phone column, an email or an address is not added to the vCard.
• Files up to 10 MB. Split bigger exports into smaller files.
• Contacts may sync. Imported contacts go to whichever account you choose, and may sync to other devices on that account.

CSV to VCF FAQ