How to Import a vCard (VCF File) into iPhone Contacts • macReports (2024)

ByStacey ButlerPosted onSeptember 8, 2023September 8, 2023 Reading Time: 4 minutes

You can easily import contacts directly to your iPhone. You do not need to use iCloud to import contacts from a vCard – a file with a .vcf extension. vCards are what you use to share contacts with others. You can export and import vCards on your iPhone. In this article, we’ll tell you how you can import all of the contacts contained in a vCard.

You may receive vCards from others, or you may be importing your own vCard from another source, such as Google. You can import the contacts from a vCard you receive through various apps, including Messages and Mail. Or you can import from a vCard file that you have saved to your Files app. We’ll specifically go through the steps to importing vCards from Messages and from Files. Other apps should work similarly.

How to import contacts from a vCard in Messages

So, someone has shared a vCard with you containing one or more contacts. Here is how you can import those into the Contacts app. If you don’t already, you’ll know how many contacts are in the card after you tap on it.

If the vCard contains just one contact

1. Tap on the card you have been sent.
2. The card will open up.
3. Tap on Create New Contact (unless you know you want to Add to Existing Contact).
4. You can edit any of the fields if you would like. Then, tap on Done in the upper-right corner. The contact card should now show in the Contacts app.

If the vCard contains more than one contact

1. Tap on the contact card in Messages.
2. You’ll see Add All [#] Contacts at the top, and below that, you’ll see a list of the contacts in the vCard. You can either:
   • Tap on Add All [#] Contacts.
   • You could also tap on each contact individually if you want to pick out which contacts to add. When you tap on an individual contact, you can add it as explained above.
3. We’ll assume you want to add all of the contacts and have tapped Add All [#] Contacts. Now, you should see two choices pop up:
   • Create New Contacts
   • Add All [#] Contacts
4. It is not very clear from the names of the choices what the difference is.
   • If you choose Create New Contacts, each of the contacts in the vCard you are importing will become a new contact in Contacts. With this option, you may end up with duplicate contacts if some of the contacts were already in your contacts list.
   • If you choose Add All [#] Contacts, the contacts in the vCard will only be added to your contacts if they are not duplicates.
     • If you are importing contacts not already in your contacts list, you will see another popup saying, “[#] contacts did not match any existing entries. Would you like to add these contacts?” Tap Create New Contacts to add these.
     • If you do not see another popup, then all of the contacts you were trying to import were already in your contacts list.

How to import contacts from a vCard in Files

If you have a vCard saved in Files somewhere, you can easily add the contacts contained in the vCard to your Contacts app.

1. Find and tap on the vCard (.vcf) file in the Files app.
2. You should see a contact card open. Tap the Share button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
3. Now select the Contacts app from the Share Sheet.
4. You’ll see one of two things depending on whether there was just one contact in the vCard or more than one.
   • If you see a contact card open, then there was only one contact in the vCard. Tap on Create New Contact, then tap Done.
   • If you see a screen that says Add All [#] Contacts at the top, then there is more than one contact in the vCard. Take a look at the subsection above titled, If the vCard contains more than one contact, starting with step #2.

If you have duplicate contacts after importing

After you import new contacts, you may end up with duplicates. If you do, you can view and manage the duplicates in the Contacts app. The duplicates are automatically detected, and when you open Contacts, you should see a message under your My Card saying, [#] Duplicates Found. Tap on View Duplicates to see the duplicates, then Merge or Ignore them.

Related Contacts articles

• How to Export Your Entire iPhone Contacts List
• How to Delete Multiple Contacts at Once on iPhone and iPad
• How to Move Contacts from Gmail to iCloud
• Sync Google Contacts with your iPhone, iPad and Mac
• How to Merge Contacts on your iPhone and iPad