Methods to Import vCard (VCF) Files to Outlook

vCard to Outlook Transfer – User’s Manual

Transferring contacts from one system to another may seem like a complex task – and it can be if you do it manually. However, tools such as vCard to Outlook Transfer turn this seemingly challenging procedure into a chain of simple steps that anyone can complete. Below is a detailed guide to manually converting vCard file to Outlook and using the program to transfer any number of contacts in vcf file format to Outlook or a PST file automatically, convert contacts between different file formats.

Here are some reasons why people choose vCard converter over manually converting contacts

How to Convert vCard to Outlook Manually

Note that Outlook supports converting the single contact file at once. If you need to import multiple vCard files into Outlook, you will need to use the vCard transfer tool instead of using this manual method.

1. Open Outlook Application on your computer.
2. Click on the “File” tab located at the top-left corner of the screen.
3. Select “Open & Export” then click on “Import/Export” to open the Import and Export Wizard.
4. In the new window, select “Import a VCARD file (.vcf)” and click “Next”.
5. Navigate to the location on your computer where the VCF file is stored.
6. Select the VCF file you want to import and click “Open”.

The contacts from the VCF file will be imported into your Outlook contacts list, check it to ensure the VCF import was successful.
If you need to import multiple contacts from VCF files into Outlook, import vcf to Outlook or import multi-entry vCard file, read the instructions below.

What is vCard file?

A vCard file, also known as a .vcf file, is a standard vcf file format of electronic business cards for storing contact information about a person or company. These files have the .vcf extension and are essentially text files with multiple fields defined using special markup. Files of virtual card format typically contains details such as name, address, phone number, email address, website and more. These files are often used to import and export contacts from address books in email client and digital devices. They can be attached to emails or even Word documents, making it easy to share contact information between many users.

vCard Converter Functionality

vCard to Outlook Transfer is the only program needed to convert any number of VCF files of any structure into Outlook. Capable to import vcf to Outlook account or in an Outlook PST file, it is a perfect addition to the software kit of any system administrator or even a regular user who occasionally needs to import multiple contacts to his or her copy of Outlook.

Fortunately for beginners, the program’s interface consists of a single window with a very limited number of controls: a field for the source folder, a large text area containing the names of all the VCF files found in the source location, an area for the log entries generated during the conversion and, finally, a button to start the bulk import and vCard to Outlook conversion process.

Getting ready to convert your contacts

Before you start the conversion of vcf file to Outlook, make sure you’ve got your contacts stored in a single folder and organized in a way you want them to appear in Outlook. Download vCard to Outlook Transfer software and install it. Once installed, use the software to bulk import vcf files and transfer your multiple vCard contacts into Outlook.

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How to Import vCard to Outlook Automatically

1. Run vCard to Outlook Transfer utility.
2. Select the source folder containing vcf files and click “Scan Folder” button.
3. Click ‘Import’ button to import vcf to Outlook profile.
4. Enjoy your contacts imported to Microsoft Outlook.

Read below for detailed instructions…

• Start the program by clicking a corresponding icon on your desktop or selecting it in the Start menu. Important: run 32-bit tool if your Outlook version is 32-bit and 64-bit tool if Outlook is 64-bit.
  
• Click the Browse “…” button (the one with three dots) to open the standard file explorer and folder selection dialog. Browse to the folder with your VCF files and confirm your selection. There is no need to select a single vcf file, program will find all of them and select vcf file automatically on the next step.
• The source folder field in the upper part of the window will display the path to the folder you have selected. The source folder can also be selected from the ‘File’ menu.
• Click “Scan Folder” to start searching for vcf files in the source folder and its subfolders. If the program finds a multiple or single vCard file it will display their names in the “Source Files” area. The program will select each VCF file for conversion, you may deselect or select contacts to be converted manually if needed.
  
• Here you can also configure the program’s conversion options. These are available in the Options menu:
  1. Check that email client is running – turning this option on will make the program check if MS Outlook is running during the vcf to Outlook conversion and ask you to close it to prevent access conflicts.
  2. Remind to disable antivirus – if enabled, this option will notify the user that all anti-virus tools must be closed or disabled during the data conversion process. If they keep working, they can block access to files and prevent the program from completing data transfer.
  3. Prompt to select the Outlook profile – this option helps to select the destination Outlook profile to import vCard contacts.
  4. Target Outlook folder [Prompt to select the Outlook folder; Inbox] – helps define the default destination folder for transferred contacts. Do this manually before every conversion or set it to “Inbox” to apply it automatically to all future conversions. Discontinued option.
  5. The “Mode” menu allows you to choose the necessary conversion mode: an Outlook profile or a PST file. Depending on what you select, your vCard contacts will be saved either to Microsoft Outlook profile or a standalone PST file.

• Once the options have been configured, you are ready for file conversion. To do this, click the “Save” button. Note that if the “Remind to disable antivirus” option is on, vCard to Outlook Transfer tool will prompt you to temporarily disable your anti-viruses to avoid potential access conflicts and import vcf to Outlook without interruption. Click OK to accept and continue. It is also possible that you will see an Office configuration selection window now. If you do, just leave the settings unchanged and click OK to continue import vCards.

• The file explorer dialogue box will open for you to select the destination folder.

  

• Choose an existing folder or create a new one, change the PST file name if needed, then click OK to import multiple contacts now.

If you previously chose to import vcf to Outlook profile, you will undergo the same process, except for the destination folder selection step. In this case, you need to choose a folder on your system instead of an Microsoft Outlook profile.

Opening and inspecting PST file contacts

If you import multiple contacts into PST file, you may want to open it and check the contacts. To do so, perform the following steps:

1. Run Outlook and use menu File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File
2. Select PST file and press Open button
3. Press Ctrl+6 keys combination to enable the Folders View
   
4. Click Contacts and check the contacts.

If you want to join contacts with your main contact list, you may press Ctrl+3 button and then select the contacts folder to join. Content of selected contact folders will be view joined into view.

3 Extra Tips for importing VCF files to Outlook

Method 1: Import VCF file with multiple contacts to Outlook

1. Start by opening the Microsoft Outlook application on your computer. If you don’t have it installed, you can download it from the official Microsoft website and follow the installation instructions.
2. Once Outlook is open, navigate to the ‘File’ menu located at the top left corner of the screen. Click on it to open a dropdown menu.
3. From the dropdown menu, select ‘Open & Export’. This will open a new menu on the right side of the screen.
4. In the ‘Open & Export’ menu, click on the ‘Import/Export’ option. This will open a new window titled ‘Import and Export Wizard’.
5. In the ‘Import and Export Wizard’ window, select ‘Import a VCARD file (.vcf)’ and click on ‘Next’. If you don’t see this option, select ‘Import from another program or file’, click ‘Next’, then select ‘Comma Separated Values’.
6. Click on ‘Browse’ to locate the VCF file that you want to import. Navigate to the location of the file on your computer, select it, and click on ‘Open’.
7. After selecting the file, click on ‘Next’. This will bring you to a screen where you can choose the Outlook contact folder where you want the imported contacts to be saved.
8. Select the desired contact folder and then click on ‘Next’.
9. On the next screen, confirm your actions by clicking on ‘Finish’. MS Outlook will then start the process of importing the contacts from the VCF file to Outlook profile.
10. Once the import process is complete, you can navigate to the chosen contact folder in MS Outlook to view your newly imported contacts.

Remember, the process might take a while if the vCard VCF file contains a large number of contacts. Be patient and let Outlook complete the import process. Use vCard to Outlook Transfer software to import multiple vcf since this operation is not supported by MS Outlook.

Method 2: Import contact from VCF file attachment to Outlook

1. Open your Outlook mail and find the Outlook email message with the VCF file attachment. Download the VCF file to your computer.
2. Open Outlook and click on the “File” tab located at the top left corner of the screen.
3. From the dropdown menu, select “Open & Export” and then click on export option.
4. In the Import and Export Wizard, select vCard file option “Import a VCARD file (.vcf)” and click “Next” or tap add file.
5. Browse your computer files to locate the downloaded vCard VCF file. Select the file and click “Open”.
6. The contacts from the VCF file will start importing to your Outlook contacts list. Wait for the vcf to Outlook conversion process to complete.
7. Once the import is complete, click “Finish”. You can now view the imported contacts in your MS Outlook address book or contact list.
8. If you have multiple VCF files, repeat the process for each file. Remember to always check your imported contacts to ensure they have been correctly imported and can be used to compose a new email message.

Method 3: Convert using CSV file format

If you have few source files to convert, or if you want to import Google contacts, you can use the csv file to import vcf file into Outlook. VCF and CSV file formats are different, but Outlook accepts import from CSV files. Choose comma separated values (CSV) file if you need to convert a single contact to Outlook address book, however, if you need to import multiple vcf files, use the vCard converter instead.

1. Convert VCF to CSV format using one of available converters.
2. Use Import/Export wizard in Outlook to import contacts from CSV file.
3. Repeat the same if you need to convert multiple vCard files starting from the new csv file conversion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, importing contacts from vCard files into Outlook Application can be done either manually or automatically. The manual method is straightforward, but can be time consuming if you have a large number of contacts. On the other hand, the automatic method of using vCard to Outlook Transfer software to import vcard to Outlook is more efficient for larger amounts of vCard files and for Google contacts conversion. Both methods have their advantages and can be used depending on the user’s preference and technical knowledge.

This concludes the vCard to Outlook conversion process. Should you have any questions, please contact our support service.

You may want to know:

• How to enable the Outlook contacts autocomplete to work?
• How to import IncrediMail Address Book to Outlook?
• How to import Thunderbird contacts to Outlook?

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