Having encountered a file with the VCF extension, many users wonder: what exactly is it? Especially if the file is attached to a letter received by e-mail. To allay possible concerns, let's take a closer look at what this format is and how you can view its contents.
The VCF format is an electronic business card that contains a standard set of data for such documents: full name, phone number, address, website and similar information. Therefore, do not be surprised when you see attached to email file with this extension.
This format is also used in various address books and contact lists in popular email clients. Let's try to view the information different ways. To do this, create a file example.vcf containing code with example data.
Method 1: Mozilla Thunderbird
This software from Mozilla Corporation, many users use it as mail client and an organizer. VCD files can also be opened in it.
To open an electronic business card file in Thunderbird, you must:
The result of these actions will be the appearance in the address book of a section corresponding to the name of our file. By going into it, you can see the information available in the file.
As you can see from the example, Thunderbird opens the VCF format without any distortion.
Method 2: Samsung Kies
Owners of Samsung smartphones use the Samsung Kies program to synchronize data on their devices with their PC. Among many other features, this software is capable of opening VCF files. To do this you need:
After this, the contents of the file will be downloaded to contacts and will become available for viewing.
As in the previous method, the information is displayed correctly. However, is it worth installing on your computer? Samsung Kies only for viewing the VCF format - it is up to the user to decide.
Method 3: Windows Contacts
On Microsoft operating systems, the application Windows Contacts mapped to VCF files by default. Therefore, in order to open such a file, it is enough double click with the mouse. However, this method has a very significant drawback. If the information contained in the file used the Cyrillic alphabet (as is the case in our case), the program will not be able to recognize it correctly.
Method 4: "People"
Since Windows 8, along with " Windows Contacts"There is another application in the system for storing data of this type - "People". In it, the encoding problem is completely solved. In order to open a VCF file using it, you must:
- Call the context menu (RMB) and select the option there "To open with".
- Select program "People" from the list of suggested applications.
Information is displayed correctly and organized into sections.
If you have to open files of this type often, then to speed up the process you can simply associate them with this application.
Method 5: Notepad
Another system tool with which you can open a VCF file is Notepad. This universal application to open files containing information in text form. You can open an electronic business card file using Notepad in the same way as in the case of the People program. The result will be like this:
As you can see from the example above, when you open the VCF format in Notepad, the content is presented unformatted, along with useful information Tags are also displayed, making the text difficult to read. However, all the data is quite readable and in the absence of other means, Notepad may well be suitable.
Concluding the review, I would like to emphasize that on the Internet you can find many programs that provide the ability to open the VCF format. Therefore, it is likely that some working method of solving the problem was not displayed in the article. But from the material tested during the preparation of this material software the majority were unable to correctly display the Cyrillic characters used in our sample. Among them was such a well-known product as Microsoft Outlook. The same methods that were demonstrated above can be considered absolutely reliable.
If you dealt with old phones, you probably saved backup copy your contacts. Typically, such data is saved in the vcf electronic business card format. Let's try to figure out how you can view this file on your computer.
How to view a vcf file using standard applications
An electronic business card in vcf format is Text Document, which can be viewed on a computer different ways, including using Windows system tools.
Windows Contacts
Standard system application to view contacts. However, if the data was entered in Cyrillic, we will receive an incorrect display.
Outlook
If you have it installed on your computer Microsoft Office, operating system will offer to open an electronic business card using Outlook. But in this case, the text in Cyrillic also remains unreadable.
Notebook
As we mentioned above, the information in the vcf file is stored in text form. The most ordinary notepad will do an excellent job of viewing it.
However, you can't edit the data using Notepad - even if you change a single character, the file can no longer be opened using contact viewing applications.
Notepad++
If you need to make minor edits to the electronic business card file, we recommend using a more advanced notepad – Notepad++. Changes made using it will not change the structure of the vcf file.
Importing data from a vcf file
Information from an electronic business card can be transferred to a Gmail contact list. To do this, open the mail page, click on the “Gmail” button and in the drop-down menu click on the “Contacts” item.
On the page that opens, select “More”, then “Import”.
Click “Import from file...”
Gmail will prompt you to go to previous version applications " Google contacts", we agree with this proposal.
Click on the “More” button and select “Import”.
The most common problem that prevents users from opening this file is an incorrectly assigned program. To fix this in Windows OS you need to right-click on the file, in context menu Hover your mouse over the "Open with" item and select "Select a program..." from the drop-down menu. As a result you will see a list installed programs
on your computer, and you can choose the one that suits you. We also recommend checking the box next to "Use this application for all VCF files." Another problem that our users also encounter quite often is that the VCF file is corrupted. This situation can arise in many cases. For example: the file was not downloaded completely as a result
- server errors , the file was damaged initially, etc. To fix this problem, use one of the recommendations: Try to find
- Ask them to send you the original file again, it may have been damaged during transmission;
Vcf stands for vCard File - it represents text file to store various information about a contact. Essentially, this is an electronic business card that contains the full name, phone numbers, physical and postal addresses, fax numbers and many other data. The vcf file can be attached as an attachment to an email - once received, the recipient can add this information to their database.
Briefly about the VCF format
The vCard format was created by the Versit consortium in 1995, and in 1996 all rights to the format were transferred to the Internet Mail Consortium.
Using these files it is very convenient to exchange electronic business cards what are they used for various devices With address books, where special applications must be installed.
How to open a VCF file
IN Windows file vcf can be opened with:
- Windows Contacts;
- Microsoft Outlook Express;
- Fonlow IT Open Contacts;
- Palm Desktop;
- and etc.
This file format is also widely used in the corporate segment of programs related to mail and instant messaging - OpenFire, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc. All of these programs can often obtain contact data from other sources ( Active Directory, OpenLDAP, etc., and compare them with the fields of vcf files).
On Mac OS X, you can open vcf using the Address Book application. Also, the VCF format supports most modern mobile devices, regardless of their platform.
How to open VCF file on Android and iPhone
On the Android platform, you can open the vcf file using free program Contacts VCF, which allows you to work with such files in the form of a convenient phone book. Thus, you can not only add and edit existing contacts, but also make calls, print contacts, forward them and save them using the export functions.
For example, in Google Android these files, which are located in the System/PIM folder on the SD card, look like PIM00001.vcf.
On the iPad and iPhone there is a Contacts application into which you can load vCards.
In addition, vcf files can be transferred from one mobile device to another, while their OS may be different. For example, you need to transfer vcf files from NOKIA to Samsung. To do this on the map Samsung smartphone you need to upload all vcf files to separate folder. After this, you need to go to “Contacts” and select “Import files from SD card” in the options.
Please note that there may be an issue with displaying contacts' birthdates. In Nokia they are displayed as BDAY:YYYYMMDD, and in Samsung as BDAY:YYYY-MM-DD. What to do?
First you need to open the vcf file in any text editor and bring the dates of birth to the desired form, and then download it to the SD card.
So, in short, here is everything about how to open vcf files and use them on your devices.
A number of users may receive an email containing an attachment file with the “vcf” extension. This file usually contains data about contacts previously exported from the phone contacts book. At the same time, there are also files with the VCF extension that have nothing to do with the contact book. In this article I will tell you what this format is, how to open the VCF extension on a PC, what programs and services will help us with this, and how to work with them.
What is VCF
The extension "VCF" is usually an abbreviation for " Virtual Contact File"(virtual contact file). At the same time, there is also an alternative abbreviation - “vCard File” (vCard file).
This file is usually used to store contact information in digital format (person's first and last name, address, email, phone number and other relevant information). With its help, it is convenient to exchange contacts between address books, the file can be easily attached to an email, and it supports pictures and other media content.
In addition, a file with the vcf extension can act as a VirtualDub editor settings file (VirtualDub Processing Settings), as a WorldToolKit Objects API configuration file (Vevi Configuration File), as a FileViewPro program service file, a relevant file for VP HybridCAD Native Format, etc.
How to open VCF
If our file contains contact information, the following programs will help open it:
1.Windows Contacts(Windows Contacts) is a classic application for viewing Windows contacts. It works quite poorly with Cyrillic characters, so for a Russian-speaking user its use will not be entirely convenient.
2.vCardOrganizer – convenient program for working with digital cards. Allows you to create, modify and view vCards, supports displaying photos, printing cards on a printer, and so on. The program is paid, but you can try searching the Internet for its free variations.
3.Open Freely is a free viewer that can open many documents and media files (including the vcf files we need).
4.VCFtools – a set of utilities that allow you to work with vcf files, including viewing, merging, converting, and so on.
5. – free utility to view the contents of vcf files. Its main drawback is that it shows the data of only one contact.
6.Open Contacts - another free tool, a program for storing contact data, allows you to open vcf files.
7.Classic Notepad can also be used as a viewer of raw vcf file data. For a Russian-speaking user, it may be a problem that Cyrillic characters are incorrectly displayed during such viewing (if the contact data is typed in Cyrillic), because Notepad in this case will not be very convenient to use.
8. - advanced text editor, which allows you to make minor edits to the contact data located in the vcf file.
9.Email client Eudora OSE, which has quite rich functionality, can also open files with the vcf extension;
Microsoft Outlook and Handy Address Book can also open and view files of this format, the disadvantages include the paid nature of these products. 
How to open vcf file in Outlook
To view vcf in Outlook do the following:
Contacts will be added to the “Users” section of this program.
How to transfer contacts from a vcf file to Gmail
Contacts from a vcf file can be transferred to the Gmail contact list. To implement this, do the following:
- Go to the Gmail mail page;
- Click on the arrow next to “Gmail” (top left) and select “Contacts” there;
- We find our vcf file and click on “Import”, the specified contact will be added to the contact list.
Conclusion
The programs I described above will help you play a VCF file on your computer. Most of them are free, allowing you to easily view the contents of vcf files. If you come across a file that cannot be opened correctly using the listed programs, then perhaps this is a qualitatively different type of file (for example, WorldToolKit Objects API settings), which will be handled by a rather specialized specialist.