A .vcf contact is three formats that only share BEGIN:VCARD
vCard 2.1, 3.0 and 4.0 disagree on character sets, quoted-printable, parameter syntax, photo encoding and phone numbers. A phone exporting one version and an address book expecting another is how names turn into ü and photos disappear. This page reads your file byte by byte: it unfolds lines, decodes quoted-printable and charsets, shows each property next to what an address book would display, checks the file against the RFCs and rewrites it in any version, reading the result back to prove nothing was lost.
folder_openOpen .vcfiPhone export (3.0)Old Android / Outlook (2.1)Broken 4.0 export
iphone-export.vcf · 5,933 bytes · 3 contacts3contacts
3.0vCard version
44logical lines
104physical lines
5.9 KBfile size
2with a photo
what an address book showsvCard 3.0 · 17 properties · 2 X- extensions
Dr. Adaeze OkaforJosé María Müller-ÑúñezNorthwind Couriers
Dr. Adaeze OkaforLead Scientist at Kestrel Labs · Researchphoto: image/jpeg, 1.7 KB decoded from the file
callcell+44 7700 900123 · preferred
callLab+44 20 7946 0958
mailworkadaeze@kestrel.example
location_onwork12 Wharf RoadUnit 4N1 7GR LondonUnited Kingdom
cakebirthday14 March 1986
sticky_note_2noteMet at FileCon, prefers email. Allergic to peanuts.
line inspector · unfolded, decoded, checked
Every property, from raw bytes to the value an app reads
Left: each logical line as it sits in the file, split into group, name, parameters and value, with the physical line numbers it was folded across. Right of it: the value after unfolding, quoted-printable or base64 decoding, charset conversion and unescaping. Lines with a problem are tinted; the checks name them.
lineas writtendecoded
1BEGIN:VCARDVCARD
2VERSION:3.03.0
3PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN
4N:Okafor;Adaeze;;Dr.;family: Okafor · given: Adaeze · additional: · prefix: Dr. · suffix: -
5FN:Dr. Adaeze OkaforDr. Adaeze Okafor
6ORG:Kestrel Labs;ResearchKestrel Labs;Research
7TITLE:Lead ScientistLead Scientist
8EMAIL;type=INTERNET;type=WORK;type=pref:adaeze@kestrel.exampleadaeze@kestrel.exampletype INTERNET, WORK, pref
9TEL;type=CELL;type=VOICE;type=pref:+44 7700 900123+44 7700 900123type CELL, VOICE, pref
10item1.TEL:+44 20 7946 0958+44 20 7946 0958group item1
11item1.X-ABLabel:LabLabgroup item1
12-13item2.ADR;type=WORK;type=pref:;;12 Wharf Road\nUnit 4;London;;N1 7GR;United+ 1 folded line · 83 bytes unfoldedPO box: · extended: · street: 12 Wharf Road⏎Unit 4 · city: London · region: · postcode: N1 7GR · country: United Kingdomgroup item2 · type WORK, pref
14item2.X-ABADR:gbgbgroup item2
15BDAY;value=date:1986-03-141986-03-14
16NOTE:Met at FileCon\, prefers email. Allergic to peanuts.Met at FileCon, prefers email. Allergic to peanuts.
17-47PHOTO;ENCODING=b;TYPE=JPEG:/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/4gHYSUNDX1BST0ZJTEUA+ 30 folded lines · 2,263 bytes unfoldedimage/jpeg · 1.7 KBbase64 → 1,675 bytes · type JPEG
48UID:4F1C2A9E-5B7D-4E21-9C3A-8D2E6F0B1A474F1C2A9E-5B7D-4E21-9C3A-8D2E6F0B1A47
49REV:2026-10-04T09:12:00Z2026-10-04T09:12:00Z
50END:VCARDVCARD
51BEGIN:VCARDVCARD
52VERSION:3.03.0
53PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN
54N:Müller-Ñúñez;José;María;;family: Müller-Ñúñez · given: José · additional: María · prefix: · suffix: -
55FN:José María Müller-ÑúñezJosé María Müller-Ñúñez
56X-PHONETIC-FIRST-NAME:HoséHosé
57ORG:Smith\, Jones & Co.;Smith, Jones & Co.;
58TEL;type=IPHONE;type=CELL;type=VOICE;type=pref:+34 612 345 678+34 612 345 678type IPHONE, CELL, VOICE, pref
59TEL;type=HOME;type=VOICE:+34 91 123 45 67+34 91 123 45 67type HOME, VOICE
60EMAIL;type=INTERNET;type=HOME;type=pref:jose@example.esjose@example.estype INTERNET, HOME, pref
61item1.URL;type=pref:https://jose.example.eshttps://jose.example.esgroup item1 · type pref
62item1.X-ABLabel:_$!<HomePage>!$__$!<HomePage>!$_group item1
63-92PHOTO;ENCODING=b;TYPE=JPEG:/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/4gHYSUNDX1BST0ZJTEUA+ 29 folded lines · 2,155 bytes unfoldedimage/jpeg · 1.6 KBbase64 → 1,596 bytes · type JPEG
93END:VCARDVCARD
94BEGIN:VCARDVCARD
95VERSION:3.03.0
96PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 18.0//EN
97N:;;;;family: · given: · additional: · prefix: · suffix: -
98FN:Northwind CouriersNorthwind Couriers
99ORG:Northwind Couriers;Northwind Couriers;
100X-ABShowAs:COMPANYCOMPANY
101TEL;type=WORK;type=VOICE;type=pref:+1 (555) 010-4477+1 (555) 010-4477type WORK, VOICE, pref
102item1.EMAIL;type=INTERNET:dispatch@northwind.exampledispatch@northwind.examplegroup item1 · type INTERNET
103item1.X-ABLabel:DispatchDispatchgroup item1
104END:VCARDVCARD
44 of 44 logical lines · tinted rows have a problem
checks against RFC 6350 / 2426 and vCard 2.1
check_circleStructure.3 cards; every BEGIN:VCARD has its END:VCARD and every line has a name and a colon.
check_circleVERSION.Every card is 3.0.
check_circleRequired names.Each card has the FN and N its version requires.
check_circleStructured values.N has 5 components and ADR 7 wherever they appear; no unescaped commas inside them.
check_circleLine endings.All 104 line breaks are CRLF.
check_circleLine length.No physical line is longer than 75 octets.
check_circleFolding.No fold cuts a UTF-8 character in half.
check_circleCharacter encoding.Everything decodes as UTF-8; no BOM.
check_circleTransfer encodings.Quoted-printable and base64 are used only where the version allows them.
check_circleParameters.All parameters use NAME=value syntax for their version.
rewrite lab · write it, then parse it againdownloadDownload vCard 4.0 .vcf
Convert between versions and prove the round trip
The writer applies each version’s own rules: quoted-printable with CHARSET for non-ASCII in 2.1, backslash escaping and ENCODING=b photos in 3.0, tel: URIs, PREF=1 and data: URI photos in 4.0, or JSON for jCard. Lines are folded at 75 octets without splitting a UTF-8 character. The output is then fed back through the same parser above and compared field by field.
2.13.04.0jCard
Keep photosDrop photos
5.7 KBoutput size
-4%vs original
97lines
75longest line, octets
fieldread backdetail
name (FN)3 / 3 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
N parts2 / 2 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
phones3 / 3 sameSame digits; numbers starting with + became tel: URIs with dashes.
phone types3 / 3 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again. 4.0 keeps only the RFC types (cell, voice, work…); iPhone-only ones like IPHONE are dropped.
emails3 / 3 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
addresses1 / 1 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
note & birthday1 / 1 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
photo2 / 2 sameIdentical after writing and parsing again.
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:4.0 N:Okafor;Adaeze;;Dr.; FN:Dr. Adaeze Okafor ORG:Kestrel Labs;Research TITLE:Lead Scientist TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=cell,voice;PREF=1:tel:+44-7700-900123 item1.TEL;VALUE=uri:tel:+44-20-7946-0958 item1.X-ABLabel:Lab EMAIL;TYPE=work;PREF=1:adaeze@kestrel.example ADR;TYPE=work;PREF=1:;;12 Wharf Road\nUnit 4;London;;N1 7GR;United Kingdom BDAY:19860314 NOTE:Met at FileCon\, prefers email. Allergic to peanuts. PHOTO:data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/4gHYSUNDX1BST0ZJTE UAAQEAAAHIAAAAAAQwAABtbnRyUkdCIFhZWiAH4AABAAEAAAAAAABhY3NwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAA9tYAAQAAAADTLQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAlkZXNjAAAA8AAAACRyWFlaAAABFAAAABRnWFlaAAAB KAAAABRiWFlaAAABPAAAABR3dHB0AAABUAAAABRyVFJDAAABZAAAAChnVFJDAAABZAAAAChiVF JDAAABZAAAAChjcHJ0AAABjAAAADxtbHVjAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAMZW5VUwAAAAgAAAAcAHMAUgBH AEJYWVogAAAAAAAAb6IAADj1AAADkFhZWiAAAAAAAABimQAAt4UAABjaWFlaIAAAAAAAACSgAA APhAAAts9YWVogAAAAAAAA9tYAAQAAAADTLXBhcmEAAAAAAAQAAAACZmYAAPKnAAANWQAAE9AA AApbAAAAAAAAAABtbHVjAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAMZW5VUwAAACAAAAAcAEcAbwBvAGcAbABlACAASQ BuAGMALgAgADIAMAAxADb/2wBDAAYEBAUEBAYFBQUGBgYHCQ4JCQgICRINDQoOFRIWFhUSFBQX GiEcFxgfGRQUHScdHyIjJSUlFhwpLCgkKyEkJST/2wBDAQYGBgkICREJCREkGBQYJCQkJCQkJC QkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCT/wAARCABgAGADASIA AhEBAxEB/8QAGgABAAMBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYHCAUEA//EADEQAAEDAwMBBgUDBQAAAAAAAA EAAgMEBREGByESExQxQWGBMlFxkaEVFjMXIkNiwf/EABsBAQEAAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAwUB AgYH/8QAJBEAAQQBBAIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQRBRJBUSExcaHwE2H/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AO EiIvuB4cIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAL2WW2S3q7UluhBL6mVsYx5 ZPJ9hyvGrN2JsHftQVF3lZmKhj6WEj/I7jj6DP3UWo2kq1nzLwnj54+zNXi/rI1nZ275sTbKKz VdTb664S1cMTpI45CzpeQM44blUutI6d1sy867vtjL2uhga0Qc/EWcSfk/hUnrfTbrNrWrtbAW xyzh0J/0ecj7Zx7LR6FesLI+vcdl2EcnwqfvsuvwR7UkhTxlUU6+gNqa3WEIuFVOaK3Zw14bl8 uPHpHkPU/ZTT+kegRP+mm/T9+z/H32Htfp0dP/ABdnce5O0Xt8yltju7vcI6OJzeC0Y5I9cArO xJJySSTzldKa3NU3WEmWNmcNRE+1O0yQ1cRqzcvOSfa+2nrNIQG4Uc5rrcDhzi3EkPy6gOCPUf ZQFaG2xujtY6Clo7m7vLouujlL+S9vSMZ+fBHPos/VlOaSrnpycmKR0ZPzwcK/Rrs0jpK1lcvj XGe0J7kDGo2SP04+SIi3pCEREAWjttLXTaU0HBPXzxUZqR3maaVwjDOr4ck8DAx4rPFA6mZXU7 q0SGmEjTKIwC4szyACRzj1Vjbjbp23VNghtFopq2nj7Rrpe8Ma0FrRwB0uPnj7Lz+u1ZraxVo0 Xaq5cvSIbCjKyHdK72ieEJXYtN6B0/fWXql1mySra5zj2txpy2TqznqAaD5/NePfKz9mLXqWCM PdTyCKUjzbnqaSfrke6pNWpVbqWS76C/b91pbi+tNMIjMyNjmdo34XcvB8QD4KObS7Fe1FZY5Z OF9eG/smZlqOSJ8SojeU+SZbo292qtvmVlvb3gxdnWMDOS5uOSPYlZ5Vibe7tzaUphbLnBJWW5 pzGYyO0h9Bngj0yMfhTD99bVul/UDbqbvWevBt/wDf1eOfDGfXK4putaUjq6wq9uctVv8AvfQm SK1iTejV5RTobSWx+mdCS11eDB27n1bg/jpYGgA+4bn3VBV1T3ytqKnBHbSukwfLJJU/3B3dl1 RSOtdqp5KO3v8A5HSEdpKPlgcNHpk5Vcq/RqczHS2rCYdIvrpDBdmY5GxRrlG8hERb4gCIiAIi IAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgP/2Q== UID:urn:uuid:4f1c2a9e-5b7d-4e21-9c3a-8d2e6f0b1a47 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:4.0 N:Müller-Ñúñez;José;María;; FN:José María Müller-Ñúñez ORG:Smith\, Jones & Co.; TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=cell,voice;PREF=1:tel:+34-612-345-678 TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=home,voice:tel:+34-91-123-45-67 EMAIL;TYPE=home;PREF=1:jose@example.es item1.URL:https://jose.example.es item1.X-ABLabel:HomePage PHOTO:data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/4gHYSUNDX1BST0ZJTE UAAQEAAAHIAAAAAAQwAABtbnRyUkdCIFhZWiAH4AABAAEAAAAAAABhY3NwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAA9tYAAQAAAADTLQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAlkZXNjAAAA8AAAACRyWFlaAAABFAAAABRnWFlaAAAB KAAAABRiWFlaAAABPAAAABR3dHB0AAABUAAAABRyVFJDAAABZAAAAChnVFJDAAABZAAAAChiVF JDAAABZAAAAChjcHJ0AAABjAAAADxtbHVjAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAMZW5VUwAAAAgAAAAcAHMAUgBH AEJYWVogAAAAAAAAb6IAADj1AAADkFhZWiAAAAAAAABimQAAt4UAABjaWFlaIAAAAAAAACSgAA APhAAAts9YWVogAAAAAAAA9tYAAQAAAADTLXBhcmEAAAAAAAQAAAACZmYAAPKnAAANWQAAE9AA AApbAAAAAAAAAABtbHVjAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAMZW5VUwAAACAAAAAcAEcAbwBvAGcAbABlACAASQ BuAGMALgAgADIAMAAxADb/2wBDAAYEBAUEBAYFBQUGBgYHCQ4JCQgICRINDQoOFRIWFhUSFBQX GiEcFxgfGRQUHScdHyIjJSUlFhwpLCgkKyEkJST/2wBDAQYGBgkICREJCREkGBQYJCQkJCQkJC QkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCQkJCT/wAARCABgAGADASIA AhEBAxEB/8QAGQABAAMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGBwgE/8QANRAAAQMEAQEGAwQLAAAAAAAAAQ ACAwQFBhESBxMhMUFRkRQigTZCdLIVIzU3UmFxcnOhwv/EABsBAQACAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC BQEEBgMH/8QAIxEAAgICAQMFAQAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQRIQUSEzFBUWFxgf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD 8Aj0RFsHyMIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIDQOm/Tu3Znbqupraq rhdBMI2iEtAI4779gqFxrFqW9Zm6xTzTspxJKzmwjnpu9eI15ei0XoP+w7l+JH5AqpgP71X/AO ep/wClDb2zoliU+LFl28yfP3ye7POk9HjVgfdLdVVk7oXt7Rk3Ejge7Y0B56WYrqi4x014ir7L Nol9OOQP8L+QB9wVzhaccnrsrgsMjdSGp7GTy0Gn5j7ApF/I6306FVsHjrSlx/TQMU6NW+8WCj uFxrK2GoqGdpwiLQGtPh4tJ3rSzjJbZFZb9XW6B73x00xja5+uRA9dLp+CaCOf4CLQMETXcR91 p2B+UrmzPftlePxLki22evW8CjGx6/Gud6b+eCBREUzmAiIgJLG7O2/3yktbqkUoqX8O1LOXE6 Ou7Y36eKm89wF+ESUY+NdWx1Id+s7Hsw0jXd4n1VWp6iWkqIqiB5ZLE8PY4fdcDsFbFb+rGMZB bWUmU0AbI0Au5w9rE53q3WyD9PqovaLXBqxbqp12tRn7N71+fB6OhUL48er5ntLWPqvlcfPTRt VDp89snVNz2kFrpqggjzHzKcyfq3aqa0PtOKUrog5pjE3ZiOOJp8eDfHf9QPqqHg1/pcZySnud ZHNJDEHAthALu8Ed2yB/tYSfLLC7Jornj0QntQfL9vU169X39DdUrZFI/jBW0nw79+HIuPE+/d 9VIUOHR0ef1+Q8QI5aZvD+Uh2Hn2aPcrIuoeZ0mU3ykuVrZVQfDxhoMzWhwcHEgjRKuNz62W6q x6ampqWvjuUsHZh7mM7NryNE75b14+Sx2s3q+pY0rbPLLiMu6P3wT+A3w5BkmTVgcXRCaOKL+x vID37z9Vjue/bK8fiXKe6ZZ5bMMjrm3CCslNQWFnw7Gu1rfjtw9VVsmucN5v8AX3GnbI2KomdI xsgAcAfXRKylplTn5kL8KtOW57ba/dkYiIplEEREAREQBERAEREAREQBERAEREAREQBERAEREA REQBERAf/Z END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:4.0 KIND:org N:;;;; FN:Northwind Couriers ORG:Northwind Couriers; TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=work,voice;PREF=1:tel:+1-555-010-4477 item1.EMAIL:dispatch@northwind.example item1.X-ABLabel:Dispatch END:VCARD
folding lab · 75 octets, not 75 characters
Where a long line may break
RFC 6350 says lines should be no longer than 75 octets and a fold must not split a multi-octet UTF-8 character. A writer counting bytes blindly can cut ü, 東 or an emoji in half. Readers that unfold bytes first survive it; readers that decode line by line show replacement characters. vCard 2.1 avoided the problem differently: quoted-printable, with soft line breaks.
Correct: back off to a character boundary129 octets · 115 code points · 2 lines
NOTE:Grüße aus Zürich: Büro 東京\, 3. OG\, Tür links. Klingeln 73
␣🙂 und kurz warten\; Paket gern beim Nachbarn abgeben.57
unfold, then decodeIdentical to the input. Some lines are shorter than 75 octets because the fold moved left to a character start.
Naive: cut every 75 bytes2 lines · 2 lines not valid UTF-8 on their own
NOTE:Grüße aus Zürich: Büro 東京\, 3. OG\, Tür links. Klingeln �75
␣�� und kurz warten\; Paket gern beim Nachbarn abgeben.55
decode each line, then unfoldGrüße aus Zürich: Büro 東京, 3. OG, Tür links. Klingeln ��� und kurz warten; Paket gern beim Nachbarn abgeben. (3 replacement characters; unfolding bytes first would have been fine)
vCard 2.1: quoted-printable169 value bytes vs 121 UTF-8 (+40%) · 3 lines
NOTE;CHARSET=UTF-8;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Gr=C3=BC=C3=9Fe aus Z=C3=BCric=76
h =E2=80=93 B=C3=BCro =E6=9D=B1=E4=BA=AC, 3. OG, T=C3=BCr links. Klingeln =75
=F0=9F=99=82 und kurz warten; Paket gern beim Nachbarn abgeben.63
remove soft breaks, decode =XXIdentical to the input. Pure ASCII on the wire, so a fold can never split a character, but readers of 3.0/4.0 do not decode it.
Reference
2.11996 · versitThe one old phones and Outlook still writeAny charset via CHARSET=, 7-bit transport via ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE.Bare parameters: TEL;CELL;PREF. Photos as ENCODING=BASE64 followed by a blank line.Only ; is escaped, inside compound values.No PRODID, no UID requirement, N required.
3.01998 · RFC 2426What iOS and macOS Contacts exportBuilt on the text/directory profile (RFC 2425); charset comes from MIME.TYPE=cell,voice; quoted-printable dropped; binary as ENCODING=b.Backslash escapes for \n, \, and \; in text.N and FN both required.
4.02011 · RFC 6350The current standard, used by CardDAVUTF-8 only; no CHARSET or ENCODING parameters at all.VERSION must follow BEGIN; FN required, N optional.PREF=1..100, VALUE=uri, tel: URIs, data: URI photos.New: KIND, GENDER, ANNIVERSARY, RELATED, MEMBER, LANG.
property2.13.04.0note
FNoptionalrequiredrequiredFormatted name; what lists show.
Nrequiredrequiredoptional5 parts: family; given; additional; prefix; suffix.
TELtexttexttext or tel: URIType names: CELL in 2.1, TYPE=cell in 3.0/4.0.
EMAILTYPE INTERNETTYPE internetplain4.0 drops the internet type.
ADR7 parts7 parts7 parts + LABEL paramPO box and extended are deprecated in 4.0.
LABELpropertypropertyremovedBecame a parameter on ADR.
PHOTOBASE64 or URLENCODING=b or URIURI incl. data:Usually a JPEG; size not limited by spec.
BDAYdatedate or date-timedate, partial or text4.0 allows --0314 (no year) and VALUE=text.
ORGyesyesyesOrganisation; then units, separated by ;.
UIDyesyesyes, often urn:uuid:What sync uses to match the same contact.
KIND--individual, group, org, locationApple uses X-ABShowAs:COMPANY instead.
AGENTyesyesremovedReplaced by RELATED in 4.0.
CHARSETparameterremovedremovedOnly 2.1 can label legacy encodings.
ENCODINGQP, BASE64, 8BITb onlyremovedMost common cause of unreadable imports.
MIMEtext/vcard (RFC 6350). Older: text/x-vcard, and text/directory;profile=vCard for 3.0. jCard: application/vcard+json; xCard: application/vcard+xml.
Extension.vcf, also .vcard. One file can hold any number of cards back to back.
SignatureBEGIN:VCARD (42 45 47 49 4E 3A 56 43 41 52 44), case-insensitive, possibly after a UTF-8 BOM.
Line endingsCRLF. Lines should be at most 75 octets excluding CRLF; continuation lines start with one space or tab.
EscapingIn 3.0/4.0 text: \n newline, \, comma, \; semicolon, \\ backslash. A raw comma inside N or ADR means multiple values.
GroupsA prefix like item1. ties properties together. Apple stores custom labels this way with X-ABLabel.
ExtensionsNames starting with X- are private: X-ABLabel, X-ANDROID-CUSTOM, X-SKYPE. Unknown ones must be ignored, so they often vanish on import.
QR codesA vCard fits in a QR code; MECARD is a shorter, non-standard alternative used by some Japanese phones.
1995vCard 1.0Published by the versit Consortium: Apple, AT&T, IBM, Siemens.
1996vCard 2.1Adds charsets and quoted-printable; stewardship passes to the IMC.
1998vCard 3.0IETF standard: RFC 2425 and RFC 2426.
2011vCard 4.0RFC 6350: UTF-8 only, KIND, tel: URIs; xCard in RFC 6351.
2011CardDAVRFC 6352 syncs vCards over WebDAV; iCloud and Google support it.
2014jCardRFC 7095 maps vCard 4.0 to JSON; RDAP uses it for registrant data.
2024JSContactRFC 9553 defines a JSON contact model meant to succeed vCard.
Related formats and tools
ICS formatvCard’s sibling: the same content lines, folding and escaping, used for calendar events.DTSTART;TZID=…arrow_forwardone instant in timeXML formatxCard (RFC 6351) is vCard 4.0 written as XML in the urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:vcard-4.0 namespace.FN:Adaarrow_forward<fn><text>Ada</text></fn>JSON FormatterPretty-print and validate jCard output from the rewrite lab above.[“vcard”,[[…]]]arrow_forwardindented, checkedCSV formatThe other way contacts move between apps, with its own encoding and column traps.Name,Phonearrow_forwardparsed rowsQR Code GeneratorPut a vCard in a QR code for a business card; byte mode, so UTF-8 counts.BEGIN:VCARD…arrow_forwardscannable contactText CleanerFind invisible characters and normalisation problems that make two contacts look identical but compare different.Joséarrow_forwardJosé (NFC)