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How to Convert VCF to CSV using Google Contacts

Converting a VCF to a CSV can be done in a couple of different ways. For instance, we can use Microsoft Excel and the help of a VBA script to do the conversion. It’s not the most straightforward way, but it works.

The simplest way however is just using online converters. Many sites of this nature exist, however I wasn’t aware Google Contacts supported this conversion until I used it to import my Outlook.com contacts into it.

Google Contacts supports both importing and exporting your account’s contacts to VCFs or CSVs. The contacts can be exported to either Google CSV format meant for importing into Google Accounts or Outlook CSV format meant for importing into Microsoft Outlook and other applications.

For this to work, we only need two things:

  • Your VCF file
  • A Google Account

Step 1: Select Google Account to Use

Like most other Google services, Contacts is linked to one’s Google (Gmail) account. So if you already have a Google account you’re good to go.

However, note that the contacts in the VCF will be available to Gmail and other Google apps (including synced to any Android device linked to that account) after importing. To avoid this, you can delete the contacts after the conversion is done.

Also, there are chances that if you’ve a Google account then it’s probable that it has existing contacts, and perhaps you don’t want those to get mixed up with those in the VCF.

Of course, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of all this, you can opt to just create a “disposable” Gmail account to use for this task.

Step 2: Import the VCF

  1. Head over to the Google Contacts page.
  2. Sign in to your Google (Gmail) account or create a new one.
  3. On the sidebar menu, click the Import.
  4. This will open a small window with a button to select a VCF or CSV from your device.
  5. Select the VCF, then click the Import button
  6. If the import is successful, you should be able to view the contacts contained in the VCF in Google Contact’s window. Now we only need to export it to a CSV.

Step 3: Export the Contacts to a CSV

  1. Select the contacts you want to convert, or leave them unselected if you wish to convert all the contacts in your account.
  2. Click the Export button in the sidebar menu.
  3. In the pop-up window, select the type of CSV format you want: Google CSV or Outlook CSV.
  4. Click the Export button, then give it some time to generate the file.
  5. Once it’s done, you’ll get a prompt from your browser to download the file.

And just like that, we’re done. If you used a “disposable” account for this, you may want to delete the contacts after this, or perhaps the whole Google account. On the other hand, you may want to delete the contacts if you don’t want them being synced over to your other devices, such as your Android phone.

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Kelvin Kathia

Kelvin Kathia is a writer that's passionate about sharing solutions to everyday tech problems. He's the founder and editor of Journey Bytes, a tech blog and web design agency. Feel free to leave him comments or questions regarding this post, or by leaving him a message on the contact page. If you found his content helpful, a donation is much appreciated.