How to Use vCard for your Contact Information

What is vCard

vCard is a file format standard for digital business cards so you can import contact information into your address book application without having to type it in. Wikipedia provides an overview of vCard that summarizes the enhancements introduced in each version. Currently work is underway on version 4. Sharp Innovation Solutions uses version 2.1 because it is the latest version that is widely supported.

Using vCard with Windows

People using the Windows operating system most commonly use one of the following address book managers:

How to use vCard with Outlook

In the Address Book, on the File menu, point to Import, and then click Business Card (vCard).
Locate the business card file on your computer or a network drive, select the file, and then click Open.
When the business card is in your Address Book, a dialog box opens in which you can modify or add to the contact information.

Importing vCard into Vista or Windows 7 contact manager

Using vCard with Mac OSX

All version of the Mac OSX operating system use the Address Book application which can import vCards. If you downloaded a vCard, choose Import vCards (Command-O) from the File Menu in Address Book. If you received it in Mac OS X’s Mail application, simply drag it from the email message across to Address Book.

Using vCard with Linux

If you are using Linux you probably know how to import vCards. Linux and vCard links.

Scenarios for Using vCard

The Internet mail Consortium, who is responsible for the vCard standard, provides a summary of scenarios for using vCard.

Converting vCard to Other Formats

If the application you use for contact and address information doesn’t support the vCard format you may want to convert the information to LDIF (LDAP server Data Interchange Format) or CSV (Comma Separated Values) which are formats for directories or spreadsheets that are supported by many applications (e.g. Thunderbird, Gmail, Hotmail). Web site for converting vCard to LDIF or CSV.