How to Import a .vcf File into Outlook (Desktop, Outlook.com, and Windows)

Introduction

Importing a .vcf file (vCard) into Outlook should be simple… but for many users, it isn’t.

You click “Import,” select your file, and Outlook:

imports only one contact,
refuses to open the file,
shows incomplete information,
gives a strange error message, or
does absolutely nothing at all.

This guide explains exactly how to import .vcf files into every version of Outlook, and how to fix the problems that nearly everyone runs into — especially with multi-contact vCard files.

Whether your .vcf came from an iPhone, Android, Gmail, WhatsApp, a CRM, or an old phone backup, this guide will show you:

The correct import steps
What Outlook supports (and what it doesn’t)
How to make large .vcf files work
How to fix Outlook’s “single-contact only” limitation
How to clean or repair your file if import fails

Let’s start with the version of Outlook you’re using.

If you just want to clean and import a .vcf into Outlook without debugging manually:

Try the CorrectVCF Autofix Tool

1. How to import a .vcf file into Outlook (Desktop, Windows app)

Outlook Desktop (the version included in Microsoft 365 / Office) is the strictest contact importer of all major platforms.

But don’t worry — there’s a reliable path.

Method 1: Import a single-contact `.vcf` file (most reliable)

If your .vcf file contains one contact:

Open Outlook
Click File
Select Open & Export
Choose Import/Export
Select Import a vCard file (.vcf)
Browse to your file
Click OK

Outlook will open the contact card → click Save & Close to finish.

This method always works for one-contact files.

Method 2: Import a multi-contact `.vcf` file (Outlook’s hidden limitation)

Here’s the important part:
Outlook Desktop only imports one contact from a multi-contact .vcf file, even if the file contains hundreds.

This is a known design limitation.

So if your .vcf file contains multiple contacts, you must:

Option A — Split the vCard file into separate `.vcf` files

Outlook will correctly open each one individually.

Option B — Convert the `.vcf` file to CSV

This allows bulk import using Outlook’s CSV importer.

We’ll cover both fixes later in this article.

Method 3: Drag-and-drop into Outlook Contacts (single contact only)

If your .vcf has only one contact:

Open Outlook
Go to People view
Drag the .vcf file into your Contacts list

This creates the new contact automatically.

Common issues when importing into Outlook Desktop

Outlook only imports one contact
Some phone numbers or email addresses disappear
Photos don’t import
Notes get truncated
Contacts appear blank
Outlook says “Cannot import vCard”
Outlook rearranges parts of the name or address
Outlook freezes when importing a large file

These are all normal Outlook behaviors.
The fixes are covered below.

2. How to import a .vcf file into Outlook.com (web)

Outlook.com is much more flexible than Outlook Desktop.

Step 1 — Open the People section

Go to: https://outlook.com
Top-left menu → People

Click Manage → Import contacts

Step 3 — Upload your `.vcf` file

Choose the file → click Import

Outlook.com will import:

Single-contact .vcf files
Multi-contact .vcf files (sometimes more successfully than the desktop version)

If it fails, the file likely needs repair or conversion.

Common Outlook.com import errors

You might see messages like:

“We couldn’t import your contacts”
“The file is unreadable”
“Unsupported vCard format”
“Try again later”

The usual causes:

vCard version 4.0
Encoding issues
Missing required fields
Multi-contact files combined incorrectly
Large files with embedded photos
Corrupted or malformed entries

You can usually fix these problems by validating or repairing the .vcf file first.

3. How to import a .vcf file into the Windows “People” app

Older Windows 10 builds included a People app.

To import:

Open the People app
Click Manage
Select Add contacts
Choose Import
Upload the .vcf file

However, many users find that:

The People app can’t import large .vcf files
Multi-contact files cause errors
Contacts import with missing data
Some files get rejected with no explanation

Again, cleaning or splitting the .vcf file solves most issues.

4. How to import a .vcf into Outlook for Mac

Newer Outlook for Mac versions support vCard imports better than Windows Outlook.

Steps:

Open Outlook for Mac
Go to People
Drag the .vcf into the Contacts panel
Or go to File → Import → Contacts

If the .vcf is formatted correctly, macOS and Outlook should import it without issues.

5. How to fix Outlook’s biggest vCard import problems

Outlook is notorious for being extremely picky. Here’s how to fix every major issue.

Problem #1: Outlook only imports one contact

This is expected — not a bug.

Solution: Split the `.vcf` file into individual files

A proper multi-contact .vcf contains blocks like:

makefile

Copy code

BEGIN:VCARD ... END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD ... END:VCARD

You must split these into separate .vcf files:

One contact per file
Named something like:
- contact_001.vcf
- contact_002.vcf
- contact_003.vcf

You can do this automatically using CorrectVCF.

Problem #2: Outlook rejects vCard version 4.0

Outlook Desktop does not properly support:

vCard 4.0
Some 2.1 fields
Custom fields
Advanced types (IMPP, KIND, GEO, etc.)

Solution: Convert your file to vCard 3.0

vCard 3.0 is the most Outlook-friendly version.

CorrectVCF can convert:

vCard 2.1 → 3.0
vCard 4.0 → 3.0

Outlook accepts 3.0 reliably.

Problem #3: Outlook import shows blank or partial contacts

If Outlook imports a contact but leaves out:

Phone numbers
Email addresses
Names
Addresses
Notes
Company name

…it means the .vcf fields were formatted incorrectly for Outlook.

Typical causes:

Incorrect ADR: formatting
Misformatted phone numbers
Missing name fields (FN/N)
Unsupported TYPE parameters
Incorrect line endings
Encoding problems (Windows-1252 vs UTF-8)

Solution: Clean and normalize the vCard before importing

CorrectVCF automatically:

Normalizes addresses
Fixes field formatting
Validates syntax
Corrects encoding
Repairs missing fields
Removes empty entries

This ensures Outlook can read every field.

Problem #4: Outlook duplicates contacts on import

This happens because:

Outlook lacks UID matching
The .vcf file has inconsistent formatting
You import multiple times
Outlook treats each import as a new contact

Solution: Clean the `.vcf` file and add UIDs

UIDs allow Outlook to recognize that a contact already exists.

CorrectVCF adds UIDs and removes internal duplicates.
After that, Outlook will not duplicate entries when re-importing.

Problem #5: Outlook freezes or crashes during import

This happens when:

The .vcf file is huge
There are many embedded photos
Unicode characters break the parser
The file contains hundreds of contacts
Some contacts have malformed fields

Solution: Split and clean the file first

Split into:

Smaller files (250 contacts each)
Clean formatting
Remove photos if file is very large

Outlook becomes stable again.

6. How to convert your .vcf file to CSV for Outlook import

This is often the easiest route when Outlook refuses to import a .vcf.

Step 1 — Convert the `.vcf` to CSV

Use:

Google Contacts (import VCF → export CSV)
Or CorrectVCF (direct VCF → CSV conversion)

Step 2 — Import CSV into Outlook

Open Outlook
Go to File
Select Open & Export
Choose Import/Export
Select Import from another program or file
Choose CSV
Map fields to Outlook contact fields
Import

This method works reliably for hundreds or thousands of contacts.

7. How to fix a .vcf file before importing it into Outlook

If your .vcf is:

Not importing
Missing data
Duplicating
Corrupted
Blank
Multi-contact
In the wrong version
Using wrong encoding

…it needs to be repaired.

CorrectVCF can:

Validate the vCard
Fix formatting errors
Convert to Outlook-friendly vCard 3.0
Add missing fields (FN/N)
Normalize phone numbers
Split multi-contact files
Remove duplicates
Clean up encoding issues
Remove empty or invalid entries

Once repaired, Outlook will import the file correctly.

8. Special notes for Outlook users (important!)

Outlook supports only a small part of the vCard standard.

It rejects:

Many fields from iPhone exports
Some Android-specific fields
Custom CRM fields
vCard 4.0 fields
Large inline photos
Partially formatted addresses

Outlook imports multi-contact files incorrectly.

Always split or convert your .vcf.

Outlook handles UTF-8 inconsistently.

Encoding errors often cause blank contacts.

Outlook Desktop behaves differently from Outlook.com.

One may import a file the other rejects.

9. What to do if nothing works

If Outlook refuses to import your .vcf manually, you have these options:

Option A — Convert `.vcf` → `.csv` → import CSV

Outlook prefers CSV for bulk imports.

Option B — Clean and repair the `.vcf` automatically

CorrectVCF handles multi-contact files and Outlook’s formatting requirements.

Option C — Import into Google Contacts first

Google accepts messy .vcf files and exports Outlook-friendly CSV.

Option D — Re-export the file from your original device

If possible, export again using “vCard 3.0.”

Final Thoughts

Importing a .vcf file into Outlook can be frustrating because Outlook supports only a limited subset of the vCard standard. It is extremely picky about:

vCard version
Formatting
Encoding
Contact separation
Field structure
Embedded photos

But once your .vcf file is properly cleaned and formatted, Outlook can import your contacts reliably.

If you want to avoid manual fixes, upload your .vcf to CorrectVCF and it will:

Convert to Outlook-compatible vCard 3.0
Repair corrupted fields
Remove duplicates
Split large vCard files
Normalize formatting and encoding
Extract contacts into CSV if needed

After repair, your contacts will import smoothly into:

Outlook Desktop
Outlook.com
Windows People app
Microsoft 365
Exchange contacts