CorrectVCF

VCF won’t import into Google Contacts (Gmail) — how to fix

If Google Contacts refuses your upload (or imports fewer contacts than expected), it usually means the vCard is syntactically invalid or contains a compatibility edge case.

This guide covers the most common root causes and how to fix them.

1) Confirm the file is actually a vCard (.vcf)

Open the file in a text editor. A valid vCard record starts like:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Jane Doe
N:Doe;Jane;;;
END:VCARD

If your file is CSV, JSON, or has other headers, Google Contacts won’t treat it as a vCard.

2) Missing required fields (VERSION, FN, N)

Google Contacts is typically forgiving, but the basics must be right:

  • BEGIN:VCARD and END:VCARD must exist for each contact
  • VERSION should be 2.1, 3.0, or 4.0
  • FN is the display name
  • N is the structured name (Last;First;Middle;Prefix;Suffix)

If any are missing or malformed, imports may fail or silently drop contacts.

3) Broken line endings or long lines (folding)

vCards use a strict rule for “folding” long lines. A long property can be split across lines only if the next line starts with a space.

Bad example:

NOTE:This is a long note that wraps
to a new line without a leading space

Correct folding:

NOTE:This is a long note that wraps
 to a new line with a leading space

4) Encoding problems (non‑UTF‑8 / weird characters)

If names or notes contain accented characters and the file isn’t UTF‑8, Google Contacts may reject it or mangle text.

Fix by exporting as UTF‑8 (without exotic encodings), or validate and normalize the file before import.

5) Multiple contacts only imports one

If only the first contact imports, look for:

  • a missing END:VCARD before the next BEGIN:VCARD
  • garbage bytes / hidden characters between records
  • a single huge line that breaks folding rules
  1. Validate the file and fix the first error shown.
  2. Re-import into Google Contacts.
  3. If you still see failures, fix the next error and repeat (vCards often have multiple independent issues).

If you want the fastest path, use the CorrectVCF autofix tool to generate a clean, import‑ready file and retry the import.

Fix your .vcf file in seconds

Upload a vCard and get a clean, import-ready file for Google Contacts, Outlook, iPhone, Android, and CRMs.

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