Free online TXT to VCARD converter

A phone or address-book application may accept contact imports only as vCard files, while the source data is often a plain-text list. Converting the list creates structured contact records that can be imported, shared, or edited in supported software.

What the TXT format is

.txt identifies plain text used by Notepad, TextEdit, terminal tools, spreadsheet exports, CRM systems, older address-book programs, and manually maintained lists. It has no universal contact schema: records may use one person per line, comma-, tab-, or semicolon-separated columns, or labeled blocks such as Name: Ana Smith and Phone: +1 555 0100.

Inspect the contents before converting. The extension does not reveal whether a column contains a given name, family name, telephone number, postal address, organization, email address, or note.

What the vCard format is

vCard is a structured contact-card format normally stored with the .vcf extension. Its properties can label a display name (FN), structured name components (N), telephone numbers (TEL), email addresses (EMAIL), organizations (ORG), postal addresses (ADR), websites, and notes.

One VCF file can contain one card or multiple BEGIN:VCARD records. Android and iOS address books, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Contacts, Thunderbird, Google Contacts, and other contact managers support vCard, but field mapping and supported properties differ. vCard 3.0 is usually the safer choice for older phones and desktop applications; vCard 4.0 provides newer features but is not accepted by every importer.

Convert the file with 101convert.com

1. Open the TXT-to-VCARD converter on 101convert.com. The conversion can be performed for free without installing software.
2. Upload the plain-text file.
3. If the converter requests a layout, select the delimiter used by the file—such as comma, tab, semicolon, or line breaks—and map each source field to the correct contact property. Do not guess when columns are unlabeled.
4. Select vCard 3.0 when the destination application has uncertain or older compatibility; use 4.0 only when the destination supports it.
5. Start the conversion and download the resulting .vcf file.
6. In the destination application, choose File → Import or Import contacts, select the VCF file, review duplicate handling and field placement, and confirm the import.

Use desktop software for a local conversion

1. Open the TXT file in LibreOffice Calc. In the text-import dialog, select Separated by and choose the actual delimiter. Verify that names, numbers, and addresses appear in the intended columns.
2. Add clear headers such as First Name, Last Name, Mobile, Email, and Organization. Save a working copy as UTF-8 CSV through File → Save As.
3. Open the CSV in Thunderbird’s address book and use its import command. Map every column to the appropriate Thunderbird field.
4. Check several imported contacts, then select the verified records and use the address book’s export command to create contacts.vcf. Choose vCard 3.0 if a version option is available.

Menu names vary between software releases. A local workflow avoids uploading personal contact data and is preferable when the TXT file contains private information.

Automate a known TXT layout

For repeated conversions, use a tab-separated file with a header row such as first_name, last_name, phone, email, and organization, then process it with a CSV-aware script. CSV parsing is required because names, organizations, and addresses can contain spaces, commas, or quoted text; splitting each line on spaces is unreliable.

The script must write one BEGIN:VCARD and END:VCARD pair per record, include VERSION:3.0, retain FN, and map fields to properties such as N, TEL, EMAIL, and ORG. It must also escape backslashes, commas, semicolons, and line breaks in values and use CRLF line endings. Separate first- and last-name columns are more reliable than deriving a surname from a full name; compound surnames, prefixes, and suffixes cannot be inferred safely.

Check quality and compatibility

Plain text cannot reliably identify field meanings. Before export, confirm name order, telephone types, country codes, leading zeroes, email addresses, postal fields, quoted delimiters, and accented characters. Preserve empty fields rather than shifting later columns.

Write vCards as UTF-8 and escape punctuation or embedded line breaks according to the selected vCard version. Long generated lines may need vCard line folding. Test a small sample with the actual phone or contact application before importing the full file.

Photos, groups, custom fields, multiple phone labels, and other metadata are lost unless the TXT source contains corresponding data and the converter maps it. A multi-contact VCF import can also create duplicates, so review the destination address book after conversion.