Import contacts into Contacts on Mac
You can import contacts from other computers or apps as files in a variety of file types—for example, vCard (with the extension .vcf), archive (.abbu), LDAP Data Interchange Format (.ldif), or a tab-delimited or comma-separated value (.csv) text file.
Note: When you import contact cards, Contacts indicates when it finds duplicates, so you can review them. See Resolve duplicates while importing contacts.
Import contacts from a vCard file (.vcf)
Do one of the following on your Mac:
Double-click the vCard file—for example, in an email or on the desktop.
Drag the vCard file to the Contacts icon
in the Dock, or to the list of contacts in the Contacts window.In Contacts, choose File > Import, then select the vCard file.
Click Add in the message that appears.
Import contacts from an archive file (.abbu)
Important: Importing an archive file replaces your current contact information.
In the Contacts app
on your Mac, choose File > Import.Select the archive file, then click Open.
Import contacts from other file types
Before you import a tab-delimited or CSV file, use a text editor (such as TextEdit) to confirm the file is formatted correctly:
Remove any line breaks within a contact’s information.
Make sure all addresses have the same number of fields. Add empty fields as needed.
Make sure fields are separated by a tab (in a tab-delimited file) or a comma (in a CSV file), instead of another character. Don’t include spaces before or after the tabs or commas.
Import the file by doing the following:
In the Contacts app
on your Mac, choose File > Import, select the file, change the encoding if necessary, then click Open.If you’re importing a text file, review the field labels.
If the first card contains headers, make sure the headers are correctly labeled or marked “Do not import.” Any changes you make to this card are made to all cards in the file. To not import the headers card, select “Ignore first card.”
To change a label, click the arrows next to the label and choose a new label. If you don’t want to import a field, choose “Do not import.”
When you import contacts from an Exchange account, information that isn’t supported is added to the Note field. Custom fields aren’t imported.
When you sign in with the same Apple ID on each of your devices and turn on Contacts in iCloud settings, your contacts are available on all your devices, and changes you make to contacts on one device appear on the others.