How to send a contact card as a file from a Mac

In Contacts, select the person and choose File > Export > Export vCard, or simply drag their name from the contacts list onto the desktop. Either way you get a .vcf file named after them that you can attach to an email, drop into a message or send with AirDrop. vCard is the standard format address books use to exchange contacts, so the person receiving it can add the card in a couple of taps.

Make the .vcf file

There are two ways to do it, with the same result.

1. Drag it out. Open Contacts, find the person in the list and drag their name to the desktop or into a Finder folder. A .vcf file named after the contact appears where you let go.
2. Use the menu. Select the contact, choose File > Export > Export vCard, pick a folder and click Save.

To put several people in one file, Command-click each of them in the list, then use either method. To take everyone in a list, click the list in the sidebar, press Command-A to select all its contacts, then export. The result is a single .vcf holding every selected card, and importing it on the other end adds each person.

Send it without making a file

If the card is going straight to one person, Contacts can send it for you. Select the contact, click the Share button at the bottom of the card and choose Mail, Messages or AirDrop.

• Mail opens a new message with the vCard already attached.
• Messages adds the card to a conversation.
• AirDrop sends it to a nearby iPhone, iPad or Mac, where it opens in Contacts. Where AirDropped files go on a Mac explains what happens on a receiving Mac.

Making a file is still the better route when the card travels with something else, such as a quote along with the supplier’s details. It also helps when a web form asks you to upload a contact, or when you want to keep a copy.

Check what the card contains first

A contact card carries everything on it: every phone number and email address, home and work addresses, a birthday, related names, and possibly notes and a photo. Before you send someone else’s details, or your own, look at what is going.

• Read the file. A .vcf is plain text. Control-click it, choose Open With > TextEdit, and read it through. Each line holds one field, so an old address or a private number that should not travel is easy to spot. Close it without saving changes, since hand edits can break the format.
• Decide on notes and photos. Open Contacts > Settings and click the vCard tab. Options there control whether notes and photos are included when you export a vCard. Turn notes off if your notes field holds things only you should read.
• Use a private card for yourself. In the same tab, turn on Enable private me card. When you edit your own card afterward, a checkbox appears beside each field, and only the ticked fields go out when you share it.

To send fewer details for someone else, make a new contact holding only the fields you want to share, export that one, then delete the temporary card.

If an older phone or program cannot read the file, the vCard tab also has a vCard Format menu. Switch it from 3.0 to 2.1 and export again.

What the person receiving it sees

• On an iPhone or iPad, tapping the .vcf in Mail or Messages shows the card with options to create a new contact or add the details to an existing one.
• On a Mac, double-clicking the file opens Contacts, which asks for confirmation before adding the card.
• On other phones and computers, the file imports into most address books and email programs, since vCard is the shared standard.

A card sent in Messages usually appears as a tappable contact bubble rather than a file icon. That is normal; tapping it offers the same choices.

Sending the card with other files

A contact often goes out alongside something: a contract with the lawyer’s card, an invoice with the contractor’s details, a floor plan with the number of the person who has the keys. Gathering those pieces from Contacts and two Finder folders, then getting them all into the right conversation, is the fiddly part.

Ledge holds the set while you assemble it. Drag the .vcf from the desktop up to the notch at the top of the screen and let go; it lands on a shelf that drops from the notch and waits there. Add the document from its Finder folder, and anything else that belongs with it, the same way. Then open the app the set is going to, open the shelf with Option-Space or a click on the notch, and drag everything off together. A chat app uploads each item as a file, and a Finder folder receives the files themselves.

Ledge does not open Contacts or create vCards, so the export step above comes first. It has no account and no cloud, so a card full of phone numbers and addresses stays on your Mac until you choose to send it. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. For sending files with Messages in general, see how to send a file in Messages on a Mac.

Questions

Why does the exported vCard have no photo?

The vCard tab in Contacts > Settings has an option for including photos in exported vCards. Turn it on and export the card again.

Can I export all my contacts at once?

Yes. Click All Contacts in the sidebar, press Command-A, then choose File > Export > Export vCard. One .vcf file holds everyone, which also makes a handy backup. Contacts also offers File > Export > Contacts Archive for a full backup you can restore later in Contacts.

Why did the file get a strange name?

The name comes from the contact’s name fields, or the company name for a company card. If those fields are empty or unusual, rename the .vcf in Finder before sending; the name of the file does not change the card inside it.