Apple Contacts vCard to CSV Field Mapping Reference

This page documents the actual field mapping used by ShowPro's current [Apple Contacts to CSV converter](https://showprosoftware.com/tools/contacts-to-csv).

Apple Contacts exports contact data as vCard/VCF. ShowPro reads a subset of common vCard properties and converts the values it recognizes into CSV columns. This reference is useful when you need to know exactly what will survive the conversion before moving contacts into Excel, Google Sheets, a CRM, or another system.

Current ShowPro mapping table

| vCard property | ShowPro CSV column | Current behavior |

|---|---|---|

| FN | FullName | Uses the full formatted-name value as-is. |

| N | LastName | Uses the first semicolon-separated component. |

| N | FirstName | Uses the second semicolon-separated component. |

| N | MiddleName | Uses the third semicolon-separated component. |

| EMAIL | Email | Multiple email values are combined into one cell separated by ; . |

| TEL | Phone | Multiple phone values are combined into one cell separated by ; . |

| ORG | Organization | Uses the first semicolon-separated organization component. |

| TITLE | JobTitle | Uses the property value as-is. |

| ADR | Address | Replaces vCard semicolons with comma + space. |

| URL | Website | Uses the URL value as-is. |

| NOTE | Note | Uses the note value as-is on the parsed line. |

The final CSV includes only the columns that appear in at least one parsed contact. The header order follows the order in which recognized properties are first encountered while the VCF is parsed.

Example vCard

A simplified vCard might look like this:

BEGIN:VCARD

VERSION:3.0

FN:Alex Tan

N:Tan;Alex;Wei;;

EMAIL;TYPE=WORK:alex@example.com

EMAIL;TYPE=HOME:alex.home@example.com

TEL;TYPE=CELL:+60123456789

ORG:Example Company;Operations

TITLE:Operations Manager

ADR;TYPE=WORK:;;123 Example Street;Kuala Lumpur;;;Malaysia

URL:https://example.com

NOTE:Imported from Apple Contacts

END:VCARD

With the current ShowPro parser, the resulting row is conceptually:

| FullName | LastName | FirstName | MiddleName | Email | Phone | Organization | JobTitle | Address | Website | Note |

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

| Alex Tan | Tan | Alex | Wei | alex@example.com; alex.home@example.com | +60123456789 | Example Company | Operations Manager | , , 123 Example Street, Kuala Lumpur, , , Malaysia | https://example.com | Imported from Apple Contacts |

The address output reflects the current converter's deliberately simple rule: every semicolon in ADR becomes a comma followed by a space.

How name fields are interpreted

FN → FullName

FN is the vCard's formatted display name.

Example:

FN:Alex Wei Tan

becomes:

FullName = Alex Wei Tan

N → LastName, FirstName, MiddleName

The N property is semicolon-delimited. ShowPro currently reads only the first three components:

N:Tan;Alex;Wei;;

becomes:

Suffixes and prefixes that may appear in later N components are not mapped into dedicated CSV columns by the current converter.

Multiple email addresses

vCard parameter details such as TYPE=WORK or TYPE=HOME do not create separate columns.

For example:

EMAIL;TYPE=WORK:alex@company.com

EMAIL;TYPE=HOME:alex@example.com

becomes a single Email cell:

alex@company.com; alex@example.com

The current converter preserves the values, but not their WORK/HOME labels.

Multiple phone numbers

Phone values behave the same way.

Example:

TEL;TYPE=CELL:+60123456789

TEL;TYPE=WORK:+60312345678

becomes:

+60123456789; +60312345678

in one Phone cell. The current CSV does not create separate Mobile, Work Phone, and Home Phone columns.

Organization

For:

ORG:Example Company;Operations;SEA

the current converter stores only the first component:

Organization = Example Company

Department/sub-organization components after the first semicolon are not currently mapped to separate columns.

Postal address

The converter does not currently decompose ADR into Street, City, State, Postal Code, and Country columns.

Instead it replaces every semicolon with a comma and space.

That makes the result readable in a spreadsheet, but if you need structured address columns for CRM import, you may need to split or normalize the Address field afterward.

Which contacts become CSV rows?

A parsed vCard becomes a CSV row only when ShowPro found at least one of:

A vCard containing only a telephone number, for example, is not currently emitted as a row unless it also contains a formatted name or email address.

This is an important implementation detail for unusual/minimal vCards.

How CSV quoting works

ShowPro builds a comma-separated file.

A value is wrapped in double quotes when it contains:

Double quotes inside such values are escaped by doubling them.

For example:

Tan, Alex

becomes:

"Tan, Alex"

and:

Alex "AJ" Tan

becomes:

"Alex ""AJ"" Tan"

What the current converter does not map

The current parser intentionally focuses on common text fields. It does not provide dedicated CSV mappings for properties such as:

If one of those fields is important to your migration, keep the original VCF as the authoritative source.

Parser limitations to understand

This reference describes the converter as it works today, not the complete vCard specification.

The current parser is intentionally lightweight:

For ordinary Apple Contacts exports using common contact fields, this produces a convenient spreadsheet. For archival, legal, or migration workflows where every vCard property matters, retain the VCF and validate the CSV before deleting anything.

Privacy and local processing

The [Contacts to CSV tool](https://showprosoftware.com/tools/contacts-to-csv) reads the selected VCF with browser file APIs and performs the parsing in the browser. The selected contact file is not uploaded to a ShowPro conversion server for this operation.

ShowPro still uses ordinary web infrastructure and may use site analytics, advertising, and billing. The local-processing boundary is documented at [ShowPro Privacy — Local File Processing](https://showprosoftware.com/privacy#local-processing).

Exporting from Apple Contacts first

If you do not have a VCF file yet, use the current guide:

[How to Export Apple Contacts to CSV on iPhone, Mac & iCloud](https://showprosoftware.com/blog/how-to-export-apple-contacts-to-csv-complete-guide-2025)

Current iOS lets you export a contact list directly from the Contacts app, after which the VCF can be converted to CSV.

Moving contacts in the opposite direction

If your source is already a CSV spreadsheet and the destination is Apple Contacts, use:

[ShowPro CSV to vCard](https://showprosoftware.com/tools/csv-to-vcard)

That is a different conversion path from the VCF-to-CSV mapping documented here.

FAQ

Does ShowPro create separate Work Email and Home Email columns?

No. Multiple recognized EMAIL properties are currently combined into the single Email column.

Does ShowPro preserve phone labels such as CELL, HOME, and WORK?

It preserves the phone values, but the current CSV output does not preserve those TYPE labels as separate columns.

Are contact photos exported to CSV?

No. CSV is text/tabular data, and the current converter does not extract PHOTO into a separate file or column.

Why are some CSV columns absent?

The header is dynamic. A column appears only when at least one parsed contact supplied that recognized field.

Can I use this CSV as a perfect archival replacement for VCF?

No. The CSV is a convenient transformation of common fields. Keep the original VCF when you need full-fidelity vCard data.

Where can I convert the file?

Use the [Apple Contacts to CSV converter](https://showprosoftware.com/tools/contacts-to-csv).