Free VCF test files and sample generator
The contact exchange format used by phones, mail clients and CRMs. Generate valid .vcf sample files holding one contact or thousands, to test address-book imports, deduplication and field mapping.
What is a .vcf file?
VCF: vCard Contact File. vCard is the contact format that moves address books between phones, mail clients and CRMs. Files here use version 3.0 rather than the newer 4.0, because 3.0 is what Outlook, Google Contacts and iOS actually import reliably, and interoperability is the whole reason you would be testing with one. Multiple cards simply concatenate, so a single .vcf can carry an entire address book.
Why generate a test VCF file?
- Test a contact import, field mapping or deduplication routine.
- Exercise an address book with thousands of cards rather than the three you would type by hand.
- Check handling of missing optional fields, or of a file with no cards at all.
What you can put inside a .vcf file
You get 2 content options for VCF, so the file holds something meaningful rather than random padding: Single contact, Many contacts. For VCF these are alternatives, so choose the one that matches what you need to test.
How a .vcf file is identified
A .vcf file has no signature at the start. A text format has no identifying leading bytes, so the extension and the reported media type are the only claims about it until a parser actually reads it, which is why validating uploads by extension alone is unsafe.
Negative testing with broken VCF files
- Invalid. Identifiable, but wrong inside, so it fails during parsing.
- Corrupted. The leading bytes are destroyed. Same length as the valid file.
- Incomplete. Truncated part-way, so it is genuinely shorter.
- Empty. Chosen under Content rather than File Condition: valid structure, no data.
Which failure to reach for, and what to assert for each, is covered in how to make a corrupted file for testing. For upload limits and type checks see testing file upload validation, and for this format's encodings, UTF-16 and BOM test files.
Sample VCF content
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Smith;James;;; FN:James Smith ORG:Contoso;Engineering EMAIL:james.smith@example.com TEL:+1-555-0100 END:VCARD
This shows the shape of the file. Your download is generated fresh at the size you choose, so the values will differ.
How to open and verify the file
Double-click to open in Contacts or Outlook, or import under Google Contacts → Import. Every value is fabricated: emails use the reserved example.com domain and phone numbers come from the 555-0100 range set aside for fiction.
Media type text/vcard · extension .vcf · category Data
Generate a .vcf file → · questions about sizes, privacy or cost are answered on the site FAQ.
Frequently asked questions about VCF files
What identifies a .vcf file?
Nothing at the start of the file does. A text format has no identifying leading bytes, so the extension and the reported media type are the only claims about it until a parser actually reads it, which is why validating uploads by extension alone is unsafe.
What can go inside the VCF file?
There are 2 content options for .vcf: Single contact, Many contacts. For VCF these are alternatives, so pick the one matching what you need to test.
Can I download several broken VCF files at once?
Yes, select more than one File Condition and you get one ZIP containing a .vcf per condition, each named after its condition.
Can the VCF file use UTF-16 or a byte-order mark?
Yes. .vcf is a text format, so it can be generated as UTF-8, UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, UTF-16 LE or UTF-16 BE. The body is shortened before re-encoding so the finished file still lands on the exact size you asked for. Note that a UTF-16 file always has an even byte count.
How do I open or verify the VCF file?
Double-click to open in Contacts or Outlook, or import under Google Contacts → Import. Every value is fabricated: emails use the reserved example.com domain and phone numbers come from the 555-0100 range set aside for fiction.