BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Manjeet Dahiya
N:Dahiya;Manjeet;;;
EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET:xxx@gmail.com
TEL;TYPE=CELL:xxx
END:VCARD

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Manjeet Dahiya
N:Dahiya;Manjeet;;;
EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET:xxx@gmail.com
TEL;TYPE=CELL:xxx
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Shivraj Singh
N:Singh;Shivraj;;;
EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET:xxx@gmail.com
TEL;TYPE=CELL:xxx
END:VCARD

python vCardSplit <vcard-file>

import sys

if (len(sys.argv) != 2):
 print "Usage: vCardSplit <vcard file>\n"
 sys.exit()

vCardFilePath = sys.argv[1]

vCardFile = open(vCardFilePath, 'r')

a = 0
vcardStarted = False
while True:
 line = vCardFile.readline()
 if not line:
 break

 if line.startswith('BEGIN:VCARD'):
 vcardStarted = True
 a = a + 1
 splitFile = open('contact_' + str(a) + '.vcf', 'w')

 if vcardStarted:
 splitFile.write(line)

 if line.startswith('END:VCARD'):
 vcardStarted = False
 splitFile.close()

vCardFile.close()

print 'Generated ' + str(a) + ' vCards';

16 thoughts on “Splitting multiple-vCards-file to one-vCard-per-file”

1. Ann K June 9, 2011 at 02:29

   Nice i’ve been looking for a way to do this.

   Where would I put this script?

   Thanks.
   -Ann K

   Reply ↓
2. Ann K June 9, 2011 at 02:59

   Okay I put the script in the vcf file after the vcf info.

   It does generate two vcfs but it copies the first ones information creating two of the same card.
   I tried this in gmail and Outlook 2011 and had the same result.

   Any assistance would be appreciated.

   Thanks.
   -Ann

   Reply ↓
   1. Manjeet Dahiya Post authorJune 9, 2011 at 08:35

      Can I have a look at the vcf file?

      Reply ↓
      1. Ann K June 9, 2011 at 19:50

         Sure here is the link to it:

         http://test.shared-vision.net/files/Sharedvision.vcf

         Thanks!!
         -Ann

         Reply ↓
         1. Manjeet Dahiya Post authorJune 10, 2011 at 08:35

            The way you are doing is incorrect. You have to create a separate python script file with the name: vCardSplit.py and copy the source code its source code into it. Remove the python code from Sharedvision.vcf file.

            * Then put both the files vCardSplit.py and Sharedvision.vcf in the same directory.
            * Open the command line and go the directory where above files are present
            * Then call the following command:
            python vCardSplit.py Sharedvision.vcf

            You need to have Python installed too.

            Reply ↓
3. Ann K June 10, 2011 at 21:09

   Thank You for you help with this but this is a little beyond my skill set.

   I did the first step of what you have responded with.
   I am not sure how to do the next one or last one.

   Also I have a hosting package that is on a grid server and I’m not sure how to go about putting python on there so I will have to ask the hosting company about that first.

   Again thanks for your help! I hope I can figure this out.

   -Ann

   Reply ↓
4. linuxtechie September 4, 2011 at 12:52

   Thanks man, I was planning to write it myself, came across yours and liked it.

   Reply ↓
5. alexey_laa September 6, 2011 at 23:49

   I’d like to split my file, exported from Google contacts with your script, but got an error while the script was executed:

   File "vCardSplit.py", line 16
   break
   ^
   IndentationError: expected an indented block

   Could you explain, please, how to run your script without this error?

   Reply ↓
6. Sean October 4, 2011 at 10:57

   To the previous poster: the indentation error seems to be due to the formatting of his script on the site here. If you go through the script and replace the single spaces with a single tab, it will run just fine. Also, you’ll need to tab twice sometimes, in order to correctly indent the conditional statements.

   Check the PEP-8 document for details on formatting:

   http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/

   Reply ↓
7. James Jordan November 17, 2011 at 03:06

   Just wanted to say thanks, your script saved me a bunch of time and worked perfectly. As the previous poster noted, the indentation changes are necessary before the python script will work, but other than that it was great. Perhaps you should offer a downloadable copy of the source .py file, so non-programmers could just download it? Just a suggestion, but regardless, I really appreciated your post.

   Reply ↓
8. Lajos Demmiany December 26, 2011 at 15:54

   Thanks!
   There are many solutions importing/exporting/converting vcf files but for this simple procedure is hard to fine.
   Thanks!

   Reply ↓
9. mere.bapu March 22, 2012 at 22:01

   guyzzz leave all ,,, just download this and extract , then read txt file in it .

   http://www.mediafire.com/?y26qw3h2akh1x0i

   Enjoy !!!

   Reply ↓
10. halfdan.k June 8, 2012 at 01:19

    for the last poster: excellent thank you – worked like a charm!!!!!

    Reply ↓
11. imran November 21, 2012 at 18:10

    Thanks nice job done

    Reply ↓
12. Jeff November 25, 2012 at 07:03

    I had the same indentation error that someone else posted about, just wanted to share how I fixed it.

    Python determines blocks of code by their indentation. Unfortunately, whitespace isn’t always preserved when posting on a blog. For me, line 16 (“break”) needed to be indented further in than the line just before it. So:

    if not line:
    ____break

    Of course, replace the underscores with spaces — four of them.

    Hope that helps.

    Reply ↓
13. rexx123456 February 12, 2013 at 11:54

    Thank you so much, “mere.bapu ” for your program!

    Now I can split my .vcf files. It’s fast, easy to use and works perfectly!!

    Tested on Windows XP Professional 32bit, Service Pack 3 with Outlook 2007.

    Rexx123456

    Reply ↓