Export Added or Changed Contacts Only

Exporter for Contacts can limit an export to only those contacts that have been added or changed since the last export of that particular setup. This allows you to produce incremental updates without outputting the entire dataset on every run – ideal for regularly delivering changes to other systems or people.

The reference point is always the most recent export of the setup in question. Each setup maintains its own comparison baseline, so multiple setups operate independently of one another. After every export, this baseline is automatically updated, ensuring the next run picks up exactly where the previous one left off. Right after enabling the feature for the first time, there is no prior baseline yet; meaningful results begin with the first export that establishes the comparison baseline.

To enable this feature, select one of the options under “Since last export” in the contact selection menu.

Special Considerations for Imported vCard Files

In addition to contacts from the Contacts app, externally imported vCard files can also be exported. Such contacts do not have a permanently stable system-level identifier, so the app recognizes them by their content attributes – first name, middle name, last name, and organization. Changes to other fields (such as phone number or address) are reliably detected as modifications. However, if one of those identifying name or organization components is changed, the affected vCard contact is treated as a new contact rather than a changed one. This limitation applies exclusively to imported vCards and is a deliberate trade-off in favor of reliable, identifier-independent recognition.