Supported Export Formats

Exporter for Contacts supports various common standard formats, but can also very flexibly generate CSV or Excel files for many use cases.

Custom vCard

Exports contacts either as a group vCard or as individual vCards, with the ability to specify which fields the exported vCards should contain.

A group vCard is a single vCard file that contains all contacts. When exporting as single vCards, they can optionally be packed into a ZIP archive.

A dedicated operating system function is used to create the vCards, ensuring that the vCard format is the same as that of the Contacts apps in macOS and iOS/iPadOS.

Excel / Numbers

Creates an Excel file in which you can specify which fields should be exported.

Excel files spare you the text encodings, split fields and date formats that CSV files bring with them. Excel files can also be opened directly by Numbers and FileMaker.

Besides the Simple Field Chooser, use the Custom Export Layout Editor to tailor the exported fields more closely to your needs.

CSV

Creates a CSV or tab-delimited file. Specify which fields to export.

Adjust all the main format options of a CSV file to match the output you need. Since some target apps can't handle line breaks in CSV fields, even if it is formatted correctly, you can filter them out if necessary.

Besides the Simple Field Chooser, use the Custom Export Layout Editor to tailor the exported fields more closely to your needs.

XML + XSLT

Creates an XML file with a simple and self-explanatory structure where you can specify which fields to export. Experienced users can convert this XML format to another format using the built-in XSL transformation (1.0) within the app and thus create special export formats.

Besides the Simple Field Chooser, use the Custom Export Layout Editor to tailor the exported fields more closely to your needs.

Google Contacts CSV

Creates a CSV file in "Google Contacts" format. For data transfer, it is preferable to the "Outlook for Windows" CSV format wherever possible, as it better supports the flexible data structure of a Mac contact.

Outlook for Mac OLM

Creates an "Outlook for Mac" OLM file that allows you to import your contacts, including contact images and categories, directly into Outlook for Mac. OLM is the Outlook for Mac native exchange format for calendar data and contacts.

Outlook contacts are less flexible than macOS contacts. To avoid data loss during export, you can let Mac contacts fields that are not supported by Outlook be added to the notes of the Outlook contact. If desired, Mac contacts groups can be converted to Outlook categories.

The contacts are imported into the local "On My Computer" section in Outlook. To see them, you may need to disable "Hide On my Computer folders" in the Outlook settings under Personal Settings > General > Sidebar.

Outlook for Windows / Microsoft 365 CSV

Creates a CSV file for import into Outlook for Windows (desktop app) or the Microsoft 365 Outlook Web App. The "Outlook for Windows" format variant is also directly supported by many online services and apps, although this format is relatively inflexible and limited. If the online service or app also supports the Google Contacts CSV format, you should rather use this format.

If you want to import your contacts into Outlook for Mac, you must use the OLM format.

Fritz!OS phone book

Creates an XML file that you can import into Fritz!OS as a phone book.

Fritz!OS does not appear to set an exact limit on the number of contacts; it depends on factors it does not document. Experiment if in doubt.