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How to Import Excel Contacts to Mac Address Book?

  author
Rollins Duke   
Published: May 30th, 2023 • 7 Min Read

If you are an Apple macOS user, you wish to import Excel contacts to Mac address book, but you don’t know how! Don’t worry! This blog post will help you to import contacts from Excel to Apple contacts using manual and automated methods. Keep reading this post!

We all know that our computers or laptops run on Operating System (OS), a system software managing the hardware and other applications installed in the computer/ laptop. The most prominent operating systems are Windows by Microsoft and macOS by Apple. On the contrary, a spreadsheet is an application for analyzing and storing data in tabular form. And Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are popular spreadsheet software.

Table of Content Hide
  1. Reasons to Import Contacts from Excel to Apple Address Book
  2. Manual Way to Import Contacts from Excel to Mac Contacts Free
  3. Automated Way to Import Contacts from Excel to Apple Contacts
  4. Conclusion

Recommended: Simplest Way to Import Excel Contacts to iPhone

Reasons to Import Contacts from Excel to Apple Address Book

Many reasons necessitate the import of Excel contacts to the Mac address book, and some of these are:

  • No Size Issues – Excel files are large compared to other formats like vCard and take much time while uploading to any platform or website, whereas formats like vCard get quickly uploaded due to their smaller size.
  • Easy Integration with Other Applications – This is the main reason for importing Excel contacts to an address book – the Mac address book in this blog. You can’t integrate an Excel sheet with other applications – say Facebook or Substack – because these applications ask you to let them access your contact list for suggesting new connections to add.
  • Multi-device Accessibility – Another reason to import contacts from Excel to Mac contacts is the multi-device accessibility – meaning that you can access your Mac address book on other Apple devices like iPhone and iPad. On the other hand, an Excel sheet doesn’t provide such accessibility.

We have understood the reasons to import contacts from Excel to Apple address book on Mac. Let’s explore the methods you can use to import Excel contacts!

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#1 Manual Way to Import Contacts from Excel to Mac Contacts Free

  1. Open XLSX contacts in Excel and Save As to CSV.
  2. Import CSV contacts to Gmail contacts.
  3. Export Gmail contacts to vCard format.
  4. Import vCard contacts to Mac address book.

Complete above mentioned 4 steps to import Excel contacts to Mac address book free of charge. If you want to get the entire knowledge about completing these steps, then follow all the below-explained steps carefully.

Complete 4 Steps to Import Excel Contacts to Apple Address Book

The manual method for importing contacts from Excel into Apple contacts involves converting the Excel CSV sheet to a vCard file. Now remember that Excel supports contacts saved in XLSX and XLS format, while the Mac address book supports only the vCard format.

Follow these steps to import Excel contacts to Mac manually:

Stage 1- Open XLSX Contacts in Excel and Save As to CSV

  1. Open the contacts file in Excel in your system.
    excel contacts
  2. Go to File, and click Save As.
    save as
  3. Select CSV from the file format dropdown menu.
    select csv
  4. Select the destination for saving the file and click Save.
    save contacts in csv file
  5. See your Excel contacts converted to CSV format.
    csv contacts

You can’t import the CSV file into Mac Address Book as Apple only supports the vCard format for contacts. The best way is to upload the CSV file to Gmail and export it in the vCard file format. Follow these steps to import the CSV file to Gmail:

Stage 2- Import CSV Contacts to Gmail contacts

  1. Open Gmail on the browser on your system.
  2. Select Contacts from the Google Apps menu next to the profile icon.
    gmail contacts option
  3. Click the Import contacts option.
    import option
  4. Choose the Select File button.
    select file
  5. Select a contacts CSV file and press the Import button.
    import button
  6. Please wait to complete the importing process.
    importing contacts

Stage 3- Export Gmail Contacts to vCard Format

  1. Click the Export icon to export them.
    export contacts
  2. Under the Export Contacts option, select vCard (for iOS contacts) as the export format.
    export contacts
  3. The selected contacts are exported in the vCard format, see them.
    resultant contacts

Now that you have the Excel contacts exported in a vCard format, the only thing left is to import the vCard file to the Mac address book. Follow these steps to import Excel contacts to Mac address book:

Stage 4- Import vCard contacts to Mac address book

  1. Open the Mac address book (or Contacts) on your MacBook or iMac.
  2. Select File >> Import to continue.
    mac address book
  3. Thereafter, select the vCard file from your MacBook and press Open.
    choose vcard
  4. Click Add after a pop-up appears, confirming your action.
    import excel contacts to mac address book
  5. The contacts will be imported to the Mac address book.
    import contacts from excel to apple contacts

Your Excel contacts are finally exported to the Mac address book. But this manual method is time-consuming as it involves many steps to export Excel contacts to Apple contacts. Also, you should be technically sound and careful while exporting since a misstep can make you repeat the entire method. The automated method is preferable to save time and import Excel contacts to Apple quickly, and we will discuss it now.

Read Similar: Techniques to Import Excel Contacts to Constant Contacts

#2 Automated Way to Import Contacts from Excel to Apple Contacts

As discussed above, the manual method to import Excel contacts to the Mac address book is time-consuming, has many steps, and involves careful working and technical knowledge. Hence, using an automated tool to save time and quickly import Excel contacts to Apple is the best option. And here, we will discuss one such contacts’ converter tool – BitRecover Excel to vCard Converter.

The following points describe some of its features:

  • Convert Excel XLS and XLSX files to vCard format.
  • Make individual or combined VCF file(s).
  • Auto-mapping feature to map MS Excel and vCard fields.

How to Import Excel Contacts to Mac Address Book?

  1. Install the tool in your system and open it after installation. Add the Excel file using the Select option.
    select file
  2. Click Save As to select the destination folder for the resultant vCard file.
    save as option
  3. Check the Save all contacts in one VCF file box to make a single vCard file for all Excel contacts.
    save all contacts in vcf file
  4. The tool automatically detects the available contact fields in the Excel file.
    excel csv fields
  5. Map the contact fields using the Select button next to the vCard Field button.
    select vcard field
  6. Choose the mapping fields according to your choice.
    complete contact field mapping
  7. After the field mapping gets over, recheck it and check the Set vCard Encoding box to encode the Excel file into vCard.
    see contact field mapping completed
  8. Click Convert to start the file conversion process.
    import contacts from excel to apple address book
  9. Open the destination folder to access your single or multiple vCard file(s).
    resultant vcf contacts
  10. After converting the Excel file into vCard, use stage 4 mentioned at the end of the manual method to import the vCard file to the Mac address book.
    mac address book

Conclusion

Being a MacBook or iMac user gives you access to a sophisticated work machine. Importing contacts from Excel into Apple Contacts (or address book) is nearly impossible since Excel supports contacts saved in XLSX and XLS format, while the Mac address book supports only the vCard format. We discussed two methods to import Excel contacts to Mac address book in this blog: manual and automated.

The manual method involves importing the Excel file to Gmail and then exporting it to vCard, later importing it to the Mac address book. This process is time-consuming and technical since it has many steps, and a misstep can make you repeat the entire method. On the contrary, the automated tool mentioned in this post can easily convert the Excel file into vCard without any technicality of the manual method, thus saving time. Also, non-technical users can use this tool without worries.

Read Similar: Free Way to Import Excel Contacts into Hotmail