How to Compress vCard File to Reduce Size?

Several users may desire to compress vCard files for personal and professional reasons. As we know technological advancement has replaced telephones with mobile phones, and big Yellow Pages books have got superseded by digital vCards (or Virtual Cards) for contact storage. While vCards (or Virtual Contact File, aka .vcf file) help you store contact details digitally, they are also prone to storage capacity issues. We will discuss the solutions to compress vCard file(s) besides the reasons for reducing the size.

Reasons to Compress VCF File Contacts

Many reasons call for an urgent reduction of the VCF/vCard file(s) size, and the following points describe some of them:

• File Size Reduction: The primary reason to compress VCF file relates to reducing the size of your contact list. Since vCard/VCF file(s) stores contact details in plain text format, reducing the size helps with data management and easy sharing.
• Faster Download: Another reason for compressing the vCard/VCF file(s) is to ensure a swift contact file download through email or other mediums. Moreover, a lower-sized contacts file will get easily downloaded on a limited internet connection.
• Storage Management: The third reason to compress vCard file(s) is to oversee efficient device functioning. Even though VCF file(s) occupy lower space in mobile phones and computers due to data being in plain text, having extra details (like birthdays and addresses) increases the size of the vCard file(s), leading to storage problems for your mobiles or computers. A compressed VCF/vCard file database will help you and your team manage your storage resources effectively.
• System Compatibility: Many computers, mobiles, and even applications may pose constraints on the size of the importable/uploadable vCard file(s).

These reasons highlight the urgency to compress VCF file(s), and the following sections explore the solutions, so read this blog till the end!

How to Compress vCard File(s) Manually?

We have read the reasons for reducing VCF file size. We have a manual workaround for reducing vCard file(s) size and ensuring smooth data management. The following points mention the steps:

1. Open the folder on the computer where the vCard files are stored.
2. Right-click on a contact file and select the Open with option.
3. Select Microsoft Outlook (or simply Outlook) from the list.
4. Once Outlook opens, remove the unrequired information, and click the Save and Close option from the ribbon bar on the top.
5. Repeat the same process for other contacts.

This process to compress VCF file(s) looks easy, and many people will begin to use it. However, this workaround has many limitations, which get discussed in the next section.

Limitations of the Manual Solution

The manual solution to compress vCard files sounds simple, but it isn’t and involves many problems. We will mention some of them in the following points:

• The entire process takes a lot of time since you should compress each contact card individually.
• This process is beneficial only when you have limited contacts for compression.
• Not all vCard users have the Outlook application installed on their computers.
• The Outlook app is a paid application, meaning you have to pay to avail extra benefits like directly opening and editing the vCard/VCF file(s) on the app.

These drawbacks restrict the usage of the manual solution. Don’t worry! The following sections describe the perfect method to reduce the size of your VCF/vCard file(s).

Try Also: Software to Convert Excel Contacts to vCard

First Pro Method to Reduce VCF File Size

The manual solution to compress vCard file(s) sounds easy, but the drawbacks restrict its usage. Hence, we will explore the best method for reducing VCF file size: automated software. The RecoveryTools vCard Organizer Software is the perfect solution to reduce vCard file size. This software packs many benefits to help you reduce VCF file size for all Windows computers and ensures extra storage for new contacts. This automated utility has three vCard storage data handling options:

• Delete vCard with attachment: This option helps you remove contacts having attachments (photos in this case) from the chosen file(s)/ folders.
• Delete vCard without attachment: The second option deletes contacts not having attachments (or photos) and protects the original contact database.
• Remove attachments from all vCards: This feature helps you remove attachments (or photos) from all vCard files and folders for efficient size management.

This software has an easy user interface for easy usage by technical and non-technical people, besides having the benefit of offline operation.

Download Now Purchase Now

How to Reduce vCard File Size?

We will now discuss the working process of the software in the following points:

1. Install and launch the automated tool on your Windows OS computer/laptop.
   
2. Select the Add Files or Add Folders option according to your preference. You can even add multiple individual vCard files using the Add Files option.
   
3. Next, select the VCF/vCard files from the left-side view panel.
   
4. The asterisk (*) icon on the Attachments column shows the contacts having attachments (or photos). Alternatively, click the Attachments button next to Message Preview to view the contacts having photographs.
   
5. Next, click the Save button and select the desired option like Remove attachments from all vCards.
   
6. Select the location for saving the resultant compressed vCard file(s) using the Change button.
   
7. Finally, click Start to compress vCard file(s). The original contact file(s) won’t get affected since the software creates new files.
   

Get It Free: Best Software to Read vCard Contact Files

Second Pro Method to Compress vCard Files

Another way to compress VCF file(s) is by deleting repeated contacts from the file(s). We present an automated software for this purpose: RecoveryTools vCard Duplicate Remover. This utility helps you remove identical contacts and secure extra space for new contacts, ultimately leading to file compression. This tool has many remarkable benefits that will help you remove duplicacy in your contacts. This software is compatible with all vCard versions, i.e., vCard 2.1, 3.0, and 4.0.

Download Now Purchase Now

How to Compress VCF File Contacts?

1. Download and run the automated tool on your Windows system.
   
2. Begin the process to compress vCard file using the Select Files or Select Folders button and click Next.
   
3. All the chosen vCard folders and subfolders will appear in the software view panel. Select/ deselect the unnecessary data.
   
4. Click the Next button and select the location for the resultant VCF file(s) by clicking the folder icon under Destination Path.
   
5. Next, check the Create Single VCF box for creating a single vCard file for all the contacts. Skip it for extracting individual VCF files.
   
6. The All Fields box under the Filters section gets selected by default for removing replica contacts. You can deselect it and select deduplication filters according to your preferences.
   
7. Finally, compress VCF file(s) (or deduplicate them) by clicking the Extract button.
   

Conclusion

We discussed the solutions to compress vCard file(s) besides the reasons for the contact file size reduction. The reasons mentioned in this blog necessitate urgent file compression. The manual solution to reduce the VCF file size looks easy, but the limitations restrict its usage. Hence, the automated software described here are the perfect solutions to compact the size of the vCard/VCF file(s) without data loss worries.