vCard 3.0 Format Specifications and Examples
Complete guide to vCard 3.0 format with enhanced features, better internationalization, and practical examples
Overview of vCard 3.0
vCard 3.0, defined in RFC 2426, represents a significant improvement over vCard 2.1. Released in 1998, it introduced better support for international characters, enhanced property definitions, and more consistent formatting rules. vCard 3.0 remains widely supported and is considered the most compatible version across different platforms.
✅ Widely Supported
vCard 3.0 offers the best balance between features and compatibility. It's supported by virtually all modern contact management systems while providing significant improvements over version 2.1. Need to convert between vCard versions? Use ourvCard Version Converter.
Key Improvements Over vCard 2.1
- • Better UTF-8 support
- • Improved date/time handling
- • Enhanced photo support
- • Better organization properties
- • Consistent parameter syntax
- • Standardized encoding rules
- • Better line folding
- • Improved escaping mechanisms
Basic Structure
vCard 3.0 follows a clear, standardized structure:
Required Properties
- BEGIN:VCARD - Start marker
- VERSION:3.0 - Version identifier
- FN - Formatted name (required)
- N - Structured name (required)
- END:VCARD - End marker
Complete Property Reference
Identification Properties
- FN - Formatted name (required)
- N - Structured name (required)
- NICKNAME - Nickname or alias
- PHOTO - Photograph
- BDAY - Birthday
Delivery Addressing Properties
- ADR - Postal address
- LABEL - Address label
Communications Properties
- TEL - Telephone number
- EMAIL - Email address
- MAILER - Email program
Geographical Properties
- TZ - Time zone
- GEO - Geographic position
Organizational Properties
- TITLE - Job title
- ROLE - Functional role
- LOGO - Organization logo
- ORG - Organization name
Explanatory Properties
- CATEGORIES - Categories or tags
- NOTE - General notes
- PRODID - Product identifier
- REV - Revision date
- SORT-STRING - Sort string
- SOUND - Name pronunciation
- UID - Unique identifier
- URL - Website URL
- VERSION - vCard version
Security Properties
- CLASS - Security classification
- KEY - Public key
Comprehensive Example
Here's a detailed vCard 3.0 example showcasing various properties:
Parameter Usage
vCard 3.0 uses parameters to add context and metadata to properties:
TYPE Parameter
The TYPE parameter specifies the category or context of a property:
Common TYPE Values
- WORK
- HOME
- VOICE
- FAX
- CELL
- PAGER
- PREF
- INTERNET
- WORK
- HOME
- PREF
- WORK
- HOME
- POSTAL
- PARCEL
- DOM
- INTL
Advanced Features
Photo Support
vCard 3.0 supports embedded or referenced photos:
Geographic Information
Include geographic coordinates and time zone information:
Categories and Classification
Organize contacts with categories and security classifications:
Character Encoding
vCard 3.0 uses UTF-8 encoding by default, providing excellent international support:
Date and Time Formats
vCard 3.0 supports various date and time formats:
Line Folding Rules
Long lines should be folded using CRLF followed by a space or tab:
Minimal Valid Example
The shortest valid vCard 3.0 file:
Best Practices
Implementation Guidelines
- • Always include both FN and N properties
- • Use UTF-8 encoding for international characters
- • Include PRODID to identify your application
- • Add REV timestamp for version tracking
- • Use UID for unique identification
- • Validate against RFC 2426 specifications
- • Test with multiple contact applications
- • Keep line length under 75 characters when possible
Common Validation Issues
Common Problems
- • Missing required FN or N properties
- • Incorrect line folding (missing space/tab after fold)
- • Invalid parameter syntax
- • Improper character encoding
- • Missing BEGIN/END markers
- • Invalid date/time formats
Platform Compatibility
vCard 3.0 enjoys excellent support across platforms:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, Windows Phone (full support)
- Desktop: Outlook, Mac Contacts, Thunderbird
- Web: Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com
- Enterprise: Exchange Server, Google Workspace
Migration from vCard 2.1
When upgrading from vCard 2.1 to 3.0:
- Charset handling: UTF-8 is default, remove CHARSET parameters
- Property syntax: Update parameter formatting
- Line folding: Ensure proper CRLF+space/tab folding
- New properties: Take advantage of enhanced fields
Conclusion
vCard 3.0 represents the sweet spot for contact data interchange, offering robust features while maintaining excellent compatibility across platforms. Its improved internationalization support, standardized syntax, and comprehensive property set make it an ideal choice for most contact management applications.
Whether you're developing a contact management system or need to ensure data portability, vCard 3.0 provides the reliability and feature set needed for modern contact management requirements.