Google Contacts Import Failed? Why Your VCF File Won’t Import and How to Fix It

Introduction

Google Contacts is one of the most forgiving VCF import tools available. It handles vCard versions 2.1, 3.0, and 4.0, tolerates non-standard properties, and silently strips data it cannot process rather than rejecting the entire file. So when Google Contacts does fail to import a VCF file, the problem is usually significant: the file is too large, the account has reached its storage limit, or the VCF structure is broken in a way that even Google’s parser cannot salvage.

This guide covers every error message Google Contacts displays during VCF import failures, explains the eight specific causes behind each one, and provides targeted fixes for every scenario. If you have not yet tried importing and want a step-by-step walkthrough of the normal import process, see our Google Contacts import guide first. This article is specifically for users who have already tried and failed.

Google Contacts Import Error Messages Explained

Google Contacts displays different error messages depending on what went wrong. Identifying the exact message you received helps narrow the cause immediately.

8 Reasons Google Contacts Rejects a VCF File

1. File Exceeds 20 MB

Google Contacts enforces a strict 20 MB upload limit per import (photos not counted toward the limit in some documentation, but included in others; in practice, the browser checks total file size). The most common cause of oversized VCF files is embedded contact photos. Each photo stored as a Base64-encoded PHOTO property adds 30 to 100 KB per contact. A file with 500 contacts that include photos can easily reach 25 to 50 MB, well over the limit.

2. Over 3,000 Contacts in One Import

While Google’s published limit is 25,000 contacts per account, importing more than approximately 3,000 contacts in a single VCF file frequently triggers timeouts or silent failures. The web interface was not designed for bulk operations at that scale. Users consistently report that files with 2,000 to 3,000 contacts import successfully, while files with 5,000 or more contacts fail or import partially.

3. Account Quota Reached (25,000 Contacts)

Each Google account can store a maximum of 25,000 contacts. If your account already holds 20,000 contacts and you try to import a VCF file with 10,000 entries, the import will fail once the 25,000 ceiling is reached. Google does not display the quota limit clearly during the import process, so the failure message is often the generic “Can’t import contacts” rather than something specific about quota.

4. Invalid VCF Structure

Every valid vCard entry must start with BEGIN:VCARD and end with END:VCARD, and must contain at minimum a VERSION and FN (formatted name) property. If your VCF file has mismatched BEGIN/END tags, is missing required properties, or contains entries where the structured syntax is broken, Google’s parser will reject those entries. Common sources of structural problems include files created by buggy export tools, files that were manually edited in a text editor without following vCard syntax rules, and files truncated during download or email transfer.

5. Individual Contact Exceeds Field Limits

Google enforces per-contact limits that are stricter than most users expect. Each contact cannot exceed 128 KB total, 500 fields, and 1,024 characters per field (except for the Notes field). CRM exports frequently violate these limits because they pack custom fields, activity histories, and long notes into each contact entry. A single contact with extensive notes, multiple addresses, and dozens of custom fields can easily exceed 128 KB or 500 fields.

6. Encoding or Character Issues

Google Contacts works best with UTF-8 encoded files. While Google’s parser handles most encoding variations reasonably well, files using legacy encodings like Shift-JIS, EUC-KR, or Windows-1252 with quoted-printable encoding can cause import failures for individual entries. The import may succeed for contacts with ASCII-only names while failing for contacts with names in non-Latin scripts, resulting in a partial import where the contact count does not match.

7. Network or Browser Problems

Since Google Contacts import happens through a web browser, network issues can cause import failures that have nothing to do with the VCF file. Unstable Wi-Fi connections, corporate proxy servers that modify or block uploads, browser extensions that interfere with Google’s JavaScript, and aggressive ad blockers can all prevent the import from completing. If the same file imports successfully on a different computer or network, the problem is browser or network related.

8. Google Workspace Admin Restrictions

For Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) accounts used by businesses and schools, the organization’s admin can restrict contact import functionality. If your account is managed by an employer or school, the import button may be disabled or the import may fail with a permission error. Contact your Google Workspace administrator to verify that external contact import is enabled for your account.

How to Diagnose Your Specific Problem

Before trying fixes, spend one minute identifying the root cause. Transfer the VCF file to a computer and run these quick checks.

Check file size: right-click the file and view Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac). If the file is over 20 MB, the size limit is your issue. Proceed to Fix 1 or Fix 2.

Count contacts: open the file in a text editor and search for BEGIN:VCARD. The number of occurrences equals the number of contacts. If the count exceeds 3,000, proceed to Fix 1. On Mac or Linux, run grep -c "BEGIN:VCARD" yourfile.vcf in Terminal for an exact count.

Check account quota: go to contacts.google.com and look at the total contact count in your account. If you are approaching 25,000, proceed to Fix 6.

Verify structure: search for BEGIN:VCARD and END:VCARD in the text editor. The counts should be identical. If they differ, the file has structural corruption. Proceed to Fix 3.

Check for photos: search for PHOTO in the file. If you find PHOTO properties with long Base64 strings, embedded photos are inflating the file size even if the raw contact count is low. Proceed to Fix 2.

8 Fixes for Google Contacts VCF Import Failures

Fix 1: Split the VCF File into Smaller Batches

If your file has more than 3,000 contacts or is over 20 MB, splitting it into smaller files is the most reliable fix. Each batch should contain no more than 1,000 contacts for maximum reliability. Import each batch separately at contacts.google.com with a few minutes between imports to allow Google’s backend to process.

You can split manually by opening the file in a text editor, finding the END:VCARD tags, and cutting contacts into separate files (making sure each file starts with BEGIN:VCARD and ends with END:VCARD). For large files, our VCF file splitting guide covers automated methods that handle thousands of contacts without manual editing.

Fix 2: Strip Embedded Photos

Removing embedded PHOTO properties from the VCF file can reduce file size by 80% or more. Open the file in a text editor that supports regex (like Notepad++, VS Code, or Sublime Text). Use Find and Replace with regex enabled and search for the pattern that matches PHOTO properties and their Base64 data blocks. In Notepad++, the pattern PHOTO[^\r\n]*\r?\n(\s[^\r\n]*\r?\n)* matches multi-line PHOTO entries. Replace with nothing to delete them all.

After stripping photos, save the file and try importing again. The contacts will import without profile pictures, but you can add photos manually later if needed. If you want to keep photos, use Fix 1 to split the file instead so each batch stays under 20 MB.

Fix 3: Validate and Repair the VCF Structure

If the BEGIN:VCARD and END:VCARD counts do not match, or if the file contains malformed entries, you need to repair the structure before importing. Open the file in a text editor and look for the following common problems.

Missing END:VCARD tags usually occur at the point where a file was truncated. If the file ends abruptly without a final END:VCARD, add it manually. Missing FN (formatted name) properties cause individual entries to fail silently. Search for BEGIN:VCARD blocks that lack an FN line and either add one or remove the entire broken entry. Entries with completely empty property values (like TEL: with no number) can also trigger failures in some cases; remove these empty lines.

Fix 4: Convert Encoding to UTF-8

Open the VCF file in Notepad++ or VS Code and check the encoding displayed in the status bar. If it shows anything other than UTF-8 (like ANSI, Windows-1252, Shift-JIS, or ISO-8859-1), convert it. In Notepad++, go to Encoding, Convert to UTF-8. In VS Code, click the encoding name in the status bar, select “Reopen with Encoding” to verify the current encoding renders correctly, then “Save with Encoding” and choose UTF-8. Save the file and retry the import.

Fix 5: Trim Oversized Contact Fields

If your VCF file came from a CRM export (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho), individual contacts may exceed Google’s 128 KB or 500-field limits. The most common culprit is the NOTE property, which CRM systems sometimes use to store entire conversation histories or meeting transcripts. Open the file in a text editor and search for NOTE: entries. If any are excessively long (thousands of characters), trim them to under 1,024 characters or remove them entirely.

Similarly, if contacts have dozens of custom X-properties from the CRM system, consider removing them before importing. Google Contacts ignores most custom properties anyway, so removing them reduces file size and field count without losing data that Google would actually use.

Fix 6: Clear Account Quota

If your Google account is near the 25,000-contact limit, you need to free space before importing. Go to contacts.google.com, check how many contacts you have (the count appears in the sidebar), and delete contacts you no longer need. Remember to empty the Trash folder afterward because deleted contacts still count against your quota for 30 days until they are permanently removed. Go to contacts.google.com/trash and click “Delete forever” to free the space immediately.

Also check for contacts in the “Other contacts” section. These are automatically created contacts from people you have emailed. They count toward your quota and can number in the thousands. Go to contacts.google.com/other and clean up entries you do not need.

Fix 7: Switch Browser or Clear Cache

If you suspect a browser or network issue, try these steps in order. First, disable all browser extensions temporarily (especially ad blockers and privacy extensions) and retry the import. If that does not work, try a different browser entirely (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari). If the import works in a different browser, the original browser’s extensions or settings were interfering.

Also try importing from your phone’s Google Contacts app instead of the web interface. On Android, open Contacts, tap the profile icon, select “Contacts app settings,” then “Import,” and select the VCF file. The mobile import path sometimes succeeds when the web interface fails because it uses a different upload mechanism.

Fix 8: Use a VCF Converter Tool to Normalize the File

When multiple issues overlap (encoding problems, oversized fields, structural errors, non-standard properties), fixing them individually is tedious. A dedicated VCF converter tool handles all normalization in one pass. Load the problematic VCF file, select vCard 3.0 as the output format with UTF-8 encoding, and the tool rebuilds every contact entry with valid structure, proper encoding, and standard properties. Import the normalized output into Google Contacts.

This approach is especially effective for VCF files exported from CRM systems, legacy email clients, or enterprise applications that produce non-standard vCard output. The converter strips vendor-specific extensions, normalizes property syntax, and ensures every entry meets Google’s import requirements.

Error Message to Fix: Quick Reference

What to Do When Only Some Contacts Import

Partial imports are the trickiest scenario because Google does not tell you which contacts were skipped or why. To identify the missing entries, export all contacts from Google Contacts as a vCard file immediately after the import. Then compare the original file and the exported file by counting BEGIN:VCARD entries in each. The difference tells you how many contacts were skipped.

To find the specific missing contacts, use a text editor to compare names in both files. Search for each name from your original file in the exported file. Names that do not appear in the export were skipped during import. Once you identify the missing contacts, examine their entries in the original VCF for common problems: oversized NOTE fields, encoding issues in the FN property, missing required fields, or excessively long phone numbers or email addresses.

After fixing the problematic entries, save just those contacts into a new VCF file and import that smaller file separately. Because the remaining contacts are already in Google, there is no risk of duplicates since Google deduplicates based on name and email during import.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the exact import limits for Google Contacts?

Google allows up to 25,000 contacts per account with a maximum file size of 20 MB per import. Individual contacts cannot exceed 128 KB, 500 fields, or 1,024 characters per field (except Notes). While these are the published limits, importing more than 3,000 contacts in a single file frequently causes timeouts, so splitting into smaller batches is recommended for large imports.

Why does my VCF import work on iPhone but fail on Google Contacts?

iPhone’s Contacts app and Google Contacts enforce different validation rules. Google has strict per-contact field limits (128 KB, 500 fields) that iPhone does not enforce. Also, Google’s web-based import is affected by network conditions and browser settings that do not apply to iPhone’s on-device import. If the file works on iPhone, the issue is likely Google-specific limits rather than a file format problem.

Can I import multiple VCF files to Google Contacts at once?

No. Google Contacts only accepts one file per import operation. If you have multiple VCF files, either merge them into a single VCF file first (keeping total size under 20 MB) or import each file separately. When importing multiple files, wait a minute between imports to let Google’s backend process each batch.

Does Google Contacts support vCard 4.0 imports?

Yes. Google Contacts accepts vCard 2.1, 3.0, and 4.0 files. However, some vCard 4.0 specific features like MEDIATYPE parameters and certain structured value types are silently stripped during import. For maximum compatibility, vCard 3.0 is the safest format for Google imports.

Why did Google import my contacts but all the names are garbled?

This happens when the VCF file uses a character encoding other than UTF-8. Google interprets the file as UTF-8 by default, and if the actual encoding is different (like Windows-1252 or Shift-JIS), names with non-ASCII characters appear as garbled text. Re-save the original VCF file as UTF-8 (Fix 4), delete the garbled contacts from Google, and import the corrected file.

The import succeeded but I see duplicate contacts. How do I fix this?

Google Contacts has a built-in merge feature for duplicates. Go to contacts.google.com, click “Merge and fix” in the left sidebar (or “Duplicates” in older UI versions), and Google will show suggested merges. Review each suggestion and click “Merge” for the ones that are true duplicates. If you imported the same file twice, use “Merge all” to clean up quickly. To prevent duplicates on future imports, use our VCF duplicate removal guide to clean the file before importing.

Can I import contacts from the Google Contacts Android app instead of the website?

Yes. On Android, open the Google Contacts app, tap your profile icon, select “Contacts app settings,” then “Import.” Select the VCF file from your device storage. The mobile import sometimes succeeds when the web import fails because it uses a different upload path. However, the same file size and quota limits apply regardless of whether you import via web or mobile.

Conclusion

Last verified: February 2026. Tested with Google Contacts web (contacts.google.com), Google Contacts Android app (v4.38), and Google Workspace accounts. VCF files tested from iPhone (vCard 3.0), Samsung Galaxy (vCard 2.1), Outlook 365 (vCard 3.0), Salesforce CRM export, and HubSpot CRM export.

When Google Contacts import fails for a VCF file, the fix depends on the specific error message. File size errors require stripping photos or splitting the file. Format errors require structural validation and repair. Quota errors require cleaning up existing contacts. Network errors require switching browsers or waiting for Google’s servers to recover. For files with multiple overlapping issues, a VCF converter tool normalizes everything in one step.