Monday.com does not accept VCF files. It imports contacts from CSV and Excel (XLSX) files only. To get VCF contacts into Monday CRM: convert the VCF to CSV using a converter tool or Google Contacts, then open your Contacts board in Monday CRM, click New contact > Import contacts, upload the CSV, and map columns to board fields. The file must have fewer than 50 columns and 8,000 rows.
Introduction
Monday.com is a work management platform with a CRM product (Monday CRM) that organizes contacts, leads, deals, and accounts on interconnected boards. If you have contacts in VCF format from phones, email clients, or other CRM exports, you need to convert to CSV or Excel before importing because Monday.com’s import system only reads tabular file formats.
This guide walks through the complete workflow: converting VCF to CSV, formatting the CSV to match Monday.com’s board structure, importing with column mapping, and linking contacts to accounts after import. Monday.com’s board-based architecture means the import experience is different from traditional CRM platforms, so understanding how contacts map to board columns is important for a clean import.
Why Monday.com Only Accepts CSV and Excel
Monday.com is built around a board and column system where every piece of data occupies a cell in a structured grid. CSV and Excel files map directly to this structure: each column header becomes a board column and each row becomes an item. VCF files use a property-based format with multiple values per field, embedded binary data, and hierarchical structure that does not translate neatly to a flat grid without conversion.
The conversion step is simple but important for data quality. Standard contact fields (names, emails, phones, addresses, companies) transfer cleanly from VCF to CSV. Fields that do not have CSV equivalents (embedded photos, vCard version markers, grouped properties like Apple’s item1 prefix) are lost during conversion. For a detailed overview of VCF-to-CSV conversion, see our VCF to CSV guide.
Step 1: Convert VCF to CSV
Option A: Univik vCard Converter. Open Univik vCard Converter, load your VCF file, select CSV as the output, choose the fields to export, and run the conversion. This gives you control over which fields are included and how columns are named, which simplifies the Monday.com mapping step.
Option B: Google Contacts. Import the VCF into Google Contacts (contacts.google.com > Import), then export as Google CSV (Export > Google CSV). The output CSV has standard column headers that Monday.com recognizes during auto-mapping.
Option C: Python script. For large files or automated pipelines, use the vobject library to parse VCF and output CSV with custom column headers matching your Monday.com board structure. This approach is ideal when you import contacts regularly and want a repeatable conversion workflow.
Step 2: Prepare the CSV for Monday.com
Before importing, check that your CSV meets Monday.com’s requirements.
Row and column limits. The file must have fewer than 50 columns and fewer than 8,000 rows. If your VCF file has more than 8,000 contacts, split the CSV into multiple files before importing. Each file is imported separately into the same board.
Header row required. The first row must contain column headers (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Company, etc.). Monday.com uses these headers to auto-map columns to board fields. Clear, descriptive headers reduce manual mapping work.
Data cleanup. Remove empty rows, duplicate entries, and columns you do not need in Monday.com. Clean data imports faster and avoids creating empty or duplicate items on your board. If phone numbers were edited in Excel and converted to scientific notation (like 1.42E+10), format the Phone column as Text before saving the CSV.
Column type alignment. Monday.com board columns have specific types: Text, Email, Phone, Status, Date, Numbers, and more. Your CSV values should match these types. Email columns should contain properly formatted email addresses. Date columns should use a consistent format. Status columns should match the status labels defined on your board.
Step 3: Import into Monday CRM Contacts Board
Log into your Monday.com account. Open your Contacts board (if using Monday CRM entity boards) or the board where you want to import contacts. Click the blue New contact button (or “Add” button on non-CRM boards), then select Import contacts (or “Import items”).
In the import dialog, click Browse to select your CSV file or drag and drop it into the upload area. Monday.com reads the file and displays a preview showing the first few rows of data alongside the detected columns. This preview is not scrollable, so verify the visible rows look correct (no garbled characters, columns aligned properly). Click Next to proceed to column mapping.
Step 4: Map Columns to Board Fields
The mapping screen shows each CSV column header paired with a dropdown of available board columns. Monday.com auto-maps columns with matching or similar names. Review every mapping and adjust any that are incorrect.
| CSV Column (from VCF) | Monday.com Column Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name + Last Name | Item Name (main column) | Monday uses one main “Name” column |
| Email column | Must be valid email format | |
| Phone | Phone column | Include country code for best results |
| Company | Text column or Account connection | Cannot auto-link to Accounts board during import |
| Job Title | Text column | Maps to Title or Role column |
| Address | Location or Text column | Location column accepts addresses |
| Birthday | Date column | Must match board date format |
| Notes | Long Text column | Supports multi-line text |
| Status/Category | Status column | Values must match existing status labels |
If your CSV has columns that do not match any existing board column, you can skip them during mapping or create new columns on the board before importing. Monday.com does not create columns automatically during import. After confirming the mapping, click Import to start the process.
Linking Contacts to Accounts After Import
Monday CRM uses Connect Boards columns to link contacts to accounts (companies). This association cannot be established during CSV import because the Connect Boards column requires matching to existing items on the Accounts board, not text values in a spreadsheet.
After importing contacts, link them to accounts manually or use Monday.com’s automation. If your Contacts board has a “Company” text column from the import, you can match it against existing Account board items by name. Monday CRM also offers an automatic account association feature that matches contacts to accounts based on email domain. For example, contacts with @acme.com emails are automatically linked to the “Acme” account if it exists on your Accounts board.
For large imports, the manual linking process can be tedious. Consider importing accounts first (from a separate CSV with company data), then importing contacts, and finally using batch actions or automations to link them based on the company name or email domain.
Import Limits and Constraints
| Constraint | Limit |
|---|---|
| File format | CSV or Excel (XLSX) only |
| Maximum columns | 50 per file |
| Maximum rows | 8,000 per file |
| Files per hour | 100 per account |
| One file at a time | Per board |
| Contact photos | Not supported via import |
| Connect Boards | Cannot map during import |
If your contact list exceeds 8,000 rows, split it into multiple CSV files and import each one sequentially. Wait for each import to complete before starting the next to avoid hitting the 100-file-per-hour limit.
Common Problems and Fixes
Contact names import into wrong column or appear concatenated. Monday.com uses a single “Item Name” as the main column. If your CSV has separate First Name and Last Name columns, combine them into a single “Full Name” column before importing. Use Excel formula =A2&" "&B2 to merge first and last names.
Status column values not matching board labels. If your CSV has a status or category column, the values must exactly match the status labels defined on your Monday.com board. For example, if the board has statuses “New”, “Active”, “Closed” but the CSV contains “new” (lowercase), Monday.com may not map them correctly. Standardize the values in the CSV before importing.
Phone numbers display incorrectly. If the CSV was edited in Excel, long phone numbers may have been converted to scientific notation. Format the phone column as Text in Excel, or add an apostrophe prefix (‘14155551234) to force text treatment. Re-export the CSV and re-import.
Import creates duplicate items. Monday.com does not check for duplicates during CSV import. All rows are created as new items. After importing, use Monday.com’s duplicate detection features or manually review for duplicates. To prevent this, remove duplicates from the CSV before importing using Excel’s “Remove Duplicates” feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Monday.com import VCF files directly?
No. Monday.com only accepts CSV and Excel (XLSX) files for importing items into boards. You must convert your VCF file to CSV before importing. The conversion can be done with a converter tool, Google Contacts (import VCF then export as CSV), or a Python script.
What is the maximum number of contacts I can import?
Each import file can contain up to 8,000 rows and 50 columns. If you have more contacts, split them across multiple CSV files and import each one into the same board. You can import up to 100 files per account per hour.
Can I import contacts with their associated accounts?
Not in a single import. Monday.com’s Connect Boards columns (which link contacts to accounts) cannot be populated via CSV import. Import contacts first, then link them to accounts manually, via automations, or using the email domain auto-association feature in Monday CRM.
Does Monday.com support importing contact photos?
No. Contact photos cannot be imported via CSV or Excel. Photos from the original VCF file are lost during VCF-to-CSV conversion. Contact images in Monday.com can only be added individually through the item detail view.
Can I update existing contacts via import without creating duplicates?
Monday.com’s standard CSV import creates new items for every row. It does not update existing items based on matching fields. To update existing contacts, you would need to use Monday.com’s API, third-party integration tools, or manually update items on the board. For large-scale updates, tools like Skyvia or Make (formerly Integromat) can sync CSV data with existing Monday.com items.
Conclusion
Last verified: February 2026. Import workflow tested on Monday CRM (Pro and Enterprise plans). CSV import tested with files containing 50 to 5,000 contacts. Column mapping and account association tested per Monday.com support documentation at support.monday.com.
Importing VCF contacts into Monday.com follows a four-step process: convert VCF to CSV, prepare the CSV to meet Monday.com’s requirements (under 8,000 rows, under 50 columns, clean data), import via the Contacts board import function, and map columns to board fields. Account linking must be done after import using Connect Boards columns or the email domain auto-association feature. Unlike some CRM platforms, Monday.com does not check for duplicates during import, so clean your CSV before uploading.
Three things to check before importing: merge First Name and Last Name into a single “Full Name” column (Monday.com uses one main item name column), format phone numbers as text (to prevent Excel from converting them to scientific notation), and match status values exactly to your board’s existing status labels. Get these right and the import runs without mapping issues.
