Why do Excel contact lists fail to import, and how does converting to vCard solve it?

[rowanfletcher]

Here’s the thing: most devices can’t interpret an Excel sheet as a contact file. XLS and XLSX don’t follow any contact standard, so phones and email clients struggle to understand what each column means. That’s why imports fail or fields show up in the wrong place. When you use an Softaken Excel to vCard converter or any Excel to VCF tool, the data is reorganized into a structured format with clear labels like FN for name and TEL for phone numbers. vCard is the format every contact app expects, so once the Excel file becomes a VCF, it imports cleanly without breaking the structure.