What is the MIME type of .vcf files?
The MIME type (media type) for vCard contact files with the .vcf extension is text/vcard. Contact cards that phones and email clients can import.
Content-Type header
Content-Type: text/vcard; charset=utf-8Text-based types should include a charset so the browser decodes characters correctly.
Server configuration
| Server | Configuration |
|---|---|
Nginx (mime.types or types {}) | text/vcard vcf; |
Apache (.htaccess) | AddType text/vcard .vcf |
IIS (web.config) | <mimeMap fileExtension=".vcf" mimeType="text/vcard" /> |
| Node.js / Express | res.type('vcf') or res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/vcard; charset=utf-8') |
| Amazon S3 | Set Content-Type: text/vcard on the object (metadata), or pass --content-type text/vcard to aws s3 cp |
Should .vcf files be compressed?
Yes. vCard contact is text, so enabling gzip or Brotli for text/vcard typically saves 50–80 % of the transfer size. Make sure your server’s compression list includes this type — check with the website compression test.
Why the MIME type matters
Browsers decide what to do with a response — render, run, play or download — from the Content-Type header, not the file extension. With X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff, a wrong type causes stylesheets and scripts to be blocked outright. For uploads, never trust the type sent by the client; check the file’s content (its magic bytes) on the server.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MIME type for .vcf?
text/vcard.How do I set the Content-Type for .vcf in Nginx?
text/vcard vcf; is listed in the types block (usually in /etc/nginx/mime.types) and reload Nginx.