# Export Contacts to Markdown

Each contact card becomes a Markdown file with every field, kept in sync as you edit.

[Download for Mac](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exporter-notes-to-markdown/id6741618455?mt=12)

## A contact card, as a file.

Every field is in the front matter, as values and lists Obsidian's Properties panel can edit. The body is the name, the job line and the card's note.

`Anna Kowalski.md`

```markdown
---
title: "Anna Kowalski"
id: "410FE041:ABPerson"
created: 2019-04-02T10:15:33
modified: 2026-08-30T19:02:11
source_url: "addressbook://410FE041:ABPerson"
organization: "Northwind Studio"
job_title: "Art director"
birthday: 1990-12-10
email: "anna@northwind.example"
phone: "+1 415 555 0123"
emails:
  - "anna@northwind.example (work)"
phones:
  - "+1 415 555 0123 (mobile)"
addresses:
  - "18 Harbor Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, United States (work)"
groups:
  - "Studio"
conversations:
  - "[[messages/Anna Kowalski]]"
---

# Anna Kowalski

Art director · Northwind Studio

Met at the print fair. Prefers matte paper.
```

## What comes out

The email-only entries Gmail collects for every address you wrote to are left out.

- Every field on the card: Organization, job title, birthday, emails, phones, addresses, websites, social profiles, dates, related names.
- Labels kept: Each value carries its label, like `+1 415 555 0123 (mobile)`, and the first email and phone are plain `email` and `phone` fields for templates.
- Groups: The Contacts groups a card belongs to, as a list in the front matter.
- People and their conversations: With Messages exported too, a card lists its conversations and each conversation links back to the card.
- Link back: `source_url` opens the card in Contacts.
- Stable names: Two people with the same name each get a short id suffix, so neither file overwrites the other.

## How it works

1. Connect Contacts: A panel opens in your AddressBook folder: press Select this folder. Exporter reads only that folder, with no permission prompt.
2. Pick who: Tick cards by group or company, or export every card. The tab the Contacts card is on sets the folders: on Groups or Companies each file goes into a folder per group or company.
3. It syncs: Press sync now. Each card becomes `Name.md`, and an edited card rewrites its file.

How it works: [Contacts docs](https://exporter.dev/docs/contacts) · Guides: [Contacts to Obsidian](https://exporter.dev/guides/contacts/contacts-to-obsidian)

## Questions

### Why not just use vCard?

Use vCard to move cards to another address book: select contacts in Contacts, then File > Export > Export vCard. A `.vcf` file is made for importing. The Markdown files are for reading, searching and linking.

### What is free?

Your first 100 contacts export and keep syncing free. Unlocking Contacts is a one-time purchase in Exporter.

### Is anything uploaded?

No. Exporter reads your contacts and writes the files on your Mac. No account, no server.

## Against the alternatives

Apple's export is vCard, the right choice for moving cards to another address book.

| | Exporter | vCard export | Copy and paste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every card at once | Yes | Yes | No |
| Readable Markdown, one file per person | Yes | No | Manual |
| Fields as Obsidian properties | Yes | No | No |
| Linked to your conversations | Yes | No | No |
| Kept in sync as cards change | Yes | One-time | No |
| Imports into another address book | No | Yes | No |
| Price | 100 contacts free, then a one-time purchase | Free | Free |

## Let Claude look people up

Exported cards are searchable over Exporter's local MCP server. [Set it up](https://exporter.dev/docs/mcp).

Connect Claude Code. Then ask: “When is Anna's birthday, and when did we last talk?” Claude reads the card and the conversation it links to.

```sh
claude mcp add --transport http exporter http://localhost:8744/mcp
```

## Related

- [Messages](https://exporter.dev/messages): Every conversation as a file
- [Contacts to Obsidian](https://exporter.dev/guides/contacts/contacts-to-obsidian): A note per person, fields as Properties
- [MCP server](https://exporter.dev/docs/mcp): Connect Claude and other agents

---

human version: https://exporter.dev/contacts
every page: https://exporter.dev/llms.txt