Windows Live Contact File -

Once you have a .csv or .vcf file, you can move your contacts to newer platforms:

This format was introduced as part of the Windows Live ecosystem, a suite of services and software that Microsoft launched to compete with the rising popularity of Google and social media platforms. Unlike previous methods where contacts were stored in a monolithic database (like a single Outlook .pst file or a Windows Address Book .wab file), Windows Live Contact files often stored each person as an individual file. windows live contact file

<contact xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/contacts"> <contactID>12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc</contactID> <displayName>John Doe</displayName> <emails> <email address="john.doe@hotmail.com" type="Personal" /> </emails> <phoneNumbers> <phoneNumber number="555-1234" type="Mobile" /> </phoneNumbers> </contact> Once you have a

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <c:contact xmlns:c="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Contact/09/01"> <c:CreationDate>2009-05-20T12:00:00Z</c:CreationDate> <c:ContactID> <c:Value>12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012</c:Value> </c:ContactID> <c:NameCollection> <c:Name> <c:FormattedName>John Doe</c:FormattedName> <c:GivenName>John</c:GivenName> <c:FamilyName>Doe</c:FamilyName> </c:Name> </c:NameCollection> <c:EmailAddressCollection> <c:EmailAddress> <c:Address>johndoe@example.com</c:Address> <c:Label>Preferred</c:Label> </c:EmailAddress> </c:EmailAddressCollection> </c:contact> It began with

The genesis of the .contact file format actually predates the "Windows Live" branding in its final form. It began with . Microsoft introduced a new "Windows Contacts" application to replace the ancient Windows Address Book. This system stored contacts in the user profile folder ( C:\Users\Username\Contacts ) as individual .contact files.