How to import a list of contacts into iCloud

I have a list of contacts in a numbers document that contains their first name, last name, phone and email. This will also work for an excel file, or a CSV file. I wanted to import them into my Apple Contacts on my iPhone so I can email and ring them. This process was much more complex than I expected!

The problems:

iCloud won’t import a CSV file.

Contacts will only import a list of contacts into the ‘On My Mac’ folder but not into the ‘iCloud’ folder.

iCloud will import a vcd file (v-card) but not a CSV file.

This means the process to get a list of contacts into a folder in iCloud is:

CSV –> Contacts ‘On My Mac’ section –> v-card –> iCloud

Here are the steps:

1. Export the Numbers or Excel document to a CSV file on your computer.
2. Create a folder (called a group) in the ‘On My Mac’ section of Apple contacts.
3. ‘Import’ the CSV file into the folder in Contacts.
4. Drag that folder to your desktop to export the entire folder as a v-card.
5. Open iCloud.com and create a folder there in the contacts section.
6. Import the V-Card into this folder.

Here are some pictures:

Quite a convoluted process, but it works!