Extract text from Address book backups (ABBU)
To convert ABBU Backups to another format, you need Apple Contacts or other Backup software.
To convert other file formats to the "macOS Address Book Archive" file type, you need software like Apple Contacts or a similar tool.
An .ABBU file is an Address Book Backup created by the Apple Contacts application on macOS. Technically, it is a macOS package - a specialized folder that the operating system displays as a single file. Inside this package, it stores an SQLite database of contacts, metadata, group structures, and contact profile images.
Users generate .ABBU files to back up or migrate their entire address book between Mac computers. However, this format presents severe limitations. It is highly proprietary and cannot be opened natively on Windows, Linux, Android, or web platforms like Google Contacts. Furthermore, restoring an .ABBU file in Apple Contacts is a destructive action; it overwrites the entire existing address book, making it impossible to merge or append individual contacts safely.
Because of these restrictions, users frequently need to convert .ABBU data to standard, cross-platform formats like VCF (vCard) or CSV (Comma Separated Values). VCF files are universally supported by modern email clients and mobile devices.
Converting an .ABBU file online is notoriously difficult. Standard web converters fail because it is a closed, proprietary database structure rather than a flat document file. Often, only the original Apple software can properly read or export the structured data. Our analysis engine inspects the file structure and can sometimes identify the underlying SQLite text, extracting embedded vCard data to make viewing or partial conversion possible even without a Mac.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ABBU file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ZIP, ABCDDB, ABCDDB-WAL, VCF, ABA, MDBACKUP, MDINFO and CSV files.
If you want to convert ABBU file to CSV, BAK, BACKUP, OLD, TMP, TEMP, ARC, ZIP, TAR, GZ, 7Z or RAR, you can use Apple Contacts or similar software from the "macOS Contact Database Backup" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SNAPSHOT, OLD, IMG, RESTORE, ISO, COPY, VMDK, TMP, VHD, BAK, ARCHIVE or BACKUP files to ABBU, try Apple Contacts or another comparable tool in the "macOS Contact Database Backup" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our ABBU converter.