Windows – How to export Outlook 2010 contacts to Windows 8 (native) email client

emailexportimportmicrosoft-outlookwindows 8

I have two laptops.

  1. an old Windows 7 laptop that has Outlook 2010 on it
  2. a new Windows 8 laptop, which does NOT have Outlook on it.

On my new Windows 8 laptop, I would like to start using the built-in native Windows 8 email application (the email client that is a Metro "tile") instead of Outlook.

However, all of my contacts are in my old Windows 7 laptop with Outlook 2010 on it.

Question: As such, how do you export my Outlook 2010 contacts on my Windows 7 computer so that I can then import those contact to my new Windows 8 using the native email client on the computer?

Note: I'm not referring to Windows Live Mail. I'm referring to the Mail app installed by default (and is a tile) in Windows 8. A screen shot is linked below to the Mail app I'm referring too:

enter image description here

Best Answer

You don't import contacts into the Win8 mail client per se. To get access to them from Win8 mail, contacts must first be imported into an online account supported by the Win8 People app. Supported services include: hotmail, outlook.com, facebook, twitter, linkedin, google, and sina weibo. I already had a Windows Live ID (now called a "Microsoft account") so that's what I used. Since your pic shows a hotmail account, you also have a Microsoft account - your hotmail was automatically upgraded.Click for more info about the hotmail upgrade. Any contacts you had in hotmail should already be available to you in the Win8 mail app. Information is from my own import experience but see Microsoft info on managing Email & communication and contacts in outlook.com.

These steps will get your Outlook contacts into the People app.

  1. In Outlook, export your contacts to a CSV file:

    • Click on File, Options, Advanced
    • In the middle of the Outlook Options window, click on Export
    • Select "Export to a file" then click Next>
    • Comma Separated Values (DOS) should be selected by default, click Next>
    • Select the Contacts folder and click Next>
    • Click Browse and select a directory (I chose Desktop) and type a filename in the "File name:" box; click OK to get back to the Export to a File window; click Next>
    • Click Finish to create the CSV file; click OK or Cancel to exit the Outlook Options window

  2. Import the CSV file into the People app:

    • From a web browser, go to people.live.com
    • Sign in with your Microsoft account credentials (i.e. your hotmail username and password)
    • In the gray center pane at the bottom, click on "Import from file", a new browser tab or window will open
    • In the new window, click on "Microsoft Outlook (using CSV)" if it's not already selected
    • Click the Browse... button, navigate to the CSV file saved in Step 1 and select it
    • Click the red Import contacts button and wait
    • If it worked, you will see a "successfully imported your contacts" message
    • Optional: if you had any hotmail contacts already in People, click on the "Look for duplicates" link.

For those who have a gmail account, you can use google for the sync. First follow these steps. Then see additional steps here.

Related Question