How to Export Contacts from Outlook to CSV OR Excel?

Many businesses use Microsoft Outlook as their personal management software for their business or personal use. It manages all their emails, calendar entries, notes, contacts, etc. efficiently. However, migrating data from Outlook can be cumbersome for users. We have encountered many queries where users ask for “How to export contacts from Outlook to CSV/Excel?”. Therefore, read the blog till the end to get a reliable solution for the same.

Introduction

Microsoft Excel is a software program that helps to manage data in spreadsheet format. The users can not only store and analyze but also report the data. The files in Excel are stored in XLSX format. Also, Excel supports accessing CSV files. The CSV format stands for Comma-Separated Value. Just like Excel, it is also used for data visualization and analysis. Apart from Excel, any text editor like Notepad and others can open CSV Files.

Further, before discussing the methods to export Outlook contacts to CSV, let’s discuss why users need to export.

Reason to Export Outlook Contacts to Excel/CSV

The most common reasons that make the user Export contacts from Outlook to either CSV or Excel are:

• To conveniently import Outlook Contacts to any other email client.
• CSV files ease the sharing and viewing of contact information.
• Taking the backup of the Contacts to keep it secure for future reference.
• The user requires the data to export the contacts to a Virtual business card.

Now, let us learn how to extract email addresses from Outlook address book to CSV/Excel.

How to Export Contacts from Outlook to CSV or Excel -Manual Method

If the user has been using Outlook for quite some time either for business or personal use then a lot of contacts get accumulated. Managing the contacts well helps to run the business smoothly. Don’t worry about the different variations of Outlook available. This is a standard method. Thus, you can solve your query of “How to export contacts from Outlook address book to Excel” with slight variations.

The steps for the desktop version of Outlook are given below:

• Firstly, open Outlook and login to your account.
• Click on File and then Open & Export.
• Choose Import /Export among the available options.
• A window will open which asks you to Choose an action to perform. Click on Import from another program or file. Click Next.
• Then, a window will appear with options under ‘Create a file of type’. Select Comma Separated Values which is the desired format (CSV) and hit Next.
• Now, select the folder to export from and click Next.
• Click Browse and select the destination of the file. Then, click on Next.
• Choose the Map Custom Fields if there are a lot of spaces in your CSV file and hit Continue.
• Finally, click on Finish.

Following the method, you will be able to export Contacts from Outlook to Excel. The CSV File can be opened using Microsoft Excel. But if you want the same data in the Excel sheet with XLSX then follow this copy-pasting method.

The steps are given below:

1. Log in to your desktop Outlook account.
2. On the left-hand, click on the People View icon.
3. Multiple lists of your contacts will appear. Choose the appropriation option and then copy all the contacts you want to copy.
4. And, paste them into your Excel Sheet.

Additionally, if needed you can Export Multiple Outlook Contacts to vCard, through Outlook.

Limitations of the Manual Method

You may face the following limitation while you export Outlook Contacts to CSV through manual steps:

• You cannot export more than one folder at a time.
• If there are attachments with the contact, you cannot export the attachment.
• It can be quite time-consuming and inconvenient if the contacts are in bulk.

Keeping in mind the limitations, let us check the professional method to export the contacts.

Professional Method to Extract Email Addresses from Outlook Address Book to CSV

The best and easiest way to extract email addresses from Outlook address book to CSV is by using the SysInfo PST Converter Tool. The tool offers so many other features which help to manage the contacts easily. The duplicate removal feature helps to remove any duplicate contacts. Moreover, the tool makes the process fast when the contacts are in bulk. Furthermore, the self-explanatory GUI is designed to help users operate the tool without any technical know-how.

The simple steps to follow are:

• Download the PST Converter tool from the official website.
• Select the option either Single File/ Multiple Files or Select Folder.
• Browse for the PST files you want to export Contacts from.
• Check the contacts folder from the Tree structure. Then click on
• Choose CSV from the drop-down list of available formats.
• You can use the filter and set the destination path for the output file.
• Finally, hit Convert to begin the conversion.

Hope, now you are clear on how to export contacts from Outlook address book to Excel. For more detailed information about the tool, you can use the free demo tool. It is similarly featured as the pro-edition. However, it has certain limitations.

Conclusion:

In this blog, we have discussed the methods to solve the user query on “How to export contacts from Outlook to Excel”. The manual method is helpful if there are just a few contacts that need to be exported. While on the other hand if a user has gathered a lot of data over time, use a professional solution.