A Complete Guide to Export Contacts from Outlook

Read time 10 minutes

Want to export contacts from MS Outlook without much effort? You have come to the right place.

Outlook contacts are very crucial for every individual or organization. They help users keep up with clients or other important persons. But, users often need to export their Outlook contacts to import them to another email client or save them as a backup. There are many versions of MS Outlook, and every version has different settings, so they require different steps to export contacts. Here, we will try to cover the simplest methods to export contacts from various Outlook versions.

In this article, you’ll learn how to export contacts from the following MS Outlook versions:

1. Exporting Contacts from Outlook 2010
2. Exporting Contacts from Outlook 2013/2016
3. Alternate Solution – Kernel OST to PST Converter

Exporting Contacts from Outlook 2010

It’s very easy to export contacts from Outlook 2010 if you know the basic steps of exporting data file from Outlook. Here’s how you can do it:

• Open MS Outlook and go to the File tab.
• Now, click Options, and then select the Advanced option.
• Go to the Export section and click Export. The import/export wizard will appear on the screen.
• Select Export to a file and click Next.
• Now, choose the type of export from Create a file type section. Usually, people choose Comma Separated Values (Windows), which is a .csv file format. After selecting the file type click Next.
  
  Note: If you’re exporting contacts to use it with another Outlook account, then select Outlook Data file (.pst).
• In the next step, select the contact folder that you want to export and click Next.
  
  Note: With the CSV option, you can only export one folder at a time.
• Select a location where you want to save the contact folder(s) and give a name to it, and then click OK.
• The Export to a file wizard will appear on the screen, click Next to move ahead with the process.
• Now, click Finish to start the export process immediately. Though Outlook doesn’t display any notification on completion of the process, the Import and Export progress will disappear.
• Once the Export process is complete, click OK to exit the process.

The Outlook 2010 contacts will be available on the location where you saved them.

Exporting Contacts from Outlook 2013/2016

Most people use the latest versions of MS Outlook, i.e., Outlook 2013 and 2016. Though Outlook 2019 has also been introduced to the market, only a few individuals use this version. So, let’s see how you can export contacts from Outlook 2013/2016.

• Open MS Outlook and go to the File tab.
• Click Open & Export, and then select Import/Export option.
• Choose Export to a file from the Import/Export wizard.
• Select Comma Separated Values option to save contacts in CSV file format, else select Outlook Data file to save contacts in PST file format and click Next.
• Now, select the Contact folder that you want to export and click Next.
• Select a location on your system to save the selected contact folder and click Next.
• In the Export to a File wizard, you can Map custom fields. Click Finish to start the export process.
  
  Note: You cannot cancel the export process once it is started.
• The export process will start; you can see the process on the screen. Once it is complete, you can check the CSV file on the desired location.

Saving contacts to CSV or PST file format in Outlook 2013/2016 is much easier as compared to other versions.

The methods mentioned above will help you export Outlook contacts to CSV format. But, as these are manual methods, they are not always reliable in every situation to export contacts from Outlook due to various reasons. Therefore, you should always have a backup plan in mind to export contacts from Outlook or even when you export email from Outlook.

Alternate Solution – Kernel OST to PST Converter

People who use Outlook might know that an OST file of their Outlook data is always created automatically on their desktop. This OST file can be used to export contacts from Outlook with the help of OST to PST converter tool. It is an advanced tool specially designed to export Outlook data to PST file format. Here’s how you can export contacts from OST file to other file formats.

1. Start the tool by double-click; the opening wizard will appear on the screen. Select the specific OST file and click Next.
2. Read the information about the tool and conversion process and click Finish.
3. The tool will scan the OST file and display all its folders on the left-hand side. Select the Contacts folder from the sub-tree structure and click Save.
4. Select the specific file format in which you want to save the Contacts. You can choose from options like PST, DBX, MBOX, EML, etc.
5. If you’re unable to find the contacts in the previous step, then select the entire mailbox of the OST file and select Contacts from Item type in the Select Filters section, and then click Next.
6. Ignore making any changes in the next step and click Next.
7. Select the destination where you want to save the Outlook contacts and click Finish.
8. The OST to PST Converter tool will start saving the contacts, once it is finished, a notification will appear on the screen confirming the same. Click OK to end the process.

This is the easiest way to export Outlook contacts to PST format, and then allow them to use the PST file with other Outlook accounts.

Conclusion

Exporting Outlook contacts is essential to keep them as a backup or to export to any other email client. So, we have tried to cover the possible techniques to export Outlook contacts. However, if you’re still unable to export contacts with the manual methods, then you can opt for Kernel OST to PST converter that allows you to export Outlook contacts to multiple file formats. Using the same utility, you can also convert OST file to PST quickly.

Expert Reviews on Reddit about Kernel for OST to PST Converter

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