Export Contacts from Windows Live Mail to Outlook Safely

Read time: 6 minutes

Windows Live Mail and Outlook are email clients from Microsoft. However, Microsoft discontinued WLM back in 2012 and completely ended support for it in January 2017. After that, the user started importing WLM emails to Outlook. WLM has a native Export email option to export emails directly to Outlook, but for exporting contacts, the steps are different.

To export contacts from Windows Live Mail to Outlook, you must first export the contacts in CSV format to your local system. After that, import these contacts into Outlook with the import function. Moving further in this blog, we will see the complete step-by-step process of transferring the contacts.

How to Export Contacts from Windows Live Mail to Outlook 2016 Manually?

Windows Live Mail email client includes an Export option to export its Contacts to Comma Separated Values (.csv) or Business Card (.vcf) file format. You can export contacts in CSV or VCF format. However, we recommend you choosing the CSV option to export contacts in bulk.

The whole process of Windows Live Mail contacts export to Outlook is divided into two parts. But before that, ensure that both programs are on the same computer system. Find out the detailed procedure to export Windows Live Mail contacts to Outlook below:

Part 1. Export Windows Live Mail Contacts

Here, we will export the contacts from Windows Live Mail in CSV format. Follow the below stepwise procedure:

Start Windows Live Mail and select Contacts. Expand Export and click Comma separate values (CSV).
Click Browse, provide a Saving Path and File Name, and click Next.
Choose the required contact types and click Finish.

You will get a CSV file that contains Windows Live Mail contacts.

Part 2. Import CSV to Outlook Contacts

Here, we will import the CSV file exported from Windows Live Mail. Below is the stepwise procedure:

Launch Outlook and click File> Open & Export > Import/Export.
Select Import from another program or file in the new wizard and click Next.
Select Comma Separated Values and click Next.
Click Browse, add the CSV file created earlier, choose the required option, and click Next.
Choose Contacts from Outlook mailbox folders and click Next.
If needed, perform operations like Map Custom Fields, Change Destination and click Finish.
Finally, view the exported contacts in the Outlook Contacts folder.

Hence, the Windows Live Mail Contacts to Outlook 2016 are exported successfully.

Export Windows Live Mail Contacts to Outlook from Email Attachments

For regular contacts, you can use the above manual method. However, sometimes, the requirement is to export contacts that are present as email attachments in the WLM emails. In such scenarios, there are two approaches to take:

Approach 1: Manually Import Each Contact

If the number of attached contacts is less, then extract and save each contact locally and import in Outlook one by one.

Approach 2: Directly Import Email into Outlook

When you have multiple emails with contacts, manually exporting and importing each will take a significant amount of time. A better and faster way is to directly import emails into Outlook. For this:

Drag and drop the emails from WLM to any folder. The emails will be saved in EML format.
Create a new folder in Outlook and drag the saved EML files into this Outlook folder.

Note: Import the emails in the batch of 50 emails at a time to prevent “Outlook not responding or freezing” issues.

However, if you have 1000 emails to be imported, you may need to speed up the process. To do this, you can convert all the EML files into a single PST file and import the emails in a single operation. This process can be performed using an EML to PST Converter. Once, the PST file is ready, it can be imported into Outlook instead of adding individual EML files one by one.

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Conclusion

Export contacts from Windows Live Mail to Outlook and shift to a modern email client today. Make sure you have both WLM and Outlook installed and configured on the same system before you begin the export process. Choose any method but be cautious as any mistake can corrupt the whole data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is there a direct option to export the WLM calendar to any Outlook version?

A. No. You must manually export calendar items from WLM and then use the Outlook import feature to add them in any Outlook version.

Q. What happens to my contacts in WLM after backup?

A. The contacts remain as they are. The export process will only create a new copy of your contacts and will not delete/modify the original contacts in any manner.

Q. How do I move Windows Live Mail contacts to Outlook?

A. Here are the steps to move contacts in Windows Live Mail and Outlook:
1) In Windows Live Mail: Go to Contacts > Export > Comma separated values (.csv) and save the file to your computer.
2) In Microsoft Outlook: Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export. Choose “Import from another program or file,” select “Comma Separated Values,” and select your saved CSV file.

Q. Can I import thousands of EML files into Outlook at once?

A. No, Outlook does not provide any direct method. But you can use an EML Converter to convert your EML files into PST format, allowing the importing at once.