How to Transfer Outlook Address Book from One System to Another?

Read time 4 min

Due to some or the other reason, time may come where you might need to transfer your entire email address book from one PC to another PC. The first thought that must have come to your mind is re-type entire address book and other important email data and save them separately in the new system. But thankfully, we have an easy way out through which we can transfer all the Outlook data from one system to another.

In this blog I will provide you with step by step procedures to transfer your Personal Address Book (PAB) from one computer to another.

Know about Outlook Address Book

If you have a properly installed and configured MS Outlook on your system, then you have a default Outlook Address Book. This Outlook Address Book, generally known as OAB, has the sets of Outlook contact folders in it. Now you might be thinking that OAB is a physical address book, which it is not. It is a basically a virtual concept, and hence OAB is just a representation of the primary contact folders.

The OAB has a personalized view of the contact folders and nothing more and therefore, it cannot operate independently. Another fact about OAB is that Outlook does not save any OAB file which is not in your data store.

How to transfer Outlook Address Book from one system to another?

Now, when we know all about Outlook Address Book, let’s come to the focus point and discuss how to transfer Outlook Address Book from one system to another.

• Try Copying the File to A Storage DeviceTo transfer Outlook Address Book from one system to another, copying the file is the best option. So, the first approach that you should try in this case is copying the contact file with .pab extension. Let’s see how to it:
  1. Launch Outlook.
  2. Select File>Open & Export>Import/Export
  3. Click on Export to a file.
  4. Click Next and select Comma separated values.
  5. Select Contacts.
  6. Remember to save the file in .csv extension.
  7. Copy the .csv file to any external storage device such as a USB or a floppy.
• Restoring File to Another SystemRestoring the file to another system is again a good approach to transfer OAB. Let’s know how to do it:
  1. In the new system, insert the external storage device.
  2. Launch Outlook and again go to File>Open & Export>Import/Export.
  3. Select Import from another program or file.
  4. Click Next and select Comma Separated Values
  5. Select Browse and navigate the storage device along to select the file copied from another system.
  6. Select Do not import duplicate items
  7. Click Next and highlight Contacts.

Once, you complete the above-mentioned steps successfully, you will have the OAB file n your system. So, this was about transferring the OAB file, but if you are facing issues with Outlook PST like damage or corruption, then you can refer to Kernel for Outlook PST Repair. It is an automated tool that can repair, recover and restore damaged PSTs in a few easy steps.

FINAL WRAP

Transferring an address book from one system to another in Outlook is quite an easy task. All you need is to carefully use the import and export option for transferring. At first, the address book is exported as a CSV file and then the file is imported to the new email program. Hope this blog helped you to successfully transfer OAB.