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

Read time 5 minutes

It’s a common scenario we’ve all encountered – switching to a new computer or another Outlook installation and finding our address book empty. Those meticulously organized contacts seemingly vanished when we needed them the most. Fortunately, there’s a solution to transfer your Personal Address Book (PAB) from one system to another; it just requires a bit of effort. In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the step-by-step process. Continue reading to discover how!

Know about Outlook Address Book

When you have Microsoft Outlook correctly installed and configured on your system, you automatically have access to a default Outlook Address Book, often referred to as OAB. However, it’s important to note that the OAB isn’t a physical address book; instead, it’s a virtual concept. Essentially, OAB serves as a representation of your primary contact folders within Outlook.

The OAB provides a personalized view of your contact folders but doesn’t function independently. It’s crucial to understand that Outlook doesn’t save any OAB file that isn’t within your data store. In essence, OAB relies on your existing data store to function effectively.

Now that we have a clear understanding of the Outlook Address Book, let’s shift our focus to the key topic at hand: how to transfer the Outlook Address Book from one system to another.

• Try Copying the File to A Storage Device When it comes to transferring the Outlook Address Book from one system to another, copying the contact file with the .pab extension is often the most effective method. Let’s delve into the details of how to do 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 the .csv extension.
  7. Copy the .csv file to any external storage device such as a USB or a floppy.
• Restoring File to Another System Restoring the file to another system is another effective approach for transferring the Outlook Address Book (OAB). Let’s explore the steps to accomplish this:
  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.

During the process of transferring Outlook contacts from one computer to another, you may encounter the following issues:

• This process of importing and exporting Outlook contacts is complex.
• CSV files can only transfer the simplest data. It is not possible to import and export complex data files. In this case, Outlook contacts cannot be moved completely to another computer or a new PC.
• As CSV cannot distinguish between text and numeric values, it doesn’t support special characters.

While these methods may have certain drawbacks, successfully completing the above-mentioned steps will ensure that you have the Outlook Address Book (OAB) file on your next system. However, if you encounter issues with Outlook PST files, such as damage or corruption, you can turn to Kernel for Outlook PST Repair software. This automated tool is designed to efficiently repair, recover, and restore damaged PST files in just a few simple steps, ensuring your Outlook data remains intact and accessible.

Final Wrap

Transferring Outlook’s personal address book from one system to another is a manageable task, though it requires attention to detail. In this article, we have outlined the necessary steps and provided troubleshooting tips in case you encounter any issues during the process. We trust that this information will prove valuable to you. As an additional recommendation, we suggest considering Outlook PST Repair, a tool designed to effortlessly resolve PST file corruption issues, ensuring the integrity of your Outlook data.