If you’re tired of manually entering contact info into Outlook one by one, this guide will simplify your life. Whether you’ve received a spreadsheet with names, numbers, and emails, or you’ve exported contacts from another program, we’ll walk you through importing contacts from Excel to Outlook step by step without all the headaches.
This method will save you a huge amount of time and works regardless of where your data came from—Excel, Google Sheets, or any program that can export to CSV.
Check out the video tutorial below for a visual walkthrough, or keep reading for the detailed instructions:
Why You Can’t Directly Import Excel Files into Outlook
Outlook does not natively import Excel files, which means you can’t just upload your Excel sheet directly. But don’t worry—you can convert your Excel data into a format that Outlook can handle easily. The key here is converting your spreadsheet to a CSV file (stands for Comma Separated Values). CSV files can store your data in a way that lets Outlook read it correctly and pull in all the information you need, like names, addresses, and phone numbers.
Tip: Always check your data before starting to make sure it looks clean and organized. This prevents issues during the import process.
How to Convert Excel Data to a CSV File
The first step is to get your Excel data into a CSV format. Here’s how you do it:
- Open the Excel file with your contact info.
- Go to File and select Save As.
- Choose the location where you want to save the file.
- Under Save as Type, scroll down and select CSV (Comma Delimited). Make sure you don’t choose CSV UTF-8 as it can cause issues during the import process.
- Click Save.
That’s it! You’ve now got a CSV file that’s ready to import into Outlook.
Pro Tip: A CSV file just looks like a text file where each piece of information is separated by commas. If you’re curious, open the file and take a quick look—just don’t edit anything directly inside the file unless you know what you’re doing.
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Importing the CSV File into Outlook
With your CSV file ready, it’s time to move over to Outlook and let it do the heavy lifting.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to import contacts:
- Open Outlook.
- Look for the People/Contacts icon, usually found at the bottom left (it looks like two tiny people).
- Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
- In the Import and Export Wizard, select Import from another program or file, then press Next.
- Choose Comma Separated Values, then hit Next.
- Now it’s time to select your CSV file. Click Browse and find your CSV file with the contact info.
- Choose how Outlook should handle duplicates:
- Replace duplicates: If a contact already exists in Outlook, it’ll be replaced.
- Allow duplicates: Both versions will remain (good for manual review later).
- Do not import duplicates: Only new contacts will be added.
- Select Next, then make sure Outlook is set to import the data into your contacts folder.
- Press Next, and then hit Finish.
Now, your contacts will be imported from Excel into Outlook. But there’s just one small catch—only names might appear by default.
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Mapping Contact Fields
Outlook can sometimes struggle with matching all the data fields. For example, it might pull the names correctly but leave out the address, email, or phone number. Luckily, you can force Outlook to recognize these fields, and it’s super easy.
Here’s how:
- In the Import Wizard (after selecting your CSV file), look for the Map Custom Fields option.
- Expand the categories (like Name, Business), and drag your data fields into the matching Outlook fields.
- For example:
- Drag Street Address in your CSV and drop it into Business Street in Outlook.
- Drag City to Business City and so on for state, zip code, phone number, and email.
- For example:
- After you’ve mapped all the important fields, click OK.
Important note: Don’t use the Default Map button unless you want to reset everything back to only importing names. Outlook doesn’t remember mappings you’ve made manually if you hit that.
Final Steps and Tweaks
Once the import is done, open one of the new contacts to confirm that everything looks good. You should see name, phone, address, and email are all correctly listed.
What’s next? You’ll need to adjust a couple of things:
- File As: This is how the contact will be sorted in your Contact list (by first name, last name, etc.).
- Display As: This is how the email address will appear when composing an email.
These last customizations are quick, and once you’ve set them, your contacts are all set.
What About Other Sources Like Google Sheets or Libre Office?
The beauty of using CSV files is that it doesn’t matter where your data comes from. Whether you’re exporting contacts from Google Sheets, Libre Office, or some other software, as long as you can save or export your data to CSV format, you can follow this same process.
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Wrapping Up
Now that you know how easy it is to import contacts from Excel to Outlook, you can save time and avoid mistakes caused by typing everything manually. Remember, it all comes down to getting your Excel file into the right format (CSV) and then mapping your data fields correctly when you import.
If this guide helped you, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and hit subscribe for more tutorials just like this one. Got questions? Drop them in the comments—I’d love to help!
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