How to Export Contacts from Outlook 2010

Last Updated: March 29, 2019

Microsoft’s Outlook email program effectively stores calendar appointments, contacts, emails and other useful data. If you want to use this data in another program, you will need to export it from Outlook 2010 and save it in a file, such as a spreadsheet. You can then import it into another program.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Accessing Your Contacts

1
Open your Outlook 2010 program. Wait for all your data to load.
2
Click the File tab on the top Outlook toolbar. Select “Options” in the dropdown menu.

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3
Choose “Advanced” from the tabs in the left hand column of the dialog box.
4
Look for the Export section. Click on the Export button. Your Export Wizard should open.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Choosing Your File Format

1
Click “Export to a file” in your Import/Export Wizard. Click on the “Next” button.
2
Look under “Create a file type.” There should be several options of file formats you can use.
- Use the Comma Separated Values (.csv) option if you are using Outlook 2010 on a Windows computer, and you want to import it to an unrelated program. A CSV file is similar to a spreadsheet, but it does not contain headers like it would in Excel.^{[1]
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- Use the Excel spreadsheet option (.xls), if you want to gain access to the file for a backup or spreadsheet function.
- Choose a Mac Data file (.olm) if you want to use the data in other Apple programs.
- Use the Outlook Data File (.pst), if you want to import the data into another Outlook program.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Exporting Contacts From Outlook

1
Select the types of data you would like to export. In this case, you would select the “Contacts” folder and deselect “Mail,” “Tasks,” “Calendar” and “Notes.”
2
Choose the folder that you want to export from. If you have multiple Contacts folders, you may have to choose the folder before completing the export.
- If you have the data you need saved in more than 1 folder, you will need to export each folder 1 at a time.
3
Click the “Next” button. A dialog box for saving the file will pop up.
4
Choose a location to save your file. Under the “Save exported file as” box, use the browser to choose a folder in your computer. ^{[2]
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5
Name the file before you save it. Click “Ok.”
6
Select “Next” on the “Export to a File” box. Select “Finish.” Your file will be saved to your computer.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

For shared contacts

1
Right-click on the shared contact's name and choose "Copy Folder."
2
Choose your Contacts folder to put the copy in.
3
Follow the steps outlined above, but select the sub-folder you just created (select Contacts, then the sub-folder, which is also called Contacts or Contacts1, etc.)

Community Q&A

Question

Can I transfer my contacts from Outlook 2010 to a flash drive?

christoper halomoan

Community Answer

Yes, just change location before export contacts or after finish export contacts, copy the file and paste it to the flash drive.
Question

How do I import contacts into Outlook?

Kevin Nelson

Community Answer

Just about the same way: Open Outlook and click File. Click Options, Advanced, and Export. The list will show an option to "Import from another program or file," select that and click Next. Choose the file type or program that you will import from (the file you will you should already have been created; if the location and file do not fill in, use the Browse button to find it). Choose how you want the process to handle duplicates and click Next. Select the destination folder, in this case Contacts; then click Next and Finish.