How to Export Outlook Contacts to CSV Files- A Complete Guide

Summary: When analyzing communications or sharing and backing up contacts, users often feel the need to export Outlook contacts to CSV. The Comma Separated Value format is directly supported by CRM, Excel, Google Sheets, and more. Yet, the main problem is that during the export, fields are often ignored, formatting is messed up, and duplicates are created. So, to securely export contacts, this blog gives the best solution, including a PST Migration Tool for speedy and effective outcomes.

Why Organizations Export Contacts from Outlook to CSV File?

The enterprise teams, HR departments, and IT administrators securely and completely export the contact list in a clean CSV because:

• With conversion, data can be bulk exported to CRM and ERP systems like Salesforce, etc.
• Several departments can centralize contact management for easy and quick access.
• Necessary contacts and information can be segmented together to avoid the cluster.
• CSV files are easily usable in legal and compliance reviews instead of verifying contacts individually.
• Maintaining a single, lightweight CSV file from all Outlook profiles simplifies contact archiving.

Do You Know?

When you export Outlook contact group to CSV, the distribution lists are treated as single entries. The user doesn’t get the actual member list inside the contacts group. To fix it, ensure to expand the groups before export or extract the group members list earlier.

Prominent Ways to Export Outlook Contacts to CSV?

To be clear, there are manual solutions and a professional software available to export Outlook address book to Excel. To understand them more briefly, go through the following procedures:

Free Convert Outlook Contacts to CSV File

The procedures can differ for Windows and Mac Outlook. But in either case, the manual methods are only suitable for small-scale or one-time export of contacts. Before you begin, make sure to clean and deduplicate the contacts for a structured CSV output.

Method 1: Windows Desktop MS Outlook Contacts to CSV

1. Inside your Outlook profile, from the File section, press Open & Export.
2. With it, you get an Import/Export built-in feature. Click to open the wizard.
3. Then, use the Export to a File option to save your contacts. Tap Next.
4. Further, you get Comma Separated Values format, choose it & Next.
5. Now, from the mailbox list displayed, select the Contacts and hit Next.
6. Afterward, the Browse button is displayed. Click it to pick the output folder.
7. Click Next and press Map Custom Fields to match the particular columns.
8. Finally, click the Finish button and export Outlook contacts to CSV.

Method 2: Export to Excel via Web MS Outlook

1. Sign in to the OWA (Outlook Web App) on your preferred browser.
2. Next, from below, click the People icon and then, from the top, the Manage tab.
3. Afterward, from the drop-down, click on Export Contacts and choose All Contacts.
4. If needed, you can also pick a specific folder from the Contacts field. (optional)
5. Lastly, click the Export button to export all Outlook contacts to CSV format.

Method 3: Copy and Paste Outlook Contacts to CSV

1. In your desktop Outlook, from the bottom, open the People window.
2. Then, in the Current View tab, either click Phone or List to view the contacts table.
3. Now, to export more fields than those already displayed, open the View tab.
4. Next, click Add Columns and choose the desired fields in the Show Column dialog box.
5. Click Add to move them to the right pane, and once all are selected, tap OK.
6. After that, simply press Ctrl + A to select all the contacts, and Ctrl + C to copy them.
7. Open Excel or any other spreadsheet and press Ctrl + V to paste the contacts.
8. Finally, with the Save As, get your Outlook contacts CSV file.

Method 4: Export Outlook Contacts to CSV on Mac

1. Start Outlook for Mac. Press on the tab Outlook/Tools.
2. Then, press Export and choose Contacts.
3. The output file is saved as a (.olm) file.
4. Later, convert OLM to CSV to get the Mac Outlook contacts.

These were the solutions to export all Outlook contacts to CSV format manually. However, these methods contain some shortfalls, like they are too time-consuming and require MS Outlook as a must. Also, technical skills are essential, and you need to put in a lot of effort since batch conversion isn’t available. Moreover, data loss atrocities and folder structure, etc., errors and issues are very common.

So, to avoid all these circumstances and perform a hassle-free export from Outlook contacts to a CSV file online. Follow the alternate tool-based solution.

Dedicated Utility to Convert Outlook Contacts to CSV File

Large organizations and teams managing over 10,000+ contacts regularly need advanced filtering and export controls. Manual methods fall short in all of these, and this is where the PST Migration Tool comes in handy. If you have your Outlook contacts PST file, then this tool seamlessly exports data into CSV with complete accuracy.

Note: You can even convert PST to PDF with attachments for a more robust format with this tool.

Working Guide: Export Outlook Contacts to CSV

1. Launch PST Migrator on Mac/Windows/Linux and click Next.
2. Then, add the PST contacts file and folder to it and press Next again.
3. Check the contact data for your Outlook in the preview panel.
4. Further, choose contacts & click Next, and pick CSV format.
5. Afterward, apply filters, pick a location, and click Convert to change.

That’s how you swiftly export contacts with precision. You know:

One of the data team stated, “The tool helped them to manage 20+ Outlook profile contacts within 30 minutes. They even tried its demo version first for the evaluation.”

Also read: How to Import Outlook Contacts to iPhone

Conclusion

Unlike VCF and OLM, CSV is universally accessible and compatible with nearly all applications and devices. For any of the reasons, if you need to export Outlook contacts to CSV file, follow the above solutions. To ensure no data losses and maximum supportability, use the automated tool.

Frequently Asked Questions