Outlook is a highly secured and advanced email application that keeps the user connected and protected with email, calendar, and files in one place, which is convenient.
It offers enormous customization according to user needs. Over and above other remarkable features, Outlook provides the ability to export and import contacts from any supported file format.
This feature is very handy when you need to add a bunch of contacts to Outlook from your old email address.
Microsoft Outlook usually supports all possible contact file formats, including CSV files, Excel spreadsheets, and vCard. Additionally, you can efficiently import contacts on any version of the Outlook application.
Keep reading till the end to learn everything about importing contacts in the Outlook application.
Let’s get started!
What is UTF-8 Encoding, And Why Should You Use It?
UTF-8 is a variable-width character encoding system that is used for electronic communication. This encoding system helps the user to represent the characters as ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) text.
When importing contacts files to your Outlook application, sometimes the import tool shows an error for unsupported text format. If your CSV file contains any character of Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, or Japanese characters, that can prevent you from importing contacts to Outlook.
So before starting to import your contacts file, you must ensure that your file is UTF-8 encoded. Using your notepad, you can easily convert your CSV file that supports UTF-8 encoding. Follow the below instruction to convert the CSV file.
Here are the steps to convert your CSV file to UTF-8 using notepad:
- Open your CSV file using Notepad.
- Select File from the top right corner.
- Click on Save as.
- Select All files and UTF-8 from the Save as type and Encoding drop-down menu.
- Rename the file using the .csv extension.
- Save the changes.
This process will help you to import your CSV file into the Outlook application without any error, even when the CSV file contains foreign characters.
Also, check out our separate post on Use Cached Exchange Mode Grayed Out in Outlook.
How to Import Contacts Into Outlook Windows App
Importing contacts to Outlook can be very handy for communicating with everyone on your contacts list.
It doesn’t matter on which platform you are using Outlook; there is a way to import contacts for every version of Outlook.
Most people use the Outlook desktop application to organize their day-to-day tasks efficiently. You can effortlessly import your contacts to the Outlook windows application by following the below steps.
Here are the methods to import contacts into the Outlook Windows app:
- Click on File from the top left corner of the Outlook ribbon.
- Navigate to Open & Export > Import/Export.
- Select Import from another program or file and click Next.
- Choose Comma Separated Values and click Next again.
- Browse your contacts file and double-click on it to select it.
- Pick the suitable Options to handle duplicate contacts.
- Replace duplicates with items imported.
- Allow duplicates to be created.
- Do not import duplicate items.
- Click on Next.
- Select the Contacts folder from the Select a destination folder. (If you are using multiple accounts in Outlook, select the contacts folder under the email address you want to import contacts for.)
- Click on Next again.
- Choose Finish to start importing contacts immediately.
The above steps will add the desired contacts file to your Outlook account. You can easily find the imported contacts from the bottom of the Outlook application by clicking on the people icon.
In case you are using the old version of the Outlook application, you may not see the options described above. You can follow the subsequent instructions to import contacts into the older version of Outlook.
Follow our guide on how to Encrypt Email in Outlook.
Here are the steps to import contacts into Outlook Office 2010:
- Click on File from the outlook ribbon.
- Navigate to Open > Import.
- Select Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
- Click on Comma Separated Values (Windows) to import a CSV file, then select Next.
- Choose the CSV file by browsing the file location.
- Select Next.
- Choose the suitable Options to handle duplicate contacts.
- Replace duplicates with items imported.
- Allow duplicates to be created.
- Do not import duplicates.
- Set the options as you need.
- Include subfolders are already selected by default.
- The default option of Import items into the same folder in will create a new folder if the folder doesn’t exist in Outlook.
- Select Finish to complete the importing process.
By following the above process, you can effortlessly import your contacts file to the Outlook older versions.
Read more on how to Customize Ribbon Group Policy in Outlook.
How to Import Contacts Into Outlook macOS App
If you are a mac user and need to import your contacts file to your Outlook application, follow the below instructions to import your contacts to Outlook successfully.
Here are the ways to import contacts into the Outlook macOS app:
- Choose the Tools menu from the Outlook ribbon.
- Click Import from the list.
- Select Outlook for Mac Archive file and choose Continue.
- Locate the contacts file and click Import.
- Wait until the importing process is finished.
- Select Finish to complete the import.
After successfully adding your contacts file, you can see the newly imported contacts by navigating to the People section of Outlook.
You may also like to read: 5 Ways to Fix Outlook Conversation History Folder Is Missing.
How to Import Contacts Into Outlook Online
For Outlook Online users, the process of importing contacts is slightly different. Follow the below instruction to import your contacts file into Outlook Online.
Here are the steps to import contacts into Outlook Online:
- Open Outlook on your browser.
- Choose the menu icon from the top left corner to open the available application list.
- Select People to see Outlook contacts.
- Expand Contacts from the left pane and select Your contacts.
- Click on Manage and select Import contacts from the top right corner.
- Browse and select your contacts file from the Upload your CSV file page.
- Click on Import to start importing immediately.
You will see a message “Looking good” when the importing process is finished. Now you can access the newly imported contacts by expanding the Folders under the Contacts menu.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why won’t my contacts Import to Outlook?
You won’t be able to import your contacts to Outlook if the contacts file contains no data. You can try using Excel to open your CSV file and check if there’s any data available in it. If there is no data inside the CSV file, try exporting the file again.
How do I import contacts into Outlook from Excel?
Open the Outlook application and move to the contacts folder. Choose Import and Export from the File menu and select Import from another program or file. After clicking the Next button, select the file type to import from box, select Microsoft Excel 97-2003, and finally click Next.
Why is my CSV file not importing to Outlook?
Your Outlook may fail to import the CSV file if the file format differs from the standard file format supported by the Outlook import tool. Ensure you are using the correct format when importing contacts files into Outlook.
Follow our guide on how to Add Yahoo Mail in Outlook
Final Thoughts
Importing contacts in the Outlook application is very easy and straightforward. Though you can get an error when importing an unsupported version of the contacts file.
Ensure your contacts file is in UTF-8 format. If the CSV file is not in UTF-8, use your notepad to change the encoding.
I have covered all possible methods to successfully import your contacts to the Outlook application, whether using Outlook on Windows, macOS, or the Online.
Did you able to import your contacts file to the Outlook application? Let us know in the comment below.
