Your Outlook contacts are an essential part of your communication network. There may come a time when you need to export and backup your Outlook contacts, along with other mailbox items like emails, notes, and calendars. However, exporting Outlook contacts can be confusing because there are different versions of Microsoft Outlook with varying settings and export methods. In this article, we will guide you on how to export and back up your Outlook contacts to different file formats such as CSV, Excel, PST, and OST files, depending on your Outlook version. We will also discuss how you can easily back up your Outlook contacts to Gmail.

Reasons to Export or Backup Contacts from Outlook

There are several reasons why you might want to export your contacts from Outlook:

1. Import contacts to another email client, such as Gmail.
2. Migrate contacts to another system or Outlook version.
3. Manage contacts in an Excel sheet, like bulk-editing or importing them back to Outlook.
4. Backup your contacts.

The choice of file format for exporting your contacts depends on the purpose of the export. For example, if you want to migrate your personal contacts to another email client, you can easily export them to a CSV or Excel file format, which is universally supported. On the other hand, if you are manually migrating multiple users or a mailbox to an exchange server, you can export the contacts and other mailbox items using the PST file format.

However, manual exporting has its limitations. You will need to repeat the backup process every time a new contact is added, and you need to protect the backup data from computer corruption. To overcome these limitations, you can use automated tools like Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate. This tool allows you to regularly and automatically back up and migrate your Outlook data, including contacts. It also provides cloud storage for additional data protection.

How to Export and Backup Outlook Contacts

Exporting or backing up your Outlook contacts can be done using the same procedure. Here are the steps to export your contacts to an Excel or CSV file:

How to Backup Contacts to an Excel or CSV file

1. Open Outlook and click on the File tab.
2. Click on the Open & Export option.
3. Once you click on Open & Export, select the Import/Export option.
4. Select the Export to a File option and click on Next.
5. Choose Comma Separated Values and click on Next.
6. Select the Outlook Contacts folder and click on Next.
7. Click Browse to choose a destination folder and give a name to the output file that contains your contacts.
8. Check the box and click on Finish. Open the output Excel sheet and remove any duplicates if necessary.

You can follow the same steps as above to export your contacts to a CSV file. Once exported, you can easily edit the CSV file and convert it to an Excel sheet.

Export Contacts to a PST or OST file

If you want to export your contacts to a PST or OST file, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook and click on the File tab, then repeat steps 2 to 4 mentioned above.
2. Select the Outlook Data File (.pst) option and click Next.
3. Choose the Contacts folder and click Next.
4. Select Browse to choose a destination to save the file, give it a name, and click on Finish.

The exported PST file can be used to extract your contacts from Outlook. Please note that OST files are used as Offline Storage Tables with Outlook configured with Microsoft Exchange Accounts. If you need to extract Outlook contacts to an OST file, you can refer to the methods mentioned in the linked article.

It’s important to be aware of the limitations of manual backup of Outlook contacts. The PST file will not be automatically updated, so you need to repeat the backup process regularly to keep it up-to-date. Additionally, it’s recommended to store the PST file off the computer to avoid data loss in case of computer corruption. Remember that PST files can only be accessed through the Outlook application.

How to Backup Contacts in Outlook with Remo OBM

To avoid the limitations of manual backup, you can use Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate. This all-in-one tool allows you to automatically back up, restore, and migrate your Outlook data, including contacts. It also provides 25GB of cloud storage to safely store your Outlook data without the risk of losing it. With Remo OBM, you can easily migrate Outlook from one computer to another or between different versions. Download Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate tool to back up your contacts hassle-free.

How to Export Outlook Contacts and Import them to Gmail

If you’re looking to transfer your Outlook contacts to Gmail or Google contacts for better synchronization, follow the steps below for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007:

Even though Microsoft Outlook is popular for communication, Gmail is becoming a preferred option for many users. To transfer your Outlook contacts to Gmail, you can import them using the Google Contacts app.

Please note that Google recently updated the Google Contacts app, allowing you to directly import Outlook contacts to Google. This means that both Google and Outlook can share the same contacts without having to add them to both locations.

To import Outlook contacts to Gmail using the Google Contacts app, follow these steps:

1. Repeat Steps 1 to 4 from the above section to Export Outlook Contacts to a CSV file.
2. Open Chrome and click on the Contacts option.
3. Click on Import to CSV file.
4. Select the CSV file you exported from Outlook.
5. The contacts will be imported to Gmail, and you can find them in the imported contacts section. You can now use them in your Gmail account. This allows you to easily sync your Outlook data with another Outlook account without manually adding contacts.

By following these steps, you can easily export and back up your Outlook contacts to various file formats. Whether you’re migrating, managing, or backing up your contacts, it’s important to choose the right file format and consider using automated tools like Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate for a hassle-free experience.