Exporting Outlook Address Records

There might be occasions where you would like to take the records in one of your Outlook address books such as the Contacts list and export this information to another software package. For example, you may want to place all the records in your Contacts list in an Access database file (this is particularly useful in cases where you might be using Outlook to hold information about your customers or clients ). Outlook records can be exported using the Import and Export Wizard.

Follow these steps:

1. Click File , and then select Import and Export . The Outlook Import and Export Wizard opens.

2. Select Export to a File , and then click Next .

3. On the next screen, you are provided with a list of file types that you can use for your export file (see Figure 10.5). If you want to export to another Microsoft Office application such as Microsoft Excel or Access, make the appropriate selection. If you want to export the information so that you can then import it into another e-mail client or contact management software package, your best bet is the Comma Separated Values (Windows) option. After selecting a file type, click Next .

   Figure 10.5. Select the file format for your export.

   

4. On the next screen, you are asked to select the Outlook folder that contains the information that you will export. Select the appropriate folder such as Contacts . Then, click Next .

5. On the next screen, type a name for the file in the Save Exported File As box. If you want to specify a specific location on your computer for the file to be saved, use the Browse button to open the Browse dialog box. When you have returned to the wizard (click OK to close the Browse dialog box), click Next .

6. The next screen lists the folder that will be exported. Click Finish . The export file is created.

After the information has been exported to the new file (it is actually copied to the new file; your Contacts list remains intact in Outlook), you can open the file using the destination application. For example, if you created an Access database using the export feature, you can open the file created using Microsoft Access.