Mac Outlook 2016 - Import Contacts

The instructions throughout this thread pretty consistently provide step-by-step how to accomplish what you want to do. Please follow the instructions (there are multiple ways to accomplish what you seek) and let us know if you need further assistance.

Greetings

I use a 2018 model apple MacBook. I have Microsoft office 2016 loaded on the Mac. This includes outlook 2016. I have my contact list (address book) from my old windows machine saved as either an excel or a .csv file. How do I upload this to my contacts list in Outlook 2016 on the Apple Mac??

I am desperate!!! I HAVE ABOUT 1600 contacts (email addresses) and I really do not want to have to retype them!!!!

HELP!

GTSeattle,

I did not have to convert my MacOS Contacts to a spreadsheet.  When I click on "Address Book" (which is a book icon with the words "Address Book" next to it on the HOME tab of the Outlook Contacts page, it opens a "Search People" dialogue box.  In that box there are two drop-down menu parameters:  "Search All Fields" in "All Folders" (each of those in quotes is its own drop-down menu).  Then, when I click on the "All Folders" item, it opens a drop-down menu with one of my choices being "Address Book."  When I select that, then I see my list of MacOS Contacts right there.  That's when I "select all" of them and carry on.  I'm sorry if your system differs at that point...

So I have also had this problem for a long time, without success in figuring it out even with some "solutions" published in blogs like this...UNTIL TODAY!  This finally worked for me.

THIS IS A METHOD TO IMPORT YOUR CONTACTS FROM YOUR MAC INTO YOUR CONTACTS IN MICROSOFT OUTLOOK FOR MAC.

Sometimes the way you have your settings selected can change the icons and arrangement of items in your Outlook, but I'll give you the way it looks to me (Version 16.12, today's date 28 APR 2018):

• open Outlook
• click on your Contacts in Outlook ("people" icon)
• you're now in Outlook Contacts; select the HOME tab at the top
• on the far right under a search window, click on the ADDRESS BOOK icon
• a new "Search People" dialogue box opens
• leave the search window blank
• select "search names only" in
• in the next box, instead of "All Folders" open it up and select "ADDRESS BOOK"
• now your contacts should appear...select any one of them
• now, to get them all selected, click your keyboard COMMAND key and "A" key at the same time
• now MINIMIZE this Address Book window to get it out of the way
• now, back in Outlook, still in the Contacts section, click on the TOOLS tab
• now click "EXPORT"
• in the box that opens, UNSELECT all boxes EXCEPT "Contacts"
• click CONTINUE
• now select the .OLM option and save it to your desktop
• click FINISH
• it it ok now to close the previously minimized search window, or just leave it minimized
• now, going back to the TOOLS tab in Outlook, now click the IMPORT button
• select the .OLM option, then CONTINUE
• now find the file you just saved to your desktop and click IMPORT
• then, FINISH
• now, put a check mark next to the correct ADDRESS BOOK from any being shown and UNSELECT any other, old options, that may be selected

Hopefully, this does it for you.  It did for me.

~TD

Thank you TD for your detailed instructions.

However I must be missing something as I could not make your instructions work.  Was there a step not explained that your message was responding to?  For example, do I need to convert my MacOS Contacts into a spreadsheet first?

The line item highlighted above ("now your contacts should appear ...select any one of them") is where my experience differed.  When I made that step, an identical list of contacts to my existing Outlook People contact list appeared in the search results box, but it had no relationship to my Mac Contacts list under the MacOS.

Your additional direction much appreciated!