Outlook express csv file format

CSV file can have any number of records, separated by line breaks new lines and each record consists of fields columns which are separated by some character, most commonly a comma, semicolon or a tab character.

They can be used to exchange data between various programs and are commonly used as simple databases and address books. Color coding is used to highlight specific parts of this example file - first row represents column names row also called header row and holds no real data.

The rest of rows are actual address book data. This CSV example could be translated into following table:. Type in name of CSV file to create or use Browse button to select a file and click Next button when done. Check the checkboxes next to fields you want to export. Click on the Export ribbon button and select Comma separated values.

CSV option. For best results with Outlook Express , Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail make sure to add checkmark to all unchecked fields when exporting:. Please read the section - Export contacts from Outlook. Please read: Export your Yahoo Contacts. Then, the program will attempt to automatically detect a field separator character between fields, semicolon in above example and if first row holds column names.

It will also detect using first row data how it should use columns when importing. Although OE Classic does very good job with auto-detection and it is tuned to do this well with most commonly used CSV files, there is no sure way to tell if the detection was done correctly.

Specific CSV files may be interpreted incorrectly, but you have an option to correct this manually and this is also very easy to do. Once auto-detection has finished the data will be presented in tabular format and you will have a few options to choose from:. You can use same field in "Use as" row in more than one columns. If you do so, the column on the left, in this example First Name , will be imported but only if it is not empty.

If it is empty, then the field on the right Name may be used instead. If both are empty, none will be used. So, the fields on the left have higher priority. What you need to do is modify the field names in your csv file to conform to those used by Outlook.

Your csv file will not have all the fields and there is no need that it does. Details required : characters remaining Cancel Submit 1 person found this reply helpful. The information is present but in any useful format. It lists everyone by their first names. Their info is available by clicking on Notes.

When time becomes available I may try importing it into a desktop version of Outlook and seeing about restoring better usefulness. Greetings: Upon leaving a hosting company I exported 15 years of addresses to their only option to do so, a. What is OWA?

I have the same question 8. Report abuse. Details required :. Cancel Submit. Palcouk Volunteer Moderator. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. The easiest is to do this in Notepad;. Turning a semi-colon separated file into a proper comma separated file can be done easily via Notepad. Outlook however expects a comma as a separator in a csv-file as that is what the file format stands for; comma separated value.

Should Outlook? It would break interoperability between systems if the format of a file is depended on end-user configuration. Click on the Contacts on the left-hand. In the Current View, click on the List Select the contacts to copy. And then click on Address Book. Click on Browse. Select the Mail Backup folder that you created. In the File Name box, type address book backup. And then click on Save. Click to select the checkboxes for the fields which you want to export.

And then click on Finish.