Import Contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365 – Quick Guide to Follow

How does it feel when you lose important business contacts of prestigious clients? Contacts are an important attribute of any business organization whether it is small or large. Every business process solely depends on the contact details whether it is of clients or business partners. The loss of any important contacts will directly impact the continuity and productivity of the organization.

So, to maintain the workflow the management of contacts is necessary. It is very good practice to migrate Outlook contacts to Office 365. This is because it ensures the 24*7 availability of contacts from anywhere in the world. Check out the real-time user queries regarding the same to understand the challenges faced by the users.

“I recently promoted as the Office 365 administrator in a my organization. This is because the senior admin is on vacation. So the management has given me the responsibility to transfer contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365 account of each employee. As I am newbie to this field. I do not know how to accomplish the task. Please help me or suggest any ready to use solution for the same.”

“I am technology enthusiasts, currently pursuing my graduation in science. I have keen interest on learning the new technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing.  As a curiosity, I want to explore the Office 365 and for the same, recently purchased the student plan of Office 365. Now, I want to upload my college hosted emails data to Office 365. For the same, I am looking for the procured solution.”

Let’s discuss the safest techniques to import contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365.

Different Techniques to Import Contacts to Outlook 365

Technically, there are two different solutions, available to import Outlook 2013 contacts to Office 365.

1. Manual Solution for Importing Outlook Contacts
2. Professional Solution for the Import Process

First of all, we will discuss the manual guide to migrate Outlook contacts to Office 365 accounts.

How to Import Contacts into Outlook 365 Using Manual Solution

The manual method comprises two different methods:

1.  Export Outlook 2013 Contacts to .csv (Comma Separated Values)
2.  Import CSV File to Office 365 using the import option

Steps to Save Outlook Contacts in CSV file format

1. Start Microsoft Outlook on your Windows operating system
2. Click on the File given in the navigation bar
3. Then choose Open & Export from the available option
4. Click on the Import/Export wizard
5. Then select the option to export to a file
6. After then choose CSV file format or Comma Separated value
7. Click on Next to browse the location and save the file.

Step to Import Outlook Contacts (.csv) to Office 365 Account

1. Open Office 365 on the browser and enter your credentials to log in.
2. Then go to the Import/Export option
3. Then select Import from another program or file and click Next.
4. In the import wizard, select CSV file format and then click on next.
5. If you have contacts stored in the Outlook data file or .pst then select the PST file format from the import option.
6. Browse the selected files from the local system and then click on OK.
7. Click on Next, then a dialog box will appear under the select destination folder. Choose the folder in which you want to import the Outlook contacts.
8. Finally, you have imported the Outlook 2013 contacts to Office 365 account without any data loss.

Limitations of Manual Solution in Migrating Outlook Contacts to Office 365

• The manual solution can work only for single-user contact data. This makes it a time-consuming process, especially when you are importing large contact databases to Microsoft 365.
• The manual solution is not for those users who are not technically sound.  it requires a familiarity with Outlook account configuration and Office 365 import services.
• The manual method is performed by humans, which makes it prone to human error. Any wrong or improper operation can lead to data inconsistencies or permanent loss of data.
• While dealing with the manual methods users face difficulties in real-time updates and synchronization between Outlook and Office 365.
• The annual method lacks automation, which becomes a cumbersome task, especially when dealing with a growing number of contacts or frequent changes.

Must Read: How to Import PST File into Outlook Web App? Explained in Detail

Professional Approach to Transfer Contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365

As it is evident from the above limitations of manual methods, that it is not feasible and cannot be implemented on the ground level to bulk import Outlook contacts to Outlook 365.

Several IT admins suggest using trusted tools such as the SysTools Office 365 Import Software. It is always the first and favorite choice of millions of users and Office 365 administrators. The tool earns this reputation with its streamlined and result-oriented features.

Let’s shed some light on the feature set of this software.

• Bulk Import Outlook Contacts to Office 365 Via Admin.
• 3 Unique Options to Add User Contacts to Exchange Online.
• Transfer contacts from Outlook 2013, 2016, and 2019 to Office 365.
• Option to Selectively Import Contacts Data to Microsoft 365.
• Support Incremental Import to skip already transferred data.
• Using This Tool You Can Also Import PST Calendar to Office 365.
• Generate Two Different Export Reports. 

Free Download Purchase Now

Quick Steps to Import contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365 are:

Step 1. Begin by selecting File System as the source platform and Office 365 as the destination platform for importing contacts.

Step 2. Proceed by selecting the Contacts option to configure the import workload and then proceed to the next step.

Step 3. Within the source tab, follow these steps: Create a root folder. Inside the root folder, establish a VCF folder. Then create separate folders for each target O365 email ID. 

Within each user’s folder, create a Contact folder specifically for Contacts. Additional subfolders within the Contact folders can be made as necessary to organize data. Save the respective .vcf files in these designated subfolders.

Folder Structure Example:

• E:/VCF/Email/Contact/SubFolder/ (for user1)
• E:/VCF/Email/Contact/SubFolder/ (for user2)
• E:/VCF/Email/Contact/SubFolder/ (for user3)

Step 4. Next, designate the “E:/VCF/” folder as the “Import Folder Path” within the tool. Ensure correct permissions by clicking on Validate.

Step 5. Enter accurate Admin Email and Application ID details. Click on Validate to grant the required permissions.

Step 6. Add users from the source account using various methods:

• Automatically fetch users from the Source domain.
• Import users through CSV.
• Download a template CSV file for manual user addition.

Step 7. Once the necessary user accounts are added, validate the users by clicking on the validate button. Upon successful validation, click “OK.” Initiate the import process by clicking on the “Start Import” button.

The Last Line

Contacts are one of the important attributes of any business entity. Proper management and availability ensure trouble-free business processes. Transferring Outlook contacts to Office 365 is the best move which ensures 24*7 hassle-free availability and 99.9% uptime. No fear of data loss or corruption.

Therefore, we have discussed the two different approaches that can be beneficial for the business user as well as the home or student user who looking for a solution to import Contacts from Outlook 2013 to Office 365 account.