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How to Convert Outlook Contacts to Excel? Easy Solution

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Published By Jamie Kaler
Rollins Duke
Approved By Rollins Duke
Published On June 27th, 2025
Reading Time 8 Minutes Reading
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Are you having a hard time looking for the perfect solution to convert Outlook Contacts to Excel for Mac or Windows? Well, in that case you have landed up on the right article. Whether you’re finding the method to export Outlook Mac Contacts to Excel or export Microsoft Outlook Contacts to Excel, we’ve got you covered. This blog will provide a manual guide and a dedicated solution to make the task easier and seamless.

Quick Overview

Manual Method to Convert Outlook Contacts to Excel for Mac & Windows: Under this method, we will learn to export Outlook contacts to Excel for both platforms, Mac and Windows using the traditional method.

Expert Tool to Export Microsoft Outlook Contacts to Excel: Here, an expert recommended solution will be introduced to export contacts from Outlook to Excel.

Expert Tool to Export Outlook Mac Contacts to Excel: Similarly, an advanced software will be discovered to quickly and easily export Outlook Mac contacts to Excel

Why Should You Convert Outlook Contacts to Excel?

Due to several reasons, people look to import Outlook Contacts to Excel, for both Windows and Mac, let’s explore:

  • In today’s time it’s crucial to backup Outlook Contacts to Excel to avoid any kind of data loss due to email client failure, phishing attack or malware infection.
  • Excel sheet provides separate columns and rows and is editable. It helps keep the contact data organised and clean.
  • Excel is a universally accepted file format and compatible with all devices. Users working in a team or group project can easily share contact data with colleagues and others.
  • Exporting Outlook Contacts to Excel, simplifies the process to import on various services like Gmail, iCloud, CRMs and email tools, as they support CSV or Excel format.
  • For people working in marketing or sales departments, to convert outlook contacts to excel helps managing large contact data, run campaigns and organize follow-ups.
  • For people who travel often, may need to open Outlook Address Book in Excel in case of no internet connectivity. Excel file grants easy offline access to your data.
  • Many individuals or businesses require to maintain physical copies of contact data. In such cases, it is ideal to convert Outlook contacts to Excel for printing purposes.

Manual Method to Convert Outlook Contacts to Excel for Mac & Windows

  1. Firstly, run the Outlook email application on your system.
  2. Next, go to the File option and select Open & Export. 
  3. Further, select Import/Export from there.
  4. Now, select Export to a file and click the Next button.
  5. Then, choose Comma Separated Values (CSV) and click Next. 
  6. Next, select the Contact folder you need to export.
  7. Now, click Browse and select the location of your choice to save the converted file.
  8. Then, click the Finish button to export Outlook contacts to Excel.
  9. Finally, go to the CSV file at the saved location, right-click and choose Open With and select the Excel option to import Outlook contacts to Excel.

Why Not to Choose the Manual Method?

Although the manual method is free of cost it comes with several limitations and shortcomings. Let’s discover a few of them:

  • The traditional method doesn’t support batch export options. This means, the user has to export one Outlook contact folder at a time, making the process time-taking and repetitive.
  • Once converted the fields may get misaligned, details like names, email addresses, phone numbers may get mixed up creating confusion and demanding manual correction.
  • There is a high possibility of losing data like metadata or contact pictures or categories. This may lead to incomplete conversion of contact data.
  • Manual method doesn’t provide the option to preview contact files before exporting it to Excel.
  • It also doesn’t allow users to select specific contact folders based on a specific criteria, resulting in unwanted conversion.
  • Large-scale organizations and businesses should completely prevent this method as it’s not feasible. It doesn’t offer any advanced features and may kill user’s productivity.
  • Manual approach can be challenging for beginners or domestic users as the steps to convert Outlook contacts to Excel are complex and human-error may lead to data corruption or loss.

Expert Tool to Export Microsoft Outlook Contacts to Excel

As we discussed the non-preventative consequences of the manual approach, let’s talk about the game-changer product that overcomes all the issues. The MailsWare Outlook PST Converter Toolkit is one perfect solution to import Outlook Contacts to Excel efficiently and effortlessly.

The Outlook Contacts to Excel Export tool is capable to batch convert Outlook contacts to Excel at once in no time. The tool features a separate option to export only contacts from Microsoft Outlook with complete data including full name, email address, phone number, contact photo and metadata as well. The tool successfully imports all Outlook contact data to Excel with original data formatting without disturbing any element.

Simple Steps to Open Outlook Address Book in Excel 

  1. Firstly, download and run the software on your system.
    run the software
  2. Next, the software will automatically detect the Outlook data files from the GUI.
    select files or select folders
  3. Then, select Contacts option and select the needful Outlook contacts to export.
    select contact files
  4. Now, select the CSV option from the software GUI.
    select CSV option
  5. Finally, click the Convert button to convert Outlook contacts to CSV.
    click convert button
  6. Now, you can go to the CSV file, right-click and go to the Open With and select Excel to open Outlook Address book in Excel.
    convert outlook contacts to excel

Expert Tool to Export Outlook Mac Contacts to Excel

Similar to the PST Converter tool, we have MailsWare OLM Converter Toolkit to export Outlook Contacts to Excel on Mac. The tool provides a batch export option to convert multiple Outlook contact folders in a single process. It holds advanced features to streamline the complete conversion process and guarantees no data loss.

Note: Before running the software, kindly save Mac Outlook emails in OLM format. As OLM format is proprietary to Outlook for Mac, emails will be saved in OLM format by default. 

Quick Steps to Export Outlook Mac Contacts to Excel

  1. Firstly, run the converter tool and add OLM files by choosing Select Files or Select Folders.
    select files or select folders
  2. Next, select OLM files from the panel and hit the Next button.
    select olm files
  3. Then, select Contacts from the Saving Options and then choose Outlook Contacts.
    select contacts option
  4. Now, select the saving location and click the Convert button to export OLM to CSV.
    select csv option
  5. Finally, go to the CSV file and open the file with Excel to open Outlook Address book in Excel.
    convert outlook contacts to excel

Comparison Between Manual Method and Expert Tool

Features Manual Method Expert Tool
Saving Format  Supports only CSV Supports CSV, vCard, ICS, etc.
Bulk Export Doesn’t support bulk export Features bulk conversion option
Original Formatting Doesn’t support data integrity Guarantees formatting as original
Contact Preview Cannot view contacts before exporting Offers to preview contact data within software GUI
Specific Export Criteria Doesn’t offer any specific filter to export Provides various filters to export as per user’s need
Corrupted Files Cannot convert damaged or corrupted files Capable to export corrupt or damaged files
Conversion Speed Low speed, can take hours or days in case of large data Commits high-speed conversion process
Export All Data Manual methods can’t convert complete data like contact picture, or tags. Support complete export of data including contact pictures and tags.
Suitability Not convenient for non-technical or domestic users Designed for all kinds of users, technical or non-technical

Concluding Words

As we come to the conclusion, we hope users have been able to figure out what’s the best suitable method for them. Even though the manual method is free of cost, it comes with the bigger price of risking your crucial data and experiencing multiple challenges. The expert tool offers a free trial version and users can convert the first 25 files, so they can explore the advanced features and once satisfied, they can make a purchase to enjoy unlimited and seamless conversion.

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