If your business is moving away from Microsoft Outlook and migrating to Mozilla Thunderbird as your email client, you’ll be happy to know that your contacts can move with you. Both programs are compatible with Comma Separated Values, or CSV, files. Importing your Outlook contacts into Thunderbird is a two-stage process that transfers your contacts as a CSV file from one application to the other.
Export Contacts From Outlook
Step 1 – Launch Outlook. Click “File” and select “Options” from the menu that appears. The Options window opens.
Step 2 – Click “Advanced” in the Options window.
Step 3 – Click “Export” under the Export heading. Outlook displays the Import and Export Wizard.
Step 4 – Click “Export to a File” in the Import and Export Wizard. Click “Next.”
Step 5 – Click “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” from the list of available formats under the “Create a File of Type” heading.
Step 6 – Click the contacts folder you wish to export. Folders are listed under the “Select Folder to Export From” heading.
Step 7 – Click “Browse” and navigate to the location on your computer where you would like to save your exported contacts. Click “OK” once you’ve selected a location. Make a note of where you save this file as you will need it again.
Step 8 – Click the “Next” button in the “Export to a File” box and click “Finish.”
Import Contacts Into Thunderbird
Step 1 – Launch Thunderbird. Click “Tools,” then click “Import” from the drop-down menu that appears. Thunderbird displays the Import window.
Step 2 – Click the radio button next to Address Books. Click “Next.”
Step 3 – Click “Text file (LDIF, .tab, .csv, .txt)” from the list of available options. Click “Next.”
Step 4 – Browse to the location where you saved your exported Outlook contacts and double-click on the CSV file.
Step 5 – Click the check box next to “First record contains field names.”
Step 6 – Click the “Move Up” and “Move Down” buttons to match the Outlook contact fields to those in Thunderbird.
Step 7 – Click “OK” and then click “Finish.”
