How to Import Outlook Contacts into Thunderbird

Export contacts from Outlook

Open the People or Contacts area and find the option to manage or export contacts. Choose all contacts or the required folder, then export as CSV. Save the original file unchanged as a backup before editing a copy.

Prepare the data

Open the copied CSV in a spreadsheet and check that names, email addresses, telephone numbers and organisations occupy consistent columns. Keep the header row. Save in UTF-8 CSV format so accented characters are less likely to be damaged.

Import into Thunderbird

1. Open Thunderbird’s Address Book.
2. Choose Import and select a comma-separated file.
3. Select the CSV and map each source column to the correct Thunderbird field.
4. Preview several records before completing the import.
5. Check the resulting address book and remove any test duplicates.

For small or mixed migrations

vCard files can preserve contact detail more reliably and are convenient for a small number of contacts. For a company-wide migration, test with a sample first and consider directory synchronisation rather than repeatedly moving CSV files.