Another way to manage your Outlook data is to import or export it.
Exporting in particular is a great way to back up your Outlook data
periodically.
First, let’s go through exporting Outlook data. Exporting your data
doesn’t remove it from Outlook; it just makes a copy of whatever items
you select to another file. To start the wizard, click the File menu and
click Import and Export. This window will appear:
Right
now, the only option we’re concerned with is the first one: Export to a
file. So, we’ll select that option and click Next. Our
next screen allows us to pick what kind of file we want to create: -
Comma Separated Values: Creates a spreadsheet for DOS or for Windows. This is
mainly used when exporting contacts or calendar items. -
Microsoft Access: Exports your data as a database using .mdb format. This is
mainly used for contacts. -
Microsoft Excel: Exports your data as a spreadsheet using .xls format. This is
mainly used for contacts. -
Personal Folder File: Exports your data as a .pst file. -
Tab Separated Values: Exports your data as a text file using DOS or Windows
standards. Once
we’ve picked the file type and clicked Next, we can choose which folders
we want to export.
Just
click on a folder to select it. If your screen looks like the sample on
the right, click the plus sign to see the folders in that set of
personal folders. For most file types, we can only pick one sub-folder;
we can’t pick the main Personal Folders. The only exception is when
you’re exporting .pst files, like we are in the sample. You can export
multiple folders by choosing Personal Folders, but you MUST check the
Include Subfolders box at the bottom, otherwise nothing will be
exported! Once
you’ve selected the folder to export, click Next. In this window, we can
click the Browse button to give your file a name and to tell Outlook
where we’ve saved it. Once we’ve entered that information, your next
step depends on what type of file we’ve created. If we’ve created a .pst
file, we just need to click Finish. Then, we can set options for our
personal folder like we did when we created a new one. If
you’ve chosen any other type of file, you’ll have a next button in the
browse window. When you click Next, you’ll have this window:
The
large white box will summarize what task we’re about to perform. If
necessary, you can click the Map Custom Fields button to give the fields
in your data source specific names in the new file. (We’re not going to
cover these options in detail as they vary widely depending on the
application being exported to.) Normally, you don’t need to use these
options; you can just click Finish to create your file. What
do you do if you have a file that has been exported from Outlook or from
another program? You can use the other half of the wizard we just talked
about: the import wizard. Let’s
go back to the window we saw when we clicked on the File menu and
clicked Import and Export.
The
import options are a bit more extensive than the export options. From
this window, you can choose to import a specific type of file (like a
.vcs or .vcf file); import from another program or file type; or import
account settings, mail, or addresses from another program (such as
Outlook Express, Netscape, or Lotus Notes).
The
list isn’t fully expanded in this window, so here’s a complete list: -
ACT! (versions 3, 4, or 2000) -
Comma Separated Values (DOS or Windows; .csv for both) -
Lotus Organizer 4.x or 5.x -
Microsoft Access (.mdb) -
Microsoft Excel (.xls) -
Outlook Express (versions 4, 5, or 6) -
Personal Address Book (.pab) -
Personal Folder File (.pst) -
Schedule Plus Interchange (.sc2) -
Schedule Plus 7.0 -
Tab Separated Values (DOS or Windows; .txt for both) We’re
going to focus on importing a personal folder file. When you choose that
option and click next, you’ll have the option to browse to the file like
this:
You
can also tell Outlook what to do if it finds that items in this .pst
file are already in Outlook: replace the items in Outlook with items
imported, allow the duplicates to be created, or do not import
duplicates at all. Once
we’ve selected our file, we can click next to finalize the import.
With
the first window, we can choose which folder of the .pst file we want to
import. (If we want to import everything, just make sure personal
folders is selected.) Then, check the Include Subfolders box to import
any folders underneath the folder you’ve selected. (Again, this is
essential when importing personal folders files.) Last, you can choose
to import items into the folder you currently have selected in Outlook,
or you can import items into the same folder in your personal folders
file. Once
you click Finish, Outlook will begin the import process. This may take a
few moments depending on how much data you have, but your part is done!
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