Import Outlook Express Contacts to MS Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013

Summary: In this article, you will learn the process to import your contacts from Outlook Express to the different versions of MS Outlook. Along with this, it also focuses on main reasons of migration from Outlook Express to other email programs. 

Reason to Leave Outlook Express:

MS Outlook and Outlook Express are two different email programs under the umbrella of Microsoft Inc. Let’s discuss the key reasons to move on from Outlook Express, such as:

Reason 1: Outlook Express is easily vulnerable to virus attack due to out-dated Windows operating system platform i.e. Windows XP.

Reason 2: MS Outlook is up-to-date with the latest business environment. Its vast features are helpful to achieve a sustainable business growth.

Reason 3: It has strong integration with the social media platforms to make your business process more convenient.

How to Move your contacts from Outlook Express to MS Outlook?

In this section, we are going to discuss the process to move contacts from Outlook Express to MS Outlook manually. As we know that, Outlook Express creates a WAB (Windows Address Book) file to store its contacts with relevant information whereas MS Outlook saves its data into PAB (Personal Address Book) i.e. part of PST database file.

I have explained the manual procedure to complete this migration project. It involves three phases to move contacts from Outlook Express to MS Outlook

Phase 1: Move Windows Address Book to file to Windows live Mail Machine

Firstly, transfer the WAB (Windows Address Book) from computer with Outlook Express to the machine which have MS Outlook installed.

1: To enable the hidden files view on your computer.

·         Go to Start >> Control Panel >> Folder Option >> and then click on the View Tab

·         Click on “Show hidden Files, folders, and drives”

·         Then uncheck the “Hide protected operating system file”

·         Click on OK

2: Copy the ‘Address Book’ in a USB Flash Drive, it is found at the default location:

C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book

Phase 2: Import Outlook Express Address Book to Windows Contacts

This process will be done on the Computer which has Outlook Installed.

1: Plug the USB flash drive that contains the Outlook Express Address Book folder.

2:  Now Open the Address Book folder (in USB Drive), Double click on the Address Book WAB file.

3: A new screen appears named ‘Import WAB File’. Click on the Import

Phase 3: Import Outlook Address Book to Outlook Contacts

1:  Open MS Outlook

2. Go to File Menu, then choose the option Import & Export

3. A dialog box appear Import and Export Wizard Open, choose the option Import Internet Mail and Address. Click Next

4: Follow the below steps in Outlook Import Tool dialog box

•  Select Outlook Express 4.x,5.x, 6.x or Windows Mail.
•  Uncheck the Import Mail if the option is check and check Import Address book
•  Click the Next button

5: Select the option Do Not Import Duplicate items and click on Finish to begin the final import process.

6: Click on OK, when the Import process completed.

7: Now you can open your contacts to check whether all the contacts are exported or not.

Expert’s Opinion:

In some cases, users want to Export all components of Outlook Express into MS Outlook. It is possible through the manual procedure but a probability of data loss is higher. In the case of large scale migration also, Experts are not recommending to use manual procedure. As per opinion of majority of experts, you can try third party software for the safe migration. As I know, you can take a free trial of Stellar DBX to PST converter software. It is available for ‘Personal’ as well as ‘Technician’ users also.

Reference: http://www.stellaroutlooktools.com/outlookexpress/dbx-pst.php