Exporting Contacts as VCF Files in Outlook for Mac

Hey there! In this guide, I will show you how to export your contacts as VCF files in Outlook for Mac. So, let’s get started and make your life a little easier!

Have you ever wished you could quickly share your contacts with someone else or back them up for safekeeping? Well, with Outlook for Mac, you can do just that by exporting your contacts as VCF (Virtual Contact File) files. VCF files are a universal format that can be imported into various applications and devices, making it easy to share and transfer your contacts hassle-free.

Now, let’s dive into the steps and get your contacts ready for exporting:

Step 1: Launch Outlook for Mac on your computer. If you don’t have it already, you can download and install it from the Microsoft website.

Step 2: Once Outlook is open, click on the “Contacts” icon located at the bottom left corner of the main window. This will take you to your contacts list.

Step 3: Select the contacts you want to export. You can either hold down the Command key and click on individual contacts or use the Command+A shortcut to select all of them.

Step 4: With your contacts selected, go to the “File” menu at the top of your screen and choose the “Export” option. A dropdown menu will appear.

Step 5: From the dropdown menu, select “Contacts Archive…” This will open the “Save As” window.

Step 6: Choose the location on your computer where you want to save the exported VCF file. You can also rename the file if you want.

Step 7: Click the “Save” button, and Outlook will export your selected contacts as a VCF file to the chosen location.

Congratulations! You have successfully exported your contacts as VCF files in Outlook for Mac. Now, you can easily share these files with others or keep them as a backup for future reference.

Remember, VCF files can be imported into various applications and devices. So, whether you want to add your contacts to another email client or transfer them to your smartphone, this export feature will come in handy.

I hope this guide has been helpful to you. If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help!

Hey there! So, if you’re using Outlook for Mac and you want to switch to a different app or use another app alongside Outlook, I’ve got some good news for you. You don’t have to go through the hassle of manually entering all your contacts’ information again. Outlook actually has a way to export your contacts in a format that works with other apps. Pretty cool, right? Let me show you how it’s done.

Step Away from the “Export” Button

Hey there! If you’re a long-time user of Outlook, you might be familiar with the app’s “Export” feature. You can find it at File > Export in the menu bar. This feature allows you to select the type of information you want to export, like mail, calendars, contacts, and more. It then neatly packages it all up for you.

However, this method creates an .olm file, which is a Microsoft format for the macOS version of Outlook. It’s great for backing up or transferring your Outlook for Mac data to another Outlook for Mac installation. But, it isn’t compatible with third-party apps like Apple Contacts.

Export your Outlook Contacts to VCF

The solution is to use a different method that will produce VCF files (or vCard). VCF files are contact file formats that are supported by various applications, including the built-in macOS Contacts app. To get VCF files, simply launch Outlook and click on the “People” icon or press Command-3 on your keyboard.

In the People view, use the sidebar on the left to check the boxes of the contact groups you want to export. You can see redacted names and groups in the screenshot below to protect privacy.

For example, I want to export contacts from the “On My Computer” group in the screenshot above. So, I’ll uncheck all other boxes and only keep the contacts from that group in the center column.

Now, select the contacts you want to export from the center column. To export all contacts, use the Command-A shortcut. If you want to export a subset of contacts, hold the Command key and click on each desired entry.

Once you’ve made your selection, simply click and drag them out of the Outlook application to your desktop or a folder in Finder. If you’re exporting a few contacts, your desktop will do fine (you can delete them after importing to the macOS Contacts app). But if you have a large number of contacts, you might want to create a folder beforehand to keep your desktop tidy.

Outlook will create individual .vcf files for each exported contact.

Import your Exported Contacts into Apple Contacts

Now that you have your exported .vcf files, you can import them into Apple Contacts or any other compatible app (we’ll use the Contacts app as an example). To import your .vcf files, simply click and drag them onto the Contacts app’s icon in your Dock.

This will launch the Contacts app (if it’s not already open) and ask for your confirmation before importing. It will also let you know if it detects any duplicates among the contacts you’re importing and those already in your contact list.

If there are potential duplicates, you can click “Review Duplicates” to check any differences between the entries. From there, you can choose to keep your old card, the newly imported one, both items, or update the existing card with any new information.

And there you have it! Your Outlook cards should appear properly in Apple Contacts. I find it a little strange that Microsoft won’t let us use the “File > Export” feature to put contact files directly into Contacts. Yet, they allow us to export contacts from Outlook by simply dragging and dropping. Hmmm, maybe they want us to be happy but also work a little for that happiness.

Exporting Contacts Stored in Exchange or Gmail

If your Outlook contacts are stored and managed using an online service like Exchange or Gmail, you don’t need to export them with the above steps. Instead, you can configure Apple Contacts (or any other contacts app you prefer) to sync with your existing account.

Simply use the macOS Internet Accounts preference pane to add your account and enable contact syncing in the account’s options. Once you do that, any contacts stored in that account will automatically show up in the macOS Contacts app.