How to Export Contacts from Outlook (2026 Guide)
The fastest way to export your Outlook contacts is to open the People view, choose Export contacts, and save a CSV file. That single CSV opens in Excel, restores into another mail app, and uploads to an iPhone through iCloud — so one export covers backup, migration, and spreadsheet work.
The exact menu path depends on which Outlook you’re running. Here’s every version for 2026, plus how to open the result cleanly in Excel and get the contacts onto a phone.
1. New Outlook for Windows & Outlook on the Web
New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com) share one codebase, so the export works the same way in both.
- Click the People icon in the left navigation rail.
- Above your contact list, click Manage contacts (in some builds this is a gear or ⋯ menu).
- Choose Export contacts.
- Pick the source: All contacts or a single contact folder.
- Click Export. A file named contacts.csv downloads to your browser’s or system’s Downloads folder.
That CSV uses the standard comma-separated format every app understands.
Tip: Export option missing? Some new Outlook builds still don’t surface Export contacts in the desktop app. If you don’t see it, open outlook.office.com in a browser, sign in with the same account, and run the export from People > Manage > Export contacts there. The web version always has it.
2. Classic Outlook for Windows
Classic Outlook has the most complete export tool — the Import/Export Wizard — and it can also produce a .pst file if you want a full Outlook-native backup instead of a flat CSV.
Export to CSV (for Excel, phones, other apps)
- Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
- Select Export to a file, then click Next.
- Choose Comma Separated Values, then Next.
- Select the Contacts folder you want to export (expand your mailbox to find it under the account). Click Next.
- Click Browse, choose a folder, name the file (e.g.
outlook-contacts-2026.csv), and click OK, then Next. - Click Finish. Outlook writes the CSV.
Export to a .pst file (full Outlook backup)
If you’re moving to a new PC and want everything to come back exactly as it was, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) instead of CSV at step 3. A PST keeps contact photos, categories, and custom fields that a CSV drops. You re-import it later through the same wizard. For a step-by-step on the reverse direction, see how to import contacts into Outlook.
Tip: Use CSV when the contacts are going somewhere outside Outlook (Excel, Gmail, an iPhone, a CRM). Use PST when they’re going back into another copy of Outlook.
3. Outlook for Mac
Outlook for Mac doesn’t use the Windows wizard, and the newer Mac build’s export options have shifted around. You have two reliable routes:
From the People view (export selected contacts):
- Click the People icon in the bottom toolbar.
- Select the contacts you want — press Cmd+A to select all.
- Drag the selection to the desktop, or go to File > Export. Older builds export a
.olmarchive; some builds let you save vCard (.vcf).
The dependable cross-platform route: sign in to outlook.office.com in a browser and use People > Manage > Export contacts to get a clean CSV. This avoids the Mac-only .olm format, which other apps can’t read.
4. Open the Exported CSV in Excel
Double-clicking the CSV usually opens it straight into Excel with one contact per row and a header row of field names (First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Company, Business Phone, and so on).
If columns look merged into one, or accented names look like José:
- Open Excel first, then go to Data > From Text/CSV.
- Browse to your
.csv. - In the preview, set File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) and Delimiter to Comma.
- Click Load.
This forces the correct encoding and column split. See the troubleshooting section below if characters still look wrong.
Tip: Don’t re-save the file from Excel as
.xlsxif you plan to import it elsewhere — most apps and phones expect.csv. If Excel nags you on close, click Keep Current Format (CSV).
5. Get Outlook Contacts onto an iPhone
You don’t usually need the CSV at all for this — the cleanest method syncs through the account itself.
Best method — sync the account (no file needed):
- On the iPhone, open Settings > Contacts > Accounts > Add Account.
- Choose Microsoft Exchange (for a work/Microsoft 365 account) or Outlook.com (for a personal one).
- Sign in, then toggle Contacts on.
Every contact stored on that Outlook account now appears in the iPhone’s Contacts app and stays in sync both ways.
Using the CSV (for accounts that won’t sync, or merging into iCloud):
- On a computer, go to icloud.com and open Contacts.
- Convert the CSV to a vCard first — import the CSV into the macOS Contacts app or a free CSV-to-vCard converter, since iCloud imports
.vcf, not.csv. - In iCloud Contacts, click the gear / ⋯ menu > Import vCard and select the file.
- On the iPhone, make sure Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Contacts is on. The imported contacts appear.
Tip: The Microsoft Outlook app for iOS also shows your Outlook contacts directly. If you only need them inside that app — not the phone’s native Contacts — just install it and sign in; no export required.
6. Use the Export as a Backup
A CSV (or PST) export is the simplest contact backup there is. Make it routine:
- Run an export before any migration, mailbox cleanup, or account change.
- Store the file in cloud storage (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox) so it survives a dead laptop.
- Date the filename —
outlook-contacts-2026-06.csv— so you can tell versions apart. - For a complete backup that preserves photos, categories, and notes, use the .pst route in classic Outlook; CSV is lighter but drops some fields.
Restoring is the reverse: import the CSV or PST back through Outlook’s import tool.
Troubleshooting
The export option is missing in new Outlook
Several new Outlook for Windows builds still ship without a contacts Export command in the desktop app. Open outlook.office.com in any browser, sign in with the same account, and export from People > Manage > Export contacts. The web app is the most reliable place to export and is always current.
The CSV shows garbled or accented characters
Names like José appearing as José is an encoding mismatch — the file is UTF-8 but Excel opened it as a different code page. Don’t double-click it. Instead open Excel, choose Data > From Text/CSV, and set File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) before loading. That renders accents, em-dashes, and non-Latin scripts correctly.
Columns are all crammed into column A
Your system list separator isn’t a comma (common on European Windows locales that use semicolons). Use Data > From Text/CSV and explicitly set Delimiter to Comma, or change Control Panel > Region > Additional settings > List separator to a comma and reopen.
Export only saved some of my contacts
You exported a single folder. In the classic wizard, make sure you selected the right Contacts folder under the correct account — people with multiple accounts often have several. On the web, choose All contacts rather than one folder.
Contacts won’t appear on the iPhone after importing
Check that Contacts is toggled on for the account in Settings > Contacts > Accounts (or Settings > [name] > iCloud), and that the iPhone is set to show All Contacts (open Contacts, tap Lists / Groups). A wrong default account can hide imported contacts.
Quick Reference
| Task | New Outlook / Web | Classic Outlook (Windows) | Outlook for Mac |
|---|---|---|---|
| Export to CSV | People > Manage > Export contacts | File > Open & Export > Import/Export > CSV | Use the web app for CSV |
| Export full backup (.pst) | Not available | File > Open & Export > Import/Export > .pst | Exports .olm archive |
| Export vCard (.vcf) | Not built in | Not built in | File > Export (some builds) |
| Choose a single folder | Yes | Yes | n/a |
| Best for iPhone | Sync the account directly | Sync the account directly | Sync the account directly |
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More on Outlook: How to import contacts into Outlook · How to sync Outlook with iPhone · How to filter emails in Outlook · How to categorize emails in Outlook · How to clean up your inbox in Outlook · How to add a signature in Outlook · How to create rules in Outlook · How to set out of office in Outlook
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