Pages

Monday 14 August 2017

Migrating Contacts to your Android

At home I run MS Outlook 2010, a non-server based system. At work I have Outlook 365, run from a server. I host my own domain and website. I have Skype. I use gmail. My phone is Android. It is a nightmare trying to synchronise my contacts.

I want a REALLY easy way to update my contacts from Outlook to my phone. However, I have still not found anything close to an ideal solution. Everything I have tried is fraught with holes, missing data and an inability to easily update.

It appears to be largely easier to use my phone as the main storage point, and forget about updating the contacts in my email software. But first, you need to get out the data that is locked inside Outlook, and get it into your gmail account.

TechRepublic have a process for exporting your Outlook Contacts and importing them into gmail, where they are then accessible to your phone. It is a starting point. While this method is old, it still works; I tried it a month ago. All you need do is (Wallen, 12 February 2012):
  1. On your PC, go to the contacts piece of Outlook, and then click File | Options | Advanced. Click on the Export button, select Export to a file (see Figure A), and click Next. Figure A
  2. In the next window, select Comma Separated Values (Windows), and click Next. Select the Contacts entry from the "Select folder to export from" list (see Figure B), and click Next. Figure B
  3. Select the location to save the exported file to, name it, and click Finish.
  4. Log into your Gmail account. In the Gmail window, click the drop-down that appears when you hover over "Mail" (under the Gmail logo in the left corner), and select Contacts (see Figure C). Figure C
  5. Once you're in the Contacts window, "hover" the mouse over the contacts pane (left side) to reveal the entire tree and the Import Contacts button (see Figure D).Figure D
  6. After you click Import Contacts, a new window will appear. Select the Choose File button, locate the file exported from Outlook, and then click the Import button.
  7. Now you need to synchronise your phone. It should auto sync, but if you are in a hurry, simply open your contacts, and select go to the menu | Settings | Contacts | Accounts | Google | Sync Contacts, and your contacts should refresh.
Hopefully that works for you. Thanks heaps, TechRepublic, for providing that very clear explanation!


Sam

No comments :

Post a Comment

Thanks for your feedback. The elves will post it shortly.