Migrating from Outlook 2019
I'm having some trouble here doing a migration from Outlook 2019. Whether in the latest version or version 31.8, Thunderbird is not finding my Outlook file. Currently, the file is in a non-standard location. Where does it need to be? Will it need to be on the C: drive (which is rather small)? Or can it be found on the D: drive?
I've looked at other means of importing. I tried exporting from Outlook into a CSV file, but Thunderbird does not see all of the columns that were exported. For instance, the email addresses were not in that second column to be paired. That's rather useless.
Another option that came up in the search of previous answers was to export to vCard. It does not appear that I have that option in Export. And individually saving hundreds of contacts as vCards is not a particularly viable option, either.
What would you suggest?
All Replies (10)
By the way, I was trying to export the Contacts first.
Is Outlook installed on the same computer as TB? The import function won't work if you just have the Outlook pst file. In that case, use MailStore Home as an intermediary:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1320386
For the contacts, export them as vCards:
https://www.msoutlook.info/question/803
then merge them into a single vcf file and import to TB:
Yes, Outlook is installed on the same computer. The file has been moved, but it's been opened.
I just tried to use the method you posted to export the vCards, but Outlook crashed. (Can you guess why I'm considering another email client?)
I have an appointment with Microsoft tech support tonight to deal with the Outlook file. Not sure what I'll do after that. I'm still evaluating options, including possibly setting up a client on my cloud server.
You may have better luck with TB 17 when using the Tools/Import option. If you try it with a recent version, be sure to not choose 'Import Everything' but choose Mail and Address Books separately. The MailStore method is probably the easiest.
https://www.phonecopy.com/en/pages/how_to_export_vcards_from_outlook365
I tried installing TB 17 instead. That didn't help. I had the same problem with the CSV file in that it did not include the email addresses in the CSV file. I don't understand why Thunderbird won't allow me to choose the location of my PST files. This is very frustrating, and the situation is rather desperate in that everything I try to fix my Outlook files is just making the problem worse. Switching to a new mail client is not optional. Mail client that offers me a way to import my info wins.
TB doesn't import pst files directly - it only imports from Outlook if Outlook is installed on the same computer, and even that is an unreliable method. You're better off importing the pst to MailStore, then exporting to eml files as already described.
If you prefer to deal with a csv file, you must edit it in a spreadsheet to make it conform to the TB format, then import it to TB:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Import_address_list_from_text_file
Outlook IS installed on the same computer, but Thunderbird can't seem to find it.
As for importing the addresses, Thunderbird is not reading in all columns from the CSV. Among those left out are the email addresses.
To import all the fields of an Outlook csv, you have to reorganize the columns in a spreadsheet, as already mentioned. That is why the easier method of importing vCards was suggested.
"For the contacts, export them as vCards: https://www.msoutlook.info/question/803"
That does not work. I have 1200 contacts. Follow the instructions, highlight them all, forward as business cards, and only about 10% of the contacts end up being attached to the email as vcards. No error message, no message at all, Outlook just apparently stops attaching the vcards to the draft email.