Import/Export is greyed out.

Question

I have a MS 365 subscription and use Outlook for Mac v16.89. I switched from Legacy Outlook to the New Outlook in October 2023. I want to backup my email, calendar, and contacts by exporting to a pst file, but . the Import/Export option remains greyed out. What are my options?

Answer 1

Nope. Switching back to Legacy Outlook does not allow me to import my current email, contacts, or calendar. All are months old and incomplete. MS still needs to activate the Export/Import function so users can export mail, contacts, and calendars as a .pst or .olm file as a backup.

Answer 2

Dear Steel 6,

I purchased the one-time Office 2024 last weekend. When I launched the new Outlook, it tried to import the local emails in "On My Computer" to the new Outlook. BUT the IMPORT ran forever (24hrs and counting) and has never completed. I couldn't access any local emails nor import them from the "olm" file. I can't understand why MSFT released a half-baked app. Upgrade to Office 2024 is a huge mistake.

Answer 3

How long will it take for Microsoft to support the exporting option?

What other programs does Micosift have that have the extra feature?

Answer 4

Dear Steel 6,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I understand that after you switched to New Outlook, Import Export turned grayed out and thus you were unable to backup your data.

The reason why Import Export is grayed out is because currently New Outlook doesn't support importing and exporting .pst files, so you can't use this feature.

When you switch back to Classic Outlook, import and export will become available.

You can click “Outlook” menu at the top left corner of the menu bar at the top of the screen in Outlook, check “Legacy Outlook” and you can go back to classic Outlook.

But they are independent software, so your mail, calendar, contacts may be different from New Outlook.

If your mailbox belongs to Microsoft domain (outlook/hotmail), your data are stored in the server.

But you may use a non-Microsoft domain mailbox, then the emails should be stored in your mail provider's server, and IMAP/POP protocol doesn't support synchronizing calendars and contacts, so your calendars and contacts may not be in your mail provider's server, you need to log in your mail provider's website to check whether the calendars and contacts exist in webmail.

If you can see them in webmail, you can synchronize them to Classic Outlook and export them as .pst file.

Feel free to post back if you need further assistance.

Best Regards,

Jason.YA - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 5

My Legacy/Classic email, contacts, and contact lists/groups are now 11-months behind my New Outlook, so reverting to Legacy/Classic and savings as a pst file doesn't resolve the issue.

I have an Earthlink email address. My New Outlook email, contacts, and groups are neither the same as, nor stored on, those on the Earthlink server.

Is there a way for me to export New Outlook email, contacts, and contact lists to an external hard drive as a back-up?