New Outlook contacts

Question

I have new computer and using new Outlook.

Using my old win 10 computer, I created a csv file with all my e-mail contacts and moved the file to my new win 11 computer. The file looks OK, showing all contacts, I saved it as a .csv file.

I followed instructions on how to import to my new Outlook.

When I select People, it says "This doesn;t look right" Try again

I see no contacts, what did I do wrong?

Thanks

John

Answer 1

The issue is typically caused by the .csv file not matching the format Outlook expects, even if it “looks OK” in Excel. New Outlook will reject the import with messages like “This doesn’t look right” when the headers or structure are wrong.

Use this approach to fix it:

1. Download and use the official sample .csv
   1. Download the sample contacts file from Microsoft: Sample CSV file for importing contacts.csv (linked in the article below).
   2. Open both files in Excel:
      • The sample .csv
      • The .csv exported from the old Windows 10 Outlook
   3. Compare the first row (column headings). Outlook requires these exact headings in row 1 and in the correct order. Do not rename or delete them.
2. Copy data into the sample file
   1. In the sample .csv, leave the first row (headings) exactly as-is.
   2. Copy only the contact data (rows, not the header row) from the old .csv into the matching columns in the sample file.
   3. Make sure each piece of data (First Name, Last Name, Email Address, etc.) goes into the appropriate column.
3. Save correctly as .csv
   1. In Excel, choose File > Save As.
   2. Ensure the Save as type is CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv).
   3. If Excel warns about features not compatible with CSV, choose to continue and keep the CSV format.
4. Test with a few contacts first
   1. Create a temporary copy of the fixed .csv and leave only 3–5 contacts in it.
   2. Import this small file into new Outlook (People > Import contacts).
   3. Confirm that these contacts appear.
   4. If successful, delete those test contacts from Outlook if desired, then import the full fixed .csv.

If Outlook still reports a format error, repeat the process and ensure:

• The first row is present and unchanged from the sample file.
• There are no extra blank rows above the header.
• The file is saved as .csv, not .xlsx or another format.

---

References:

• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook.com
• Import or export contacts in Outlook using a .csv file