Import a contact list - do not want to lose the original contact list

Question

I need to import a contact list from our retiring CEO to our new CEO....I want to do this soon, before our CEO retires. I am worried that if I import the contacts from the retiring CEO, he will lose all his contacts, and I don't want that to happen. Please let me know if I import the contact list will this remove the retiring CEO's contacts.

Answer 1

Importing a contact list into the new CEO’s mailbox will not remove or delete contacts from the retiring CEO’s mailbox.

Exporting or copying contacts (for example, to a .csv file) and then importing them into another account is a read/copy operation on the source account. The retiring CEO’s contacts remain in place; the new CEO simply gets a copy of those contacts in the new mailbox.

To preserve the original list safely:

• Export the retiring CEO’s contacts to a .csv file.
• Import that .csv file into the new CEO’s account.
• Keep the .csv file as a temporary backup until the new CEO’s contacts are verified.

This process does not modify or remove the contacts in the source account.

---

References:

• Import or export contacts in Outlook using a .csv file