Outlook Classic CSV Import Fails/New Outlook Issues

Question

Outlook Classic CSV Import Fails/New Outlook Issues

Joyce Grande 0

Hi,

When migrating to yahoo for my comcast email I invertedly deleted my comcast account. I got help here and was finally able to re-establish by account however I lost al my contacts. Luckily, I have a csv file of a distribution list I need to use but I've been working through a number of Outlook issues and have narrowed them down.

Environment

Windows 11
Microsoft 365 Outlook
Both Classic Outlook and New Outlook
Comcast account migrated to Yahoo authentication (works correctly now)

Current Status

1. Email is working

I can send and receive mail in both Classic and New Outlook.
Authentication is working.
There was a sender display name issue that I was able to correct in Yahoo - it updated Classic but NOT New.

2. Contacts

My contacts exist in New Outlook.
I exported them to a CSV file.
The CSV opens correctly in Excel and contains approximately 162 contacts.
The file has been tested from both OneDrive and C:\Temp.

Problem #1 – Classic Outlook Import

When I try to import the CSV into Classic Outlook using:

File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Import from another program or file → Comma Separated Values

I immediately receive:

A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values translator while initializing a translator to build a field map. Outlook was unable to retrieve the data from the file...

This happens:

with different CSV files
from different folders
before the field mapping screen appears

It appears Outlook is failing before it actually reads the CSV.

Has anyone seen the CSV translator itself become corrupted?

Problem #2 – New Outlook Contact Lists

I was able to import the distribution list into NEW and also created several Contact Lists (distribution lists) in New Outlook.

Sending to individual contacts works.

However, sending to Contact Lists is inconsistent:

some attempts fail before sending
messages remain in Drafts instead of Outbox
there is no SMTP error
it appears to fail before Outlook attempts to transmit the message

Prior to the migration and deleting the original Classic account I was able to send out group emails with the group as BCC. This is a big problem for me!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Joyce Grande 0

before I do this - I ONLY have this contact file under my Joyce account. Use it? User's image

Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-11T23:26:57.35+00:00

Joyce said

I ONLY have this contact file [Contacts (This Computer Only)] under my Joyce account. Use it?

Yes.

Also, when looking at other Contacts and Calendar folders, after you open the folder to see what's inside, switch to "List" view. This way you'll see a compact list of the contents.

View -> Change View -> List

Becomes this:
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-12T22:22:13.5266667+00:00

I'm Good! I have my contacts back and I created the groups I need!

THANK YOU for sticking with me through this! I would not have figured this out on my own!
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-12T22:42:44.8966667+00:00

Joyce

We're not done. We still need to get rid of all the extra folders and I want to make you safe from the same thing happening again (losing all your Contacts and Calendar if you ever remove and re-add your Comcast/ Yahoo account).

Folder Cleanup

Go back to the Nav Pane Folders View

For each of your top level folders, except jgrande2 (your main account where we moved everything to)

Right click on the top level folder and if there is a "Close" choice, click it. (This just takes that data file off the list in Outlook. It's doesn't delete the file).

If you get any warnings about it being the Default Data File, skip that one.

Please advise when done and give me a screen shot of what you Nav Pane in Folders View looks like after the cleanup.

Answer 2

Chloe-V 11,275 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Joyce Grande,

I understand how inconvenient this situation must be, especially since you previously relied on the distribution list to send group emails using the BCC field.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Based on your description, the CSV import incident in Classic Outlook and the Contact List sending incident in New Outlook appear to be two separate problems.

For Classic Outlook, please first export two or three contacts to create a new test CSV file. Then, try importing this file without opening or resaving it in Excel. If the test file imports successfully, copy a few contacts from your original CSV file into the Outlook-generated file and test the import again. Please also make sure the first row contains Outlook-compatible column headings and that the file is saved as CSV.

If the newly exported CSV file encounters the same incident, please repair Microsoft 365 by going to Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft 365 > Modify. Run Quick Repair first. If the incident persists, run Online Repair and restart your computer.

For the Contact Lists in New Outlook, since messages sent to individual contacts work but messages addressed to a Contact List remain in Drafts, Outlook may not be resolving the list members correctly. Please add the Contact List to the BCC field and expand it into individual email addresses before sending, if that option is available. You may also create a small test list with two or three members to check whether it works correctly.

If the CSV import incident continues after completing Online Repair, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support for further investigation.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Chloe-V 11,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-02T23:18:55.7066667+00:00

Hi Joyce Grande,

May I know if you have got any chance to check my answer? I am glad to help if you have any other questions.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-03T00:22:22.85+00:00
Thank you for your suggestions and for checking back..

I completed the troubleshooting you recommended.

I performed both Quick Repair and Online Repair of Microsoft 365.

I restarted the computer afterward.

I exported a brand-new CSV directly from New Outlook.

I did not open or modify the CSV in Excel.

I created a brand-new PST and Contacts folder in Classic Outlook.

I attempted to import the Outlook-generated CSV into that new Contacts folder.

The import still fails with the identical error:

"A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values translator while initializing a translator to build a field map."

Since the CSV was generated by Outlook itself and was never edited, it appears the problem is not with the CSV file but with Classic Outlook's CSV import component.

Could you advise what should be checked next, or whether this is a known issue?
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-03T00:24:00.1066667+00:00
Thank you for your suggestions and for checking back..

I completed the troubleshooting you recommended.

I performed both Quick Repair and Online Repair of Microsoft 365.

I restarted the computer afterward.

I exported a brand-new CSV directly from New Outlook.

I did not open or modify the CSV in Excel.

I created a brand-new PST and Contacts folder in Classic Outlook.

I attempted to import the Outlook-generated CSV into that new Contacts folder.

The import still fails with the identical error:

"A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values translator while initializing a translator to build a field map."

Since the CSV was generated by Outlook itself and was never edited, it appears the problem is not with the CSV file but with Classic Outlook's CSV import component.

Could you advise what should be checked next, or whether this is a known issue?
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-03T21:27:38.93+00:00
Thank you for your suggestions and for checking back..

I completed the troubleshooting you recommended.

I performed both Quick Repair and Online Repair of Microsoft 365.

I restarted the computer afterward.

I exported a brand-new CSV directly from New Outlook.

I did not open or modify the CSV in Excel.

I created a brand-new PST and Contacts folder in Classic Outlook.

I attempted to import the Outlook-generated CSV into that new Contacts folder.

The import still fails with the identical error:

"A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values translator while initializing a translator to build a field map."

Since the CSV was generated by Outlook itself and was never edited, it appears the problem is not with the CSV file but with Classic Outlook's CSV import component.

Could you advise what should be checked next, or whether this is a known issue?
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-03T23:34:13.2133333+00:00

@ said

A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values translator

I just tested by exporting my Contacts from New Outlook for Windows and importing into Classic Outlook Version 2606. It went without a hitch. So it's not a general bug on either side.

1 -- Is your Office Language anything except English?

2 -- Check field mapping.

On the last step of the import into Classic Outlook, click [Map Custom Fields ...]

Scroll thru the "Mapped from" column. Anything look like it doesn't match up?

3 -- Convert the CSV to ANSI

Open the CSV in Excel.

Give it a new name and Save as "CSV (MS-DOS)"

4 -- You are importing into a Contacts Folder?

Just double checking. You created a new PST. You then created a new Contacts Folder in the PST. That is the destination of the Import?
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-04T00:30:39.12+00:00
Thank you for the response. I completed the additional testing you suggested and wanted to report the results.

My Office display language and Office authoring language are both English (United States).

I saved the CSV as CSV (MS-DOS) from Excel and retried the import.

At first Outlook reported the CSV file was locked because it was still open in Excel. After closing Excel, that message disappeared.

The original "Translation Error" no longer appears when using the MS-DOS CSV.

However, the import still does not create any contacts.

I then performed additional testing:

I created a brand-new Outlook Data File (PST) named Test Contacts.pst.

The new PST behaves exactly like the original PST.

It contains only Deleted Items and Search Folders.

When I right-click the new PST and choose New Folder, Outlook does not display the normal Create New Folder dialog. Instead, only a small blank white rectangle appears with no controls.

Because of this, I cannot create a Contacts folder or select Contact Items.

The exact same behavior occurs with both the original PST and the brand-new PST.

Since the same problem occurs with a newly created PST, it appears the issue is not specific to my original PST file.

Do you have any recommendations for repairing or rebuilding the Contacts folder component in Classic Outlook, or any additional diagnostics I should perform?I completed the additional testing you suggested and wanted to report the results.

My Office display language and Office authoring language are both English (United States).

I saved the CSV as CSV (MS-DOS) from Excel and retried the import.

At first Outlook reported the CSV file was locked because it was still open in Excel. After closing Excel, that message disappeared.

The original "Translation Error" no longer appears when using the MS-DOS CSV.

However, the import still does not create any contacts.

I then performed additional testing:

I created a brand-new Outlook Data File (PST) named Test Contacts.pst.

The new PST behaves exactly like the original PST.

It contains only Deleted Items and Search Folders.

When I right-click the new PST and choose New Folder, Outlook does not display the normal Create New Folder dialog. Instead, only a small blank white rectangle appears with no controls.

Because of this, I cannot create a Contacts folder or select Contact Items.

The exact same behavior occurs with both the original PST and the brand-new PST.

Since the same problem occurs with a newly created PST, it appears the issue is not specific to my original PST file.

Do you have any recommendations for repairing or rebuilding the Contacts folder component in Classic Outlook, or any additional diagnostics I should perform?
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-04T01:32:41.47+00:00

Joyce Grande said

I created a brand-new Outlook Data File (PST) ... right-click the new PST and choose New Folder, Outlook does not display the normal Create New Folder dialog ... Instead, only a small blank white rectangle appears with no controls.

Your Nav Pane is in "Message View". We need to get you to "Folders View".

To change your Outlook Navigation Pane to "Folders"

1A -- If you see a Folders icon in the bottom left corner of your window, click it. If you see a three dots menu in the bottom left corner of your window, click it and choose "Folders".

1B -- If you have the "Apps Bar" on the left side of your window and there is a Folders icon, click it. If you have the "Apps Bar" but there is no Folders icon, click on the "More Apps" icon at the bottom of the bar, right-click on "Folders" and choose "Pin".

Now when you right click on the PST File top level folder you should get:
Chloe-V 11,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-04T07:03:17.9933333+00:00

Hi Joyce Grande,

Thank you for the update. Since Hornblower409 has already responded with some follow-up questions, please continue engaging with Hornblower409, as the requested information may help identify the root cause of the issue.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-06T12:47:09.26+00:00
Hornblower, I followed your instructions exactly.

I created a new PST (CSV TEST), converted the export to CSV (MS-DOS), and attempted to import into a folder named "Contacts Imported" inside the PST.

However, when I click Map Custom Fields, the destination fields are:

Subject

Body

From (Name)

From (Address)

To (Name)

instead of contact fields such as First Name, Last Name, Company, and E-mail.

It appears Outlook created a Mail folder rather than a Contacts folder.

In Outlook Version 2607 (Build 20228.20124), when I right-click the PST and choose New Folder, Outlook does not ask what type of folder to create (Mail, Contacts, Calendar, etc.). It simply creates the folder immediately.

How do I create a true Contacts folder in this version?
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-06T13:39:05.5866667+00:00
@Joyce Grande said

It appears Outlook created a Mail folder rather than a Contacts folder

Let's try another way.

Go to the People app.

From the main menu "Folder" tab choose "New Folder"

Name it

Set the type to "Contact Items"

Select your CSV TEST PST

Should show up under "My Contacts" as an empty Contacts folder
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-06T18:24:55.9+00:00
I really appreciate all the time you are spending trying to help me. But this has been the most frustrating thing in my 20 years of using microsoft! I have been working on this for a week now and I hope there is an end in site soon...

I followed your latest instructions exactly.

I created a new PST named CSV TEST.

In the People module, I selected Folder > New Folder, entered a name, set Folder contains to Contact Items, and selected the CSV TEST PST.

After clicking OK, no Contacts folder was created. I've attached screenshots of:

the Create New Folder dialog,

the folder tree after clicking OK, and

the import destination screen.

Am I missing a step, or does this indicate a problem with my Outlook installation?
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-06T18:28:06.1833333+00:00

***Note - I did it the first time on People when it failed but then tried to recreate for you to see and I just realized the above screen shots are not People view.
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-06T19:55:26.39+00:00

Joyce

It looks like you did the folder create correctly. If you switch to People in the apps bar, you should see the "Contacts in CSV Test Folder" as a new entry under "My Contacts" and can use that as the target for your Import.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-07T12:10:10.0633333+00:00

This time I did not receive the "CSV Translator" error.

Instead, the import immediately fails with:

MAPI error 0x80040107
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-07T19:53:11.3333333+00:00
Joyce,

Let's go back to the original CSV from New Outlook. (Not the MS-DOS version I had you create).

Open the original CSV exported from New Outlook in Excel.

File -> Save As

CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)

[Save]

Replace? [OK]

Try Importing this file. No check for dups.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-08T12:09:42.2733333+00:00

Hi Hornblower,

Thank you for sticking with me! I followed your latest suggestion to use the original New Outlook CSV saved as CSV UTF-8. The import completed successfully after I manually mapped the First Name field in Map Custom Fields.

My main email account does not have a Contacts folder under My Contacts. The only Contacts folder I have is in the test folder I just did and in a duplicate ******@comcast.net (1) account that I think was created when trying to switch to Yahoo. It was mistakenly set as my default, but I have fixed this.

Is there a way to create or restore a Contacts folder for my primary ******@comcast.net account, or otherwise associate the Contacts folder with that account? My objective here is to eventually create group emails for distribution.

I've attached a screenshot showing the Contacts folder properties.

Thanks again, Joyce
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-08T13:45:54.77+00:00

Joyce said

*Is there a way to create or restore a Contacts folder for my primary *****@comcast.net account

Need to get your Navigation Pane into Folders View so I can see what is already there first.

Click on the "More Apps" icon in your apps bar. Right-click on the "Folders" icon and choose "Pin".

Click on the new "Folders" icon in your apps bar.

This should give you a listing of every folder in your Profile. e.g.

Get me one or more screen shots so I can see the full list.

Be sure to redact some part of any full email address that is in the image. Like I did in the above.

I noticed that you are pasting full screen shots. All I need is just one area on the screen. You can do this with the Windows Snipping tool, capture a Rectangle.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-09T14:29:11.8066667+00:00

Under my primary jgrande2 account there is no Contacts folder. However, under jgrande2(1) there is a complete Contacts folder -I don't know when or why the second one was created, but it appeared during the troubleshooting process after the Comcast/Yahoo migration. Earlier in troubleshooting I attempted to create or restore a Contacts folder under my primary account, but it never appeared. The only Contacts folder associated with this Comcast account is under the (1) data store.

The other folders you will see (CSV TEST and Joyce Contacts) are temporary PST files we created during our earlier CSV import testing.
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-09T18:26:51.9933333+00:00

Joyce said

Under my primary jgrande2 account there is no Contacts folder

From your Folders pic I see "Contacts (This Computer Only)"?

during the troubleshooting process after the Comcast/Yahoo migration

I think maybe the first thing to do is clean up your unused folders?

Do I understand correctly? - The only PSTs (top level folders) that you are using are:

jgrande2
Personal Folders
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-10T00:26:21.5166667+00:00

Only the jgrande2 - I'm not sure where the Personal folders came from. Note, originally I had been working with an AI program (ChatGPT) thinking this was just something beyond me and the chat could walk me thru a fix. But in fact, it was AI that had me delete my original 'used for 20 years' jgrande2 account.

I appreciate your responding and staying with this mess!
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-10T00:41:25.7933333+00:00

Joyce,

Before we make any changes.

We are going to make a back up of your current Outlook Profile. This will allow us to do a limited recovery if something goes wrong.

Please review these steps and let me know if you have any questions before you start. If you do it right, this will not change anything, only make a backup of your current Outlook settings, files, and folders.

1 -- Open the Control Panel

From the Start Menu, search for and Open "Control Panel"

2 -- Open "User Accounts"

3 -- Open "Mail (Microsoft Outlook)

4 -- [Show Profiles]

5A -- If you have more than one Profile, stop and send me a picture of what you see.
5B -- If you have only one Profile, Select it and click [Copy ...]

6 -- Add "Backup - 2026-08-09 -" to the front of the Profile name and [OK]

7 -- You should see your backup in the Profile List.

8 -- [OK] your way out.
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-10T00:44:18.5966667+00:00

Joyce said

Only the jgrande2 [Top Level Folder]

Got it. Please see my previous comment about making a backup of your Profile. Advise when done and we'll start on the cleanup.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-10T12:20:29.4766667+00:00

More than 1
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-10T12:26:35.7+00:00

PS - this is new that I have to select 'Outlook' when opening the Outlook app - I think it came up after the move to Yahoo. The joycesg has no files in it and the joyces16 get an error message.
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-10T12:31:21.5633333+00:00

Joyce said

More than 1 [Outlook Profile]

I see that it's set for "Prompt for a profile to be used".

Is there one Profile that you always pick when starting Outlook?

If not, please advise about when/why you use an alternate profile?

If so, then that is the one we want to make a backup of using the instructions in my previous comment. And you want to set it as the "Always use this profile".
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-10T12:33:51.1066667+00:00

Joyce said

The joycesg has no files in it and the joyces16 get an error message.

Set "Outlook" as the "Always use this profile".

Make a backup of the "Outlook" Profile.
Joyce Grande 0 Reputation points

2026-08-11T12:37:13.8466667+00:00

OK, Done
Hornblower409 12,265 Reputation points

2026-08-11T15:45:23.6766667+00:00
Joyce,

OK. Let's start the cleanup. We will be copying anything you want to keep from the other folders into the corresponding folders under jgrande2

Make sure your Navigation Pane is set to "Folders View", so you see all of the folders.

e.g. Under Joyce Contacts, open Contacts , select any contacts you want to keep.

Multiple items can be selected by using:

Ctrl + Click: Select individual, non-sequential items.

Shift + Click: Select a continuous block of items.

Shift + {Up, Down, PgUp, PgDn}: Select a continuous block of items.

When you've got a "batch" of items selected, right-click and chose Move -> Copy to Folder...

Use the "Folder Picker" to select the corresponding folder under jgrande2 and [OK]

You can also copy whole folders. I works kind of like copying folders in Windows Explorer.

Right-click the folder you want to copy, choose "Copy Folder" and pick the "parent" folder where you want the copy to go.

e.g. This will copy the folder "Test Multicats" and put it under the "Groupsman" parent folder.

Rinse and repeat for all of the folders that aren't under jgrande2