Outlook Importing Contacts, header shown as one

Question

Outlook Importing Contacts, header shown as one

Bonne 1

Hi!

I am trying to import contacts from a CSV-file with different headers (first name, last name, email, etc.). However when I try to assign the headers of the file to the corresponding fields in Outlook, the headers from my file are shown as one header (see picture). What can I do for Outlook to recognize the different headers in the file?

Answer 1

Faery Fu-MSFT 7,781 Microsoft Vendor

Hi @Bonne ,
Welcome to our forum!
According to my search, this issue occurs if you are using a .csv file in a different format than expected during the Outlook import operation. Outlook Import must be able to recognize the data in the .csv file to correctly map it to the fields used by contacts in Outlook.

To work around this issue, create a .csv file that uses the format expected by Outlook:
Step1: Export your Outlook contacts into a .csv file that will be used as a template, and here is an article for your reference.

Step2: Copy the data in your original .csv file and paste it into the template file. It is recommended that you put the two csv files side by side, except for the headers in the first row, copy the data of the same column into the template file.

Step3: Repeat step 2 for each column of data, then save and close the file.

Step4: Import the .csv file that you have editd, and see if it can work successfully.

Although this method requires you to manually copy the data, I personally think this is an effective method at present, hope this can help you:)

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
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.

Faery Fu-MSFT 7,781 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-02-01T04:06:49.717+00:00

Hi @Bonne ,
Is there any update on this issue?
If the issue has been resolved, please kindly accept the answer, this will make the answer more easier to be found for other community members. If you need more help on this, feel free to contact us
Bonne 1 Reputation point

2022-02-04T10:17:34.707+00:00

Hi @Faery Fu-MSFT ,

Thanks a lot for your answer and suggested solution. However, when I export my Outlook contacts to create a template .csv file, the data of the contacts are also put into one column with comma's seperating them. This causes the issue that I cannot paste the data of my original .csv file directly into the template.
Faery Fu-MSFT 7,781 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-02-07T10:04:53.443+00:00

Hi @Bonne ,
Thanks for your reply.

the data of the contacts are also put into one column with comma's seperating them.

In order to better understand your scenario, please provide related screenshot.
(Note: please hide personal information for protecting your privacy.)

According to my search, when program create the CSV file and put extra quote marks(") in the data. As a result, Excel treats the data as a single unit.
To see if this is the problem with your file, follow these steps:
Right-click on the CSV file, choose Open With > Notepad.
On the Edit menu, select Replace. In the Find what box, type ", leave the Replace with box blank, and then select Replace All.
Save as .csv file, and reopen it to see if it makes difference.

Outlook Importing Contacts, header shown as one

1 answer

Activity