How to copy your Personal Address Book to another computer

This step-by-step article describes how to copy or how to move your Personal Address Book (PAB) from one computer to another computer.

On all installations, including those with no e-mail accounts, Microsoft Outlook creates a default Outlook Address Book. The Outlook Address Book consolidates all your Outlook Contacts folders. The Outlook Address Book is a virtual address book instead of a physical address book because Outlook does not store the Outlook Address Book as a file that is separate from your data store. The Outlook Address Book provides a view to your Contacts folders.

Unlike the Outlook Address Book, a personal address book (PAB) is a physical address book that Outlook stores on disk that is separate from your data store. You can add one PAB to an e-mail profile, and use the PAB to store additional contact information.

You can use the PAB to store personal addresses or to store other contact information that you want to keep separate from your other Outlook data. Additionally, you can use a PAB to share addresses with other users. The PAB uses a .pab file name extension, and Outlook creates the PAB file when you add the PAB to your e-mail profile.

How to identify the PAB file that your e-mail profile uses

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
3. Under Directory, click View or change existing directories or address books, and then click Next.
4. Under You can choose a directory or address book below to change or remove it, click Personal Address Book, and then click Change.
5. Note the path of your PAB file that is in the Path box. You will require this information to find the PAB file in step 3 in the "How to copy the PAB file to a second computer" section of this article.
   
   For example, C:\Exchange\Mailbox.pab indicates that a PAB named Mailbox.pab is located on a Microsoft Exchange folder on your drive C.
6. Click OK, and then click Finish to close all dialog boxes.
7. On the File menu, click Exit.

How to copy the PAB file to a second computer

1. Quit all e-mail programs.
2. Start Microsoft Windows Explorer.
3. In the Folders pane, expand the folders to locate the PAB file whose path you took note of in step 5 in the "How to identify the PAB File that your e-mail profile uses" section of this article.
4. Copy the PAB file to a 3.5 inch disk, and then use that disk to copy the PAB file to the second computer. Note the path of the PAB file on the second computer.
   
   For example, if you copy the PAB file named Mailbox.pab to a folder that is named Address Book on drive C, the path of the address book is as follows:
   C:\Address Book\Mailbox.pab
   
   
   Alternatively, if your two computers are on the same network, you can copy the PAB file from the source computer to a network share on the second computer.
   
   For more information about how to perform this task in Microsoft Windows, see your Windows printed documentation or your online Help.
   
   Note You can save the PAB file in any folder on the destination computer as long as you remember the location.

How to configure your second computer to use the new PAB file

If you do not have the Personal Address Book service in your e-mail profile on the second computer, you must add the service before you can add the new PAB file to your profile. To add the Personal Address Book service for the new PAB file, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
3. Under Directory, click Add a new directory or address book, and then click Next.
4. Click Additional Address Books, and then click Next.
5. In the Additional Address Book Types box, click Personal Address Book, and then click Next.
6. In the Path box, type the path of the PAB file that you copied to the second computer in step 4 in the "How to copy the PAB file to a second computer" section of this article. Alternatively, you can click Browse to locate the PAB file.
7. Click OK.
8. If you receive the The E-mail account you have just added will not be start until you choose Exit from the file menu, and then restart Outlook prompt, click OK.
9. On the File menu, click Exit, and then restart Outlook. Your new PAB is now available.

If you have the Personal Address Book service in your e-mail profile on the second computer, you can change the service to use the new PAB file. To change an existing Personal Address Book service to use the new PAB file, follow these steps:

1. On the second computer, start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
3. Under Directory, click View or change existing directories or Address Books, and then click Next.
4. In the Outlook processes e-mail for these accounts in the following order list, click Personal Address Book, and then click Change.
5. On the Personal Address Book tab, type the path of the PAB file that you copied to the second computer in step 4 in the "How to copy the PAB file to a second computer" section of this article. Alternatively, you can click Browse to locate the PAB file.
6. Click the PAB file, click OK, and then click Finish.
7. On the File menu, click Exit.
8. Quit and then restart Outlook. Your new PAB is now available.

Note There can be only one Personal Address Book service per e-mail profile. There is not a method for merging one PAB file with another. You can use the Outlook Import and Export Wizard to merge the active PAB entries in your Contacts folder.

Additionally, you can add both recipients and distribution lists to contacts that are in the Personal Address Book interface in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.

For more information about the Outlook Import and Export Wizard, click Microsoft Office Outlook Help on the Help menu, type Outlook Import and Export Wizard in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.