Article ID: 980534 - Last Review: November 30, 2011 - Revision: 4.0

Export Windows Live Mail email, contacts, and calendar data to Outlook

View products that this article applies to.
System TipThis article applies to a different operating system than the one you are using. Article content that may not be relevant to you is disabled.
Expand all | Collapse all

INTRODUCTION

Although Microsoft Outlook 2010, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, and Windows Live Mail can send and receive email messages over the Internet, you cannot automatically synchronize the information that is stored in these programs. Specifically, an email message that is stored in Windows Live Mail is not automatically available in Outlook. This article describes how to export messages from Windows Live Mail into Outlook.

To complete the steps, make sure that you have Microsoft Outlook installed with an email profile created.
If you need help installing Microsoft Outlook or to create an email profile please read the following article:
How to create and configure a profile in Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, and Outlook 2003:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829918  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829918/ )
Back to the top

RESOLUTION

Exporting email messages from Windows Live Mail into Microsoft Outlook 2010:

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook.
  2. Open Windows Live Mail.
  3. In the Windows Live Mail window, click the File button and select “Export” and then select “Email messages”.
  4. Select “Microsoft Exchange” as the format and then click Next.
  5. You will see a message that all email will be exported to Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange, click Ok to continue.
  6. You can export all email folders or select the appropriate folders that you want to export by using the “Select folders” option.
  7. After you select the appropriate option, click OK and wait for the export process to be completed.
  8. When the “Export Complete” dialog box appears, click “Finish”.
Note: This process can take some time , depending on the number of messages that you are exporting.

Exporting Contacts from Windows Live Mail to Microsoft Outlook 2010:

  1. Open Windows Live Mail.
  2. Click “Contacts” folder, click “Export” button and select “comma separated values (.CSV)”.
  3. In the CSV Export window click “browse” and select the Desktop folder.
  4. Type “WLMContacts” in the file name and then click the “Save” button.
  5. Click Next and select all the fields that you want to export, click “Finish” button and wait for the export process to be completed.

    Note: The most common fields are First Name, Last Name, Email address and Telephone. If you are not sure about the information just select all the fields.

    Note: This process can take some time, depending on the number of messages that you are exporting.
  6. Close Windows Live Mail.
  7. Open Microsoft Outlook.
  8. Select the Contacts folder, click File, select Open and then click Import.
  9. Select the option “Import from another program or file” and then click Next button.
  10. Select “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” and then click the Next button.
  11. Click “Browse” and select the exported file “WLMContacts” in your Desktop folder and then click Open.

    Note: You can select some additional options to replace, duplicated or do not import duplicated contacts.
  12. Click the Next button and then make sure that the Contacts folder is highlighted. If the Contacts folder is not highlighted, then select the Contacts folder and then click the Next button.
  13. Click “Finish” button and wait for the import process to be completed.

    Note: This process can take some time , depending on the number of messages that you are exporting.

Exporting Calendar from Windows Live Mail to Microsoft Outlook 2010:

  1. Open Windows Live Mail.
  2. Select the Calendar folder and make sure that you are logged in by using your Windows Live ID.
  3. Click Send/Receive to sync your calendar.
  4. Close Windows Live Mail.
  5. Visit the Windows Live Calendar webpage http://calendar.live.com (http://calendar.live.com) and logon by using your Windows Live ID.
  6. Click the “Share” button and select the calendar that you want to export.
  7. Select the option “Share this calendar”.
  8. Put a check mark in the item topic “Send people a view-only link to your calendar”.
  9. You will see some links to share your calendar. If the links are not displayed, click “Get your calendar links (this will also save your settings)” and then click OK to confirm.
  10. Under the category “Links that show event details”, click “ICS: Import into another calendar application”.
  11. Select and copy the URL displayed without the webcal:// prefix.
  12. Open a new Internet Explorer window, paste the URL without the webcal:// prefix in the address bar and press Enter.
  13. Save the calendar .ICS file on your Desktop.
  14. Repeat the steps 5 to 13 for each calendar that you want to export.

    Note: After complete these steps your Windows Live Calendar settings from the webpage are saved as Shared. You can make the calendar private again following the steps 5 to 7 above. Select the option “Don't share this calendar (keep it private)” and then click Save.
  15. Close the Internet Explorer window after you save all the .ICS files that you want.
  16. Open Microsoft Outlook.
  17. Click File, select Open and then the Import option.
  18. Select the option “Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs)” and then click the Next button.
  19. Select the .ICS calendar file in your Desktop folder and then click Ok button.
  20. Click the “Import” button in the dialog box and wait for the import process to be completed.
  21. Repeat steps 17 to 20 for each calendar that you want to import.

Back to the top

MORE INFORMATION

How to upgrade from Outlook Express to Outlook 2010, to Outlook 2007, to Outlook 2003, or to Outlook 2002
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291602 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291602)

Importing your e‑mail, contacts, and calendar into Windows Live Mail
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/importing-your-e-mail-contacts-and-calendar-into-windows-live-mail (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/importing-your-e-mail-contacts-and-calendar-into-windows-live-mail )

Use a Windows Live Hotmail account in Outlook
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/usar-uma-conta-do-windows-live-hotmail-no-outlook-HA010354935.aspx?CTT=1 (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/usar-uma-conta-do-windows-live-hotmail-no-outlook-HA010354935.aspx?CTT=1 )

Where does Microsoft Outlook 2010 save my information and configurations?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/where-does-microsoft-outlook-2010-save-my-information-and-configurations-HP010354943.aspx?CTT=1 (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/where-does-microsoft-outlook-2010-save-my-information-and-configurations-HP010354943.aspx?CTT=1)

For more information about how to export email messages from Windows Mail, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
196347  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196347/ ) How to export email messages from Windows Mail and Outlook Express into Outlook
Back to the top
APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Outlook 2010
  • Microsoft Outlook 2010 with Business Contact Manager
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
Back to the top
Keywords: 
kbemail kbexpertisebeginner kbhowto kbsurveynew kbinfo KB980534
Back to the top