How to import contacts in a .msg format?

[Guest]

We have Outlook 2003 Professional. I have a new employee that has his
contacts from a previous company on a CD in a .msg format. If I use Windows
Explorer and double click on a .msg the file will open in an Outlook contact
screen. How do I import the files into his "Contacts" folder? Seems like
this should be easy but the Import/Export utility does not seem to be written
to Import a .msg.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

MSG format is for messages, not Contacts, so no, of course you can't import
it. What exactly do you see when you open this file?
You need to convert it to a format that can store Contact information and
that Outlook can import (like CSV), or go back and save this information
correctly in a PST File.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

To overcome the new way Outlook 2003 sorts the "By Category" view:
Use the Detailed or Simple List view, show the columns you want to see
(field chooser), click the column (eg Last Name) you want to sort by, THEN
use the group by box to group by Category. That should have alphabetical as
well as the grouping.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Actually the .msg format applies to all Outlook item types, not just messages. Blaine can try dragging the .msg files into the appropriate folders in Outlook.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

MSG format is for messages, not Contacts, so no, of course you can't import
it. What exactly do you see when you open this file?
You need to convert it to a format that can store Contact information and
that Outlook can import (like CSV), or go back and save this information
correctly in a PST File.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

We have Outlook 2003 Professional. I have a new employee that has his
contacts from a previous company on a CD in a .msg format. If I use
Windows
Explorer and double click on a .msg the file will open in an Outlook
contact
screen. How do I import the files into his "Contacts" folder? Seems like
this should be easy but the Import/Export utility does not seem to be
written
to Import a .msg.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Yes. Of course. How obvious. Import is not supported. Copy/Paste is not
supported. But drag and drop is.
I just love Outlook.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Actually the .msg format applies to all Outlook item types, not just
messages. Blaine can try dragging the .msg files into the appropriate
folders in Outlook.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

MSG format is for messages, not Contacts, so no, of course you can't
import
it. What exactly do you see when you open this file?
You need to convert it to a format that can store Contact information and
that Outlook can import (like CSV), or go back and save this information
correctly in a PST File.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

We have Outlook 2003 Professional. I have a new employee that has his
contacts from a previous company on a CD in a .msg format. If I use
Windows
Explorer and double click on a .msg the file will open in an Outlook
contact
screen. How do I import the files into his "Contacts" folder? Seems
like
this should be easy but the Import/Export utility does not seem to be
written
to Import a .msg.

 

[Guest]

Thank-You, Thank-You, Thank-You! The drag and Drop worked.

Yes. Of course. How obvious. Import is not supported. Copy/Paste is not
supported. But drag and drop is.
I just love Outlook.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Actually the .msg format applies to all Outlook item types, not just
messages. Blaine can try dragging the .msg files into the appropriate
folders in Outlook.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

MSG format is for messages, not Contacts, so no, of course you can't
import
it. What exactly do you see when you open this file?
You need to convert it to a format that can store Contact information and
that Outlook can import (like CSV), or go back and save this information
correctly in a PST File.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

We have Outlook 2003 Professional. I have a new employee that has his
contacts from a previous company on a CD in a .msg format. If I use
Windows
Explorer and double click on a .msg the file will open in an Outlook
contact
screen. How do I import the files into his "Contacts" folder? Seems
like
this should be easy but the Import/Export utility does not seem to be
written
to Import a .msg.

 

[fehiyop427]

The .msg format of contacts can be difficult to import because .msg files are usually separate individual Outlook items, and importing contacts directly is not often available. You can open and save each .msg file that you want to import manually in Outlook; however, this may not be feasible when you have many contacts. To avoid the time-consuming manual process, it would be better to convert the .msg files into an Outlook format that you can use for importing. To do this, I suggest you use the GainTools MSG Converter Tool. This tool accurately scans the MSG contact files and converts them into a single PST and other file formats. You can then add the PST file to Outlook, automatically accessing and managing all your contacts. A trial version of the tool is also available, allowing users to test the conversion process beforehand.