Importing Contacts From Excel

[katherine]

Hi,

I have read through some of the other posts and I think my problem is
similar but different. Sorry for the redundancy if it appears that way.

I have Office 2003 and I have been trying to import contacts from Excel to
Outlook and one of two things are happening.

1 - I started by exporting my current Outlook contacts so that I could use
the same format/row headers to import my desired contacts from Excel. I then
deleted all of the contact data that I exported (except the hearders) and I
copied the contact info from the Excel file that I wanted to import into the
corresponding columns. The Import/Export process goes through all of the
motions, but then once complete none of the new contacts show up. I do not
get an error message or anything, just no new contacts.

2 - Since this was not working, I read about using a current file and
mapping the column headers (row 1) to the field that are listed in Outlook.
When I try to do this I get an error message stating that my file "has no
named ranges." Sorry if this seems remedial, but I do not completely know
what that means or how to fix it.

Thanks so much for any assistance that anyone can provide! I have been
racking my brains on this since 9 am this morning.

Have a good afternoon.

 

[Karl Timmermans]

#1 - Reason for everything going through the motions is because the "Named
Range" in use at the time only referenced your Header Row. The reason that
would occur lies in your item#1 description. Your original Outlook export
created a named range for all the data that was exported starting with the
header row and ending with the last data row. You then deleted the data rows
which in turn would have adjusted your "Named Range" to only reflect the
header row. Copying new data to the worksheet does not adjust the NR in this
case - ergo - the NR still only reflects one header row with no data.

#2 - As far as mapping field names to correspond to what Outlook exports
etc - this is one piece of advice that I really disagree with as much as I
respect all who reply here - it is a needless waste of time prone to errors.
There is absolutely no need to make the column names in Excel the same as
the Outlook field names. What should be done is to manually map all the
field/column names (which can be anything you want them to be) or at the
<very least> review all the fields that Outlook has mapped automatically to
ensure everything is correct making any adjustments as required - both cases
are a very, very quick process that can save all kinds of
aggravation/frustration and avoid reported issues of "Outlook not importing
x, y, or z".

#3 - As far as "Named Ranges" go - that issue can be avoided (avoided = not
having to learn about Excel Named Ranges found in the help file and defining
same) by exporting the worksheet as a CSV file and importing that file
instead. Ensure that the first row in your worksheet contains column "names"
and map those fields to whatever is the correct corresponding Outlook field
as found in the "Map Custom Fields" segment of the Outlook import process.

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com

 

[katherine]

Thanks so much! the .csv option worked!

#1 - Reason for everything going through the motions is because the "Named
Range" in use at the time only referenced your Header Row. The reason that
would occur lies in your item#1 description. Your original Outlook export
created a named range for all the data that was exported starting with the
header row and ending with the last data row. You then deleted the data rows
which in turn would have adjusted your "Named Range" to only reflect the
header row. Copying new data to the worksheet does not adjust the NR in this
case - ergo - the NR still only reflects one header row with no data.

#2 - As far as mapping field names to correspond to what Outlook exports
etc - this is one piece of advice that I really disagree with as much as I
respect all who reply here - it is a needless waste of time prone to errors.
There is absolutely no need to make the column names in Excel the same as
the Outlook field names. What should be done is to manually map all the
field/column names (which can be anything you want them to be) or at the
<very least> review all the fields that Outlook has mapped automatically to
ensure everything is correct making any adjustments as required - both cases
are a very, very quick process that can save all kinds of
aggravation/frustration and avoid reported issues of "Outlook not importing
x, y, or z".

#3 - As far as "Named Ranges" go - that issue can be avoided (avoided = not
having to learn about Excel Named Ranges found in the help file and defining
same) by exporting the worksheet as a CSV file and importing that file
instead. Ensure that the first row in your worksheet contains column "names"
and map those fields to whatever is the correct corresponding Outlook field
as found in the "Map Custom Fields" segment of the Outlook import process.

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com

 

[Karl Timmermans]

Glad it worked. In the interests of accuracy and avoid any potential
confusion for anyone else reading this thread who may be new to Excel, my
original response had the words "by exporting the worksheet as a CSV file" -
that was a typo which should have been "by <saving> the worksheet as a CSV
file".

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

For future reference, see
http://www.slipstick.com/Tutorials/import/import.htm - it shows how to name
a range in Excel.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



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