Export Outlook Contacts to WAB: Tips and Tricks for a Smooth Transfer
Outlook has long been a famous email client for individual and business communication, offering a variety of features such as tasks, calendars, and contact management. Multiple users store their contact file in MS Outlook, but sometimes you may need to export them to another program or format. One format that people need is Windows Address Book (WAB), which is used primarily in older versions of Microsoft Outlook Express. In this post, we discuss the entire guide on how to export Outlook contacts to WAB format.
Whether you are switching from Outlook to another email client, backing up your contacts, or simply preferring to use the WAB format, this step-by-step method will help you achieve this goal.
Read More: Export Outlook Address Book to VCF
Why Need to Convert Outlook Contacts to WAB?
Earlier, we moved on to the step-by-step method. It’s important to understand why you would want to export an Outlook contact file to WAB. Here are a few reasons:
- Moving to an Older Email Client: Outlook contacts are often stored in a different format than older email programs like Outlook Express. If you’re moving to an older email program, converting your contacts to WAB can make the process easier.
- Backup Purposes: The WAB format is a simple and easy way to back up your contact information. It can be saved and imported into other systems and is a great way to preserve your contact list.
- Compatibility with Other Programs: Some programs, especially older ones, only accept the WAB format. Exporting your contacts to WAB ensures that these applications can access your information.
- Converting to Another Email Client: If you are moving to another email client like Thunderbird or eM Client, you can try the WAB file to import your contact information.
Now that we know the cause, let’s show how. Here’s how to export contacts from Outlook to WAB.
How to Export Outlook Contacts to WAB? Manual Technique
To try this free approach to convert Outlook contacts to WAB (Windows Address Book) file, you can follow these steps. because MS Outlook does not support a direct export to.WAB format, you’ll need to first convert your contact files to a CSV file and then import them into the Windows Address Book format.
Step 1: Export Outlook Contact Files to CSV
- Open Microsoft Outlook on your computer.
- Pick the file in the upper-left corner of the screen.
- Select Open & Export from the menu.
- Click Import/Export to open the wizard.
- Pick Export to a file and click on Next.
- Select CSV (Comma Separated Values) or Microsoft Excel or as the export type & tick Next.
- Pick the Contacts folder and then tick the Next button.
- Pick the position to save the exported file and give it a name (for example, OutlookContacts.csv). Click Finish.
- Once the procedure is done, you will have a CSV file containing your MS Outlook contacts.
Step 2: Transfer CSV File to Windows Address Book (WAB)
- Open the File Explorer on your computer or Windows Address Book (depending on your Windows version).
- To this Task, Tick the Start menu, search for Contacts or Windows Address Book, and open it.
- In Windows Contacts, click the Import button.
- Select Import from File, and select CSV File from the list of available options.
- Find the folder where you saved the exported Outlook CSV file, select it, and click Open.
- If you have mapped the fields (e.g., Name, Email, etc.), make sure that the contents of the CSV file match the fields in Windows Contacts.
- Complete the import, and your Outlook contacts will now appear in Windows Address Book (WAB).
- Once the export is complete, locate the WAB file you just created and open it to check if your contacts are there.
- If everything is OK, you have successfully exported your Outlook contacts to a WAB file.
Limitations of Manual Methods
- Outlook does not support exporting contacts to WAB format directly.
- You must export contacts to vCard or CSV before converting to WAB.
- Some fields and user data may not transfer correctly to WAB.
- Contact data such as photos and notes may be lost during the export process.
- WAB format is outdated and is not supported by modern email clients and services.
Method 4: Export Outlook Contacts to WAB Using Automated Software
If you want to convert Outlook contacts to a web-based system and you don’t have many contacts or prefer a simpler approach, you can use a third-party application such as Outlook Contacts to vCard Converter Tool to automate the process.
Using this application, you can save Outlook contacts as MSG files with all attrubuites. You can try the free version before purchasing. Once you are satisfied, you can activate the license key and start the conversion process right away. You are just one step away from completing your task efficiently!
Export Contacts from Outlook to WAB in a Few Clicks
- First of all, you need to use the Outlook Contacts Exporter tool. After opening the program,
- Tap the File at the upper right corner of the application.
- After that, simply click on the Add button to proceed to the next step.
- Now, select the WAB format that you want to convert your Outlook contacts.
- Open the destination to save the resulting file on your local system.
- Tick the Export tab to begin the process.
- A notification will appear to verify that the technique is complete. Click OK.
Note: Outlook Express must be installed on your computer to convert Outlook contacts to WAB contacts (Outlook Express).
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have explained 2 techniques to export Outlook contacts to WAB, allowing you to select the process that best suits your requirements. Our goal is to cover all the necessary information to guide you through the process.
If you are wondering which process is the simplest and safest, we suggest an automated method, which is not only a 100% safe solution for this conversion. By following the steps given above in this blog, you can easily export your contacts and import them into a web service for seamless access and management.
