How to Insert an Excel List of E-mail Addresses Into Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook contains a Contacts folder, which stores lists of people and their associated information, such as e-mail addresses. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that can store lists of data, including e-mail addresses. Excel e-mail address lists can be inserted into the Outlook Contact folder using the Outlook import feature. After the import is complete, the e-mail addresses can be inserted into new e-mails directly from Outlook. There is no further requirement to open or reference the Excel spreadsheet.

Instructions

Outlook 2003 and 2002

1. Click the "File" menu and then select "Import and Export."

2. Select "Import from another program or file" and then click "Next."

3. Select "Comma Separated Values (Windows)" if the Excel file is saved with a CSV file extension. Select "Microsoft Excel" if the Excel file is saved with an XLS file extension. Click "Next."

4. Browse to the Excel e-mail list file and then double-click it.

5. Click "Allow Duplicates" or "Do not import duplicate items" if you do not want existing contacts to be replaced. Otherwise, click "Replace duplicates with items imported."

6. Click "Next," "Contacts" and then "Next."

7. Click "Map Custom Fields to verify that all Excel columns are being imported to the desired Outlook Contact fields. Modify, if necessary, and then click "OK" and "Finish."

Outlook 2007

1. Click the "File" menu, select "Import and Export" and then click "Next."

2. Select "Comma Separated Values (Windows)" if the Excel file is saved with a CSV file extension. Select "Microsoft Excel" if the Excel file is saved with an XLS file extension. Click "Next."

3. Browse to the Excel e-mail list file and then double-click it.

4. Click "Allow Duplicates" if you do not want existing contacts to be replaced. Click "Next," "Contacts" and then "Next."

5. Click "Map Custom Fields to verify that all Excel columns are being imported to the desired Outlook Contact fields. Modify, if necessary, and then click "OK" and "Finish."

Outlook 2010

1. Click the "File" tab in the Ribbon near the top and then click "Open."

2. Click the "Import" tab. Browse to the Excel e-mail list file and then double-click it.

3. Click "Allow Duplicates" if you do not want existing contacts to be replaced.

4. Click "Next," "Contacts" and then "Next."

5. Click "Map Custom Fields to verify that all Excel columns are being imported to the desired Outlook Contact fields. Modify, if necessary, and then click "OK" and "Finish."

Tips & Warnings

• The Excel spreadsheet can be saved with the XLS, XLSX or CSV file extension. Ensure that each e-mail address in the Excel spreadsheet has, at a minimum, a corresponding name in another column on the same row.

• Outlook versions 2007 and older cannot read Excel spreadsheets saved with the XLSX file extension. Save the spreadsheet using the XLS or CSV file extensions instead.

References

• Microsoft: How to Import Contacts Into Outlook from Excel; May 25, 2010
• Microsoft: Import Contacts From Excel to Outlook