How to Import Your Outlook Contacts into the Mac OS X Mail Address Book

Do your friends and contacts know you're now using Mac OS X Mail? All of them?

Fortunately, they don't have to know — and you can take them with you. Save your Outlook address book to a comma-separated plain text spread sheet, and OS X's Address Book application (which Mail uses for contacts management) can import them with nary a hiccup.

Just make sure you do import all the email addresses!

Import Your Outlook Contacts into the Mac OS X Mail Address Book

To import Outlook contacts in the OS X Address Book used by Mail:

• Export your Outlook contacts to a CSV file called "ol-contacts.csv".
• Copy the "ol-contacts.csv" file to your Mac.
• Launch Address Book on your Mac.
• Select File | Import | Text file... from the menu.
• Search for and double-click the "ol-contacts.csv" file.
• Make sure Ignore first card is checked.
• Look for E-Mail Address in the ol-contacts.csv column.
• Click Do not import in the Address Book column's corresponding field.
• Select Email (work), Email (home) or Email (other).
  • Optionally, map the ol-contacts.csv's Email 2 Address and Email 3 Address as well.
• Click OK.

For drag-and-drop mapping, try Address Book Importer.