How to Import Outlook Address Book to Thunderbird?

Written By

Nick Rogers

Published On

May 14th, 2024

Reading Time

5 Minutes Reading

The Outlook Address Book is a central location to keep all your customer and organization contacts, addresses, and other information within Outlook. But sometimes the need to import this address book arises between email clients like Thunderbird. You’ll learn how to import Outlook address book to Thunderbird with our step-by-step guide below.

Importing your Outlook address book into Thunderbird ensures continuous access to data if you switch between email accounts. Microsoft Outlook consists of the ability to export its address book to the local drive but not the ability to export it directly to Thunderbird. However, there are alternatives that allow you to do this.

How to Import Outlook Address Book to Thunderbird?

There are two basic ways to import Outlook contacts to Thunderbird. You can either use the manual method which includes the following steps:

• Export Outlook Address book to CSV file format
• Import address book CSV files into Thunderbird

Alternatively, you can use advanced software to import Outlook contact book into Thunderbird. Let’s start by reviewing the manual method first.

Solution to Import Address Book from Outlook to Thunderbird

Step 1: Export Address Book from MS Outlook App

• Launch Microsoft Outlook on your computer.
• Click the “File” tab, then “Open & Export,” and finally “Import/Export.”
  
• Then, choose “Export to a file” and press “Next.”
  
• Select “Comma Separated Values” from the saving format.
  
• Then, in your Outlook application, go to the Contacts Folder, select it and then click Next.
  
• Browse to the location where you want to save the exported address book file.
  
• Give the exported file a name. Select “Finish.”
  

Step 2: Import Outlook Contacts Book CSV Files to Thunderbird

• Open Thunderbird and select Tools > Import from the menu.
  
• Now, select Address Book from the options and click Next.
  
• Please select the file type you want to import. Here select a text file (LDIF, .tab, .csv, .txt). Then click Next.
  
• Locate the Outlook Address Book CSV files and click Open.
• Now, first check records contain the field names, and then click Next.
  
• Finally, click “OK” and then click “Finish.”
  

In your Thunderbird address book, you can now find your Outlook address book.

So, this is the manual way to import Outlook address book to Thunderbird, which seems quite long and a bit technical. So, if you want a simpler and shorter method, please refer to the following method.

Steps to Import Contacts Book from Outlook to Thunderbird Professionally

• Download, install and run the software to import Outlook address book to Thunderbird.
  
• Now, click the Open button and then choose Outlook.
  
  
• Your Outlook folders will be visible in the left panel of the application.
  
• Now, click the Contacts folder and check all the contacts inside it.
  
• Now, click the Export tab, and then select Thunderbird from the drop-down menu.
  
• Now, select the Thunderbird profile and click the Save.
  
  

So, this is how you can professionally import Outlook contacts to Thunderbird, which seems to be much easier than the manual method. If you want to know more about this professional approach, please read its attributes below.

Learn More about the Professional Approach

• Easy to Use: The software has simple user interface and can be used without any higher technical knowledge. It provides simple steps to import Outlook address book to Thunderbird.
• Support all Versions: This tool is advanced and supports Outlook version. It can easily import address book from Outlook 2010 to Thunderbird and other versions like 2019, 2016, etc.
• Read Address Book: This 4n6 software also allows you to open and read all Outlook contacts before exporting them to Thunderbird account.
• Search Tool: The app also has a quick search and advanced search option that allows you to find specific contacts or address in your Outlook account.
• Compatible with Windows: This app is compatible with Windows and can easily import Outlook contacts to Thunderbird on Windows 11, Windows 10 and any previous versions.

In Conclusion

There are two basic ways to import Outlook address book to Thunderbird. The manual method is actually a two-step process that first needs you to download the contacts from Outlook and then import them into Thunderbird. On the other hand, there is an automatic method that automatically syncs with Outlook and exports its address book to Thunderbird in a few simple steps.