One of the most important areas of an extensive backup is creating a copy of the address book. If at some point you lose access for your Outlook account, you'll be glad that you simply exported its contents, retaining the means with which to make contact with your pals, family and business connections.

Downloading your contacts also enables you to switch to another email client inside a more seamless manner, therefore if Outlook is becoming too bulky for your taste, you will not have to rebuild your address book from scratch. Listed here are step-by-step instructions for downloading and importing your Outlook address book.

How to Download Your Address Book in Outlook 2016 and Prior

1. Click File.

2. Select Options in the side menu.

3. Click Advanced from the side menu.

4. Select Export under Export.

5. Select Export to some file and click on Next.

6. Click Next. Here i am importing a Comma Separated Values File so we could import the address book to some program of our choice. If you are sure you need to stick with Outlook, choose the Outlook Computer file option.

7. Select Contacts and click Next.

8. Name your address book backup and click Next.

9. Click Finish.

Your address book continues to be downloaded!

How to Import Your Address Book to Outlook 2016 and Prior

1. Click File.

2. Select Open & Export.

3. Select Import/Export.

4. Select "Import from another program or file" and click on Next.

5. Choose the type of Address Book file kind you're importing and click on Next. Here i am importing a Comma Separated Values File.

6. Click Browse.

7. Select the file you're importing and click OK.

8. Click Next.

9. Select Contacts and click on Next.

10. Click Finish.

Your Outlook contacts have been imported!