Outlook has no match it comes to email clients for desktop. Outlook is not just an emailing tool. It saves contacts, calendars, events, journals and many other important information separately. It is a user-friendly app.  The interactive tool allows to ‘Add Contacts’ when you right click on any email address. It is simple and quick. However, the option may not be visible in Outlook 2013. In this case, you can fix the issue on your own.

In the previous versions of Ms Outlook, when you click right on an email address, Add to Outlook Contacts option is visible. But in Outlook 2013, the option seems missing. It doesn’t mean the option has removed completely.

‘Add to Outlook Contacts’ option is visible when the particular email address is not added to the contact list.  Then the option ‘Edit Contact’ and ‘Open Contact Card’ will be shown. If the contact is not saved in your MS Outlook Contact folder, you can edit the contact and save it to your Outlook.

The option is missing in the case of when your Outlook is connected with Facebook and Linkedin.  If the particular contact is in your social media account, Outlook will not show the option.

The missing of ‘Add to Outlook Contacts’ can be faced in MS Outlook 2010 version too. The problem is faced because of some Add-ins in the Office program. It can be fixed.

Start the Office program in the Safe Mode.

Even you start the Office Program in safe mode, the problem has not resolved. You need to disable all add-ins.

Steps are as followed.

Start Outlook and go to the ‘File’ menu

Go for Options then Add-In and finally hit tab ‘Go’ to manage.

Check Add-ins and clear all of them.

Close it and restart Office program

Now, check all add-ins have been removed. If they are still there, you will have to repeat the process. The issue can now resolve. If it is not resolving, analyze which add-in is causing the problem.

Without managing contacts, smooth communication cannot possible. In the MS Outlook, there is a specific address book folder to retain all important contacts. You cannot completely rely on NK2 files. The contact details can be anything such as name, date of birth, email and phone number. Below are some useful techniques to manage Outlook contacts and utilizing them strategically.

In the navigation pane, press “Contacts” tab and then “New” in the menu bar.

Or
There is a shortcut, press “CTRL+Shift+C” to create a new contact.

By default, Outlook saves information a person in a  vCard 2.1. You have to carefully fill the information manually. As it is done, press “Save and New” in the menu bar. The data will be saved and a new blank vCard will pop up.

Note: For a single file, there could be more than one entries. For example, There can be two phone numbers or email addresses. For this, press “Drop-Down” arrow next to that specific field. If you wish to add photo, press “Add Contact Picture” button.

Creating New Outlook Contact Considering Existing Contact

Sometimes when multiple contacts with some common information are created, the existing contact can be copied and edit the other fields like name, phone number and address are changed.

To achieve this, press on the contact, copy it (CTRL+C) and then paste it (CTRL+V). It will create a duplicate. Now open it to make the required changes.

Creating Contact for an Email Sender

When you receive an email from a new mailer and want to save the email address, Outlook gives the flexibility to save the address.

To achieve this, access the email of the sender and right click on the address. From the drop-down menu, choose ‘Add to Outlook Contacts’. A V-Card will open and the data will be saved. If you wish to save more details of the particular contact, V-Card allows you to do so.

Creating Contact from Electronic Business Card

Sometimes vCard is attached to an email which is saved as an Outlook contact. You can create contacts from vCard.

Open the message holding vCard and right click on the vCard to select ‘Add to contacts’. If you wish to add more information, you can.

It may possible that the contact you are saving is already in existence. When you save the contact, the Outlook will ask if ‘you want to update information of selected contact’, press the update tab. The existing contact will be updated.

Creating Contacts in Public Folder

To perform the action, it is essential that Outlook is configured with Exchange Server.

Open the Public Folder where you would like to add and create contacts.

In case, the Public Folder is not found in Navigation Pane, press “Folder List” in the navigation pane and check for “Public Folders-username” folder.

You can use the search tool to locate the public folder.

The method to create and add a contact to the public folder is not different than creating a contact in Outlook. You may apply shortcut CTRL+Shift+C and save details in vCard.

You may hear about NK2 file which is by far one of the most convenient and the smartest option for Outlook users. As you enter new contact (email address), the NK2 file automatically stores the contact whether or not it has been added to the address book. When you write the following email address to the contact fields (To, CC or BCC), it allows you to auto-complete the email address. You don’t need to remember the whole email address of your contacts. But relying upon the autocomplete entirely can be risky. You can lose them. Add each address to the contact list. If you maintain vCard files, your precious contacts will be safe as compared to autocomplete. The NK2 files are not supportive when switching to a different Outlook version or a different computer.

Let’s know how to transfer an NK2 file to another Outlook Version as well as another machine.

Importing NK2 Files

Below is the guide on importing contacts from NK2 file to Outlook on a different machine.

Location for NK2 file- Default location of Outlook autocomplete file.

For Windows XP Drive:

\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

For Windows Vista and Above Drive:

\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

Exporting Outlook NK2 File from 2002 to 2007 Outlook

Copy the NK2 file, location for the file is according to the Windows version:

Vista and above Drive:

\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

XP: Drive:

\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Now change the file name as per the name of your email profile

TIP: To locate the name of your profile, visit Control Panel and access Mail application in it. Press the tab reads Show Profiles and check the name. You can skip seeing your profile name because by default the name is already set to Outlook.

Importing NK2 Files in Outlook 2010 & 2013

Outlook 2010 and above versions don’t support the NK2 files. Hence, to access the nk2 file contacts, the import process is necessary to follow.

Copy nk2 file by selecting it from its location as per the Windows version

Give the file the name matching to the profile name

Now start Outlook along with the switch: /importnk2

Open the Run window

Type: outlook.exe /importnk2

Note– Do forget to leave space after exe

Conclusion: These steps are easy to follow. You may not need help from a technician to perform the task. Don’t relay on NK2 files completely. Create a contact address so that you can operate your Outlook smoothly and keep your important data integrated.

MS Outlook doesn’t give any direct facility to save recipients or senders as contacts. Thankfully, you can do this by following a few simple tricks. It doesn’t need extra toolbox and software. Use the option ‘Import & Export Wizard’ to successfully accomplish the task in CSV or MS Excel.

We all know that all the emails are saved with the recipient in the Inbox. Follow the below steps that we are following with Inbox. You can follow the same process with any folder of your Outlook.

Choose the folder of your choice or inbox

Go to Import and Export Wizard to follow a few simple procedures. For different versions, the Outlook location is also different.

For Outlook 2007 : File >> Import and Export

For Outlook 2010 : File >> Open >> Import

For Outlook 2013 : File >> Open & Export >> Import/Export

Here select the option Export to File.

Then Comma Separated Values.

Choose the ideal location and then decide the name of your CSV file.

Don’t skip to confirm the box with “Export “E-Mail messages” from folder: Inbox” option.

Press Map Custom Fields and then “Clear Map”.

Drag and Drop the required field to the “To” box. Our target will be From (Name) and From (Address).

Once you complete mapping, Press OK and then Finish tab.

Now, contact export process will start.

Your inbox or any folder in Outlook can have many emails from the same sender. So, it can be an unnecessary collection of the same emails on your CVS file. On the other hand, it is not possible to remember whether the contact has been added. So, following the steps to remove duplicate contacts is necessary.

Here are the Steps-

Access the particular CSV file that you created in MS Excel

Note: If the exported data is saved in a single column, you can use Data >> Text to Columns feature to save the data in two separate fields.

Choose the whole A and B columns and press “remove duplicate” tab on Data tab.  Finally, press OK.

Sometimes Exchange account is also configured. It indicates a few addresses from the Exchange application which are in x500 format. If you wish to filter them, steps are easy to follow.

At first, choose the cell A1.

Visit the Data tab and press Filter.

Click on the drop-down icon of cell B1.

Choose: Text Filters-> Contains…

Give suitable options you wish

Now press OK, and the filter will be activated

Press (CTRL+A) and copy them (CTRL+C).

Open Excel and create a new sheet of Excel.

Now paste the copied data by clicking (CTRL+V).

If you have time, you can check the CSV data manually for names and addresses.  It will allow you to delete the address which you don’t want or adding the new contact. At last, go to the file and click save as tab to save the data with a new name and the location of your choice.

Now your CSV file is ready to import to your MS Outlook application. Follow these steps.

Visit  Import and Export Wizard which is located in a different location as per the version you are using.

For Outlook 2007 : File >> Import and Export

For Outlook 2010: File >> Open >> Import

For Outlook 2013 : File >> Open & Export >> Import/Export

Choose the otpion “Import from another Program or File”.

Now select CSV as an option

After that locate the particular CSV file that you have created in previous steps.

Do the settings with the duplicate items.

Now choose the contact folder to save CSV contacts.

You don’t have to miss to check “Import “export-addresses-inbox-filtered.csv” into folder: Contacts”.

Press Map Custom Fields and then press Clear Map which is in the same wizard.

Using drag and drop method to move fields left to right in the “To” box. These fields are; From (Name) -> Name and From (Address) -> E-mail.

Finally hit the OK tab to finish the process

Conclusion- Follow these simple steps to add all email contacts to CSV in bulk. There is no direct method from MS Outlook to export contacts. Follow these steps for the Sent Items folder also.