How to Import contact data into an Outlook.com eas account
When trying to import into an Outlook.com account (formerly Hotmail) using the Outlook ‘2013 import wizard, you may encounter the following message preventing you from completing the function
“Could not complete the operation because the service provider does not support it”
This would occur if the Outlook.com account is configured as an EAS (Exchange ActiveSync) email account “type”. At this point, you can not import data using the import wizard whether the data to be imported is from a CSV or PST file (the only options now available in Outlook ‘2013). Outlook.com accounts can be configured as EAS, POP or Imap. The reason for keeping it as an EAS account would be if you wanted to share contact (People)/calendar information across multiple devices. The manual workaround for this is described in the following article which essentially describes having to create (or use) a PST file, import the data into a contact folder located in this PST file and then move the contact information into the Outlook.com contact folder.
Import contacts into an Outlook.com account https://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/import-contacts-into-an-outlook-com-account-HA104051344.aspx
(*** all the latest versions of ContactGenie import products “QuickPort/DataPort/MultiPort” support importing directly into an Outlook.com contacts folder including update functionality with full support for user-defined fields just like any contact folder in any other email account type configured for the Outlook profile)
When using an EAS Outlook.com account in Outlook ‘2013, it is possible to create user-defined fields or use custom contact forms in the contact folder but this will only be applicable to the local machine on which these are used. User-defined field information will not be migrated to the web based Outlook.com account.
You can also import data directly into your Outlook.com using the web-based import function from a CSV file but unlike using the Outlook import wizard, there are two very significant differences which are 1) you cannot select which fields to include for import (i.e. there is no field mapping) 2) the field names used in the header row must match the names exactly that the Outlook.com is expecting (the Outlook.com field names can be found <List of Import Contact Field Names for Outlook.com Using CSV>)
So how is using an EAS Outlook.com account different in Outlook ‘2013 then in previous versions of Outlook?
In previous versions, the Outlook Hotmail Connector was required for direct access to the Outlook.com (Hotmail/Live) account which also configured it as a MAPI email account type in Outlook. The Hotmail connector is not required in Outlook ‘2013 but there are some key differences in how data has handled in terms of a MAPI and EAS account type. Two of the most notable differences are (1) you can import data directly into a MAPI account but not an EAS account and (2) Contact Groups, formerly known as distribution lists, are also directly supported.
For those not familiar with the various email account types (POP, Imap, EAS), the key significant difference between EAS and other account types is that contact information can only be sync’d between devices using an EAS account. Any Outlook.com accounts configured as a POP or Imap account will only have contact information stored locally. Contact info entered via the Outlook.com web interface will not sync down to Outlook for POP/Imap accounts or vice versa.
Two alternative approaches
1) Contacts already exist in a contact folder
If you have a contact folder that already exists in the profile that contains the contacts you want to move to the Outlook.com account then
- select the contact folder
- highlight all contacts in that folder using CTRL + A
- right-click and select <Move>
- select either <Other Folder> or <Copy To Folder>
- select the Outlook.com contact folder as the destination
*** suggestion would be to always use the <Copy To Folder> option since that leaves you with the original data in the event anything does not go as expected. Select the <Other Folder> option results in the contacts getting deleted in the source contact folder
2) Contacts exist in an external data file
If the contacts exist in an external data file, then you can create a new PST file and a new contact folder in that file (or create a new contact folder in a PST file that already exist). Once done, you can import the external data to the newly created contact folder (see “How to Import Contact Info into Outlook” if not familiar with the process) and then follow the steps above (item #1) to move/copy the contact items to the Outlook.com contact folder as described above.
Category: Import/Export, Outlook - How To
