In Mozilla Thunderbird, the address book is used for storing and managing contact information. The address book contains information, such as names, email addresses, contact numbers, etc. This helps in organizing the contacts and easily accessing them for email communication.
Sometimes, situations arise when you need to import the address book (contacts) from Mozilla Thunderbird into another email client, like MS Outlook. For example, migrating Thunderbird data to Outlook or accessing the Thunderbird contacts in Outlook. However, you cannot just directly import an address book (contacts) from Thunderbird into Outlook. In this guide, we will explain different methods that can help you to easily import the Thunderbird address book into Outlook.
Methods to Import Address Book from Thunderbird into Outlook
There are two ways to import address book (contacts) from Mozilla Thunderbird into Outlook. You can export address book to CSV/vCard file and then import the file into Outlook or export the complete mailbox data to MBOX file and use an MBOX to PST converter tool. Let’s look at these methods in detail.
Method 1: Export Thunderbird Contacts to CSV/vCard Files and Import into Outlook
MS Outlook supports CSV and vCard files. So, you can export the address book or contacts from Thunderbird to CSV or vCard file and then import it into Outlook via the Import/Export wizard. Follow the below steps:
- Launch Mozilla Thunderbird on your Windows PC.
- Click on the Address Book icon in the left sidebar. All the available Address Books will be listed in the pane.
- Select an Address Book and right-click on it.
- Click on Export.
- The Export Address Book wizard will appear. Select a location where you want to save the exported Address Book. Then, select either Comma Separated (System Charset) or vCard from the Save as type dropdown menu.
Thunderbird will save the exported address book (CSV or vCard file) at the chosen destination path on your PC.
Now, follow the given steps to import the CSV or vCard file into Outlook:
- Launch the Outlook application.
- Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
- Select the Import from another program or file option (if you’ve exported the address book to CSV file). Click Next.
Note: If you have exported the Thunderbird address book to vCard file, select the Import a VCARD file (.vcf) option.
- Select the Comma Separated Values option and click Next.
- Click on Browse to select the CSV file.
- After selecting the file, click on Next.
- Select the destination folder and click Next.
- Finally, click on Finish.
The wizard will import the CSV file (address book) into Outlook.
Limitations of the Above Method
- It is a time-consuming task as you need export one address book at a time.
- Mapping CSV files can become complicated in case you need to move a large number of address books.
- Chances of human error. For example, you may miss contacts if there are large number of contact lists.
Method 2: Convert Thunderbird Address Books (MBOX File) to PST and Import it into Outlook
An alternative way is to export the Thunderbird address books to MBOX file, convert the MBOX file to PST using an MBOX to PST converter tool, and then import the converted PST file into Outlook. This way you can import multiple Thunderbird address books (contacts) into Outlook in a single operation. Follow the stepwise process given below:
Part 1: Export Thunderbird Data to MBOX File
You need to first export the complete Thunderbird user profile data, containing Thunderbird address books, to an MBOX file. For this, you have to download and install the ImportExportTools NG – a free add-on required for importing/exporting data from Thunderbird. After installing the ImportExportTools NG add-on, follow the steps given below:
- Launch Mozilla Thunderbird on your Windows PC.
- Click on ImportExportTools in the top right corner.
- Click on Export Profile > Full Profile.
- You will see a pop-up message. Click OK to proceed.
- In the Select the destination directory window, select a location to save the exported data (MBOX file) and then click on Select Folder.
- Thunderbird will begin exporting the user profile data. You can see the export status in the bottom left corner. Once the export process is finished, the status will change to Export Successful.
The Thunderbird profile data will be saved in MBOX file at the destination folder.
Part 2: Convert MBOX File to PST
Once you have successfully exported the Thunderbird user profile data to an MBOX file, you can use a specialized MBOX to PST converter tool to convert the address books to PST file format. Stellar Converter for MBOX is one such tool that can help you extract address books from the MBOX file and save them in Outlook importable PST file. It also allows to preview the Thunderbird contacts before saving them. This tool can also save other Thunderbird mailbox items, including emails, attachments, calendar and tasks, to PST and other formats.
Now, let’s see how to convert Thunderbird address book (contacts) to PST using this software:
- Launch Stellar Converter for MBOX on your Windows PC.
- You will see the Select MBOX window. Use the dropdown menu against Email Client to select Thunderbird. The software will automatically select the default path where Thunderbird has created the MBOX file on your system.
- After selecting the MBOX file, click on Convert. The software will start scanning the file.
Note: In case you want to select MBOX file stored at a different location on your system, click on the Select Identity button, go to the file location, and select it.
- Once the scan is complete, the software will list all the mailbox items. Click on the Contacts button in the Navigation Pane.
- It will display all your Thunderbird address books (contacts folders) in the left pane, under Contacts.
- After previewing the contacts, click on the Mail icon.
- Select the address book that you want to save.
- Then, click on Save Converted File.
- It will open the Save As window. Select the Save as PST option to save the selected Thunderbird contacts in PST file.
- Click Next to proceed. It will show the Choose Destination dialog box.
- Click on Browse to select the destination folder to save the PST file.
- The software will show a saving completed dialog box. Click OK to close it. You can also click on Open Containing Folder to go to the location where the mailbox items have been saved.
You can go to the location where the PST file (address book) is saved.
Part 3: Import the PST File into Outlook
Now, you can use the Outlook’s Import/Export wizard to import the Thunderbird contacts (PST file) into Outlook. Here is what to do:
- Launch Outlook and click on File.
- Click on Open & Export > Import/Export.
- In the Import and Export Wizard window, select the Import from another program or file option and click Next.
- In the Import a File dialog box, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and then click Next.
- Click Browse to select the PST file you need to import. From the given options for duplicates, select an appropriate option. Click Next.
- On the Import Outlook Data File window, select the folder to import from and check the Include subfolders box. Finally, choose the profile and then click Finish.
The selected PST file (Thunderbird contacts) will be imported into the Outlook profile.
Conclusion
Mozilla Thunderbird doesn’t have any native functionality that allows you to export the Thunderbird address book (contacts) to Outlook directly. As explained above, you can export the address book to CSV or vCard file format and then import this file into Outlook. If you want to migrate multiple address books at once, you can export the Thunderbird data to MBOX file, convert the MBOX file to PST using an MBOX to PST converter tool, and then import the PST file into Outlook. For converting the MBOX file to PST file, you can use Stellar Converter for MBOX. This tool allows you to selectively convert MBOX file items (such as address books) to PST. Apart from Thunderbird, it can convert MBOX files of Apple Mail, Google Takeout, Entourage, and others email clients.
