How to export all Outlook email addresses into CSV file

Outlook allows you to store email addresses directly within the program as contacts. You can use these contacts to communicate with colleagues within your organization and export those email addresses into a CSV file. So, this guide will provide the steps required to export email addresses into a CSV file from Outlook.

  • You can export email addresses to a CSV file by clicking the “People” icon, going to “Your contacts,” and selecting “Manage.” Microsoft Outlook will then place the addresses into a downloadable spreadsheet.
  • Admins can export email addresses to a CSV file via the Office 365 admin center. You can access “Users” and “Active users” from there. Then select all users by checking the box next to “Display name” and click “Export users.”

I have tested these methods to ensure that they work and give you a CSV file when you have exported the email addresses onto your local desktop. However, you must ensure that you have a CSV-enabled piece of software, such as Excel, to open those files.

How to export email addresses from a general user account in Outlook

The first method you can use to export email addresses into a CSV file is by going into the general user area and exporting your contacts list. Unfortunately, you will not be able to convert addresses into a CSV file if you do not have them added as a contact.

info What is a CSV file?

CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values. If you export a spreadsheet as a CSV file, the content inside each cell will become a string of text separated by a comma. If you import a CSV into Excel, every string of text that is separated by a comma will appear inside an individual cell.
  • Firstly, open Outlook. 

The process here will work for both the desktop version of Outlook and the browser version. For this example, I will be using the browser version of Outlook; however, if you have the desktop version installed, you can use this as opposed to the browser version if you want. 

  • Now click on People” in the left-hand menu.

The menu will have a list of different options, from the Calendar to the option for managing the members in your contacts section. Here click on the option for people to access all the information regarding contacts on your email account. 

  • Choose the option for Your contacts.”
  • Click on Manage and then click on Export contacts.”  

In this section, you can also import contacts, so if you have added more contacts to your spreadsheet after exporting it, you can import those contacts into Outlook to expand your network. However, I will be exporting contacts in this example, so I will click on the option for Export contacts. 

  • Choose the contacts you want to export, then click Export.” 

You can export a single contact, multiple contacts, or your entire list of contacts. When you click “Export,” the process will begin, and Microsoft Outlook will export this information onto your local desktop. 

  • Open the downloaded folder to view this information. 

As mentioned earlier, you must ensure an adequate program to open the CSV file. Any program that supports your ability to open a comma-separated value document will work well in opening the document. Programs such as Microsoft Excel or if you are using a Mac OS desktop, you can also open the file using Numbers. 

When you open the CSV file, you may wonder why there is so much information; the CSV file aims to be as useful as possible in many different scenarios, so Microsoft will include all the different columns. You can proceed to delete all these additional columns if you do not require them and just keep the ones for name and email. Upon completion, you will have managed to export email addresses from Outlook as a CSV onto your desktop.

How can you export all email addresses from an admin dashboard?

If you have an admin dashboard in Microsoft 365, you can export the entire organization’s list of email addresses that you have available. For example, if you are running a report on all the active email addresses in your organization to create a mailing list, you can go into the admin section and export all those contacts to create the mailing list. 

You must ensure that you have admin permissions enabled; a global admin can grant admin permissions.

  • Now click on the launcher illustrated by nine dots followed by Admin.” 
  • Click on the drop-down for Users and then click on Active users.” 
  • Select the checkbox next to the display name to select all email addresses. 
  • Click on Export users.” 
  • Finally, click on “Continue” to complete the process. 

Once you have completed the steps, you will have managed to export all email addresses into a CSV format. As an admin user, you can use this information to create your mailing list or report this information if necessary.

Which programs can open a CSV file?

Basic text editors can open CSV files, as the export file is essentially a text document where commas now separate the cell contents. But some programs will allow you to view the contents of a CSV file in a spreadsheet format.

Common programs for opening CSV files:

Microsoft Excel
Intuit Quicken
LibreOffice
Apache OpenOffice

How to open a CSV file in Microsoft Excel

You will need to use the app version to open a CSV file in Excel. Currently, you can’t import CSV files in the online version of Excel. A workaround would be to replace the commas in the CSV file with tabs, then paste the content into a blank spreadsheet.

  • Open Excel and click on “Data” in the top menu.
  • Then click on “From Text/CSV.”
  • Locate and select your CSV file.
  • Then click the “Import” button.
  • You will see a preview of the spreadsheet. Click the “Load” button to complete the import.

You can also read our guide on How to import data from CSV into SharePoint list.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading our content on how you can export all email addresses into a CSV file. I provided a couple of methods you can use to help export email addresses into CSV files. The first method provided is for general users with a generic email address and a list of contacts they would like to export. 

The second method I have provided is designed for admin users who would like to export a full list of email addresses from the organization to either create a mailing list or report information if necessary. If you encounter any issues when trying to follow the steps, drop a comment below, and we will address them. 

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

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