How to Backup Contacts and Autocomplete Entries in Outlook

How to Backup Contacts and Autocomplete Entries in Outlook.

Guide Overview

In Microsoft Outlook the majority of your Contacts are stored in the Address Book while the rest are stored as Autocomplete Entries. This guide will show you how to backup these fields of information.


Instructions

Contacts in the Address Book

1. To backup the Contacts in the Address Book:

• Go to Outlook>File>Import and Export>Export to a file and click Next.
• Click on Personal Folder File (.pst) and then click Next.
• Select Contacts and click Next.
• Give the .pst file a name and location.
• Click Finish.

You will now have a backup of your Address Book and its Contacts.


2. To use the backup:

• Go to Outlook>File>Import and Export>Import from another program or file and click Next.
• Click on Personal Folder File (.pst) and then click Next.
• Select the location of the backup (.pst file) and click Next.
• Choose Contacts.
• Click Finish.

You have now successfully imported your backed up Address Book and Contacts.


3. For users who use the Microsoft Exchange Server:

Usually, the default delivery and storage location for the Outlook data is the Exchange Server mailbox. The Exchange Server administrator usually handles backups of the mailboxes on the server but it should be noted that some some Exchange Server administrators store the Outlook data in a .pst file on your hard drive instead.

Please follow these instructions to see where Outlook is currently storing your data:

• Go to Tools/Options and click the Mail Setup tab.
• Click E-mail Accounts.
• In the Account Settings window please click the Data Files tab.
• If the Name field contains the word Mailbox followed by an e-mail name then Outlook stores data in folders on the Exchange Server. Please contact the Exchange Server administrator for more information about how backups are handled.
• If the field contains the words Personal Folder or the name of a set of personal folders/.pst files then Outlook stores new messages, contacts, appointments, and other data in a .pst file on your hard drive. To back up the data, please see above.

4. However, the .pst file format is not compatible with other email programs. Instead, you will need to convert to a CSV file:

• Go to Outlook>File>Import and Export>Export to a file and click Next.
• Click on Comma Separated Values (Windows) and then click Next.
• Select Contacts and click Next.
• Give it a name and location.
• Click Finish.

You have now created a CSV file, which can now be used in other email programs.


Autocomplete Entries

5. To backup the Autocomplete Entries, please follow these instructions:

• Close Outlook.
• Go to Start>Run and type the following into the box:
  
  %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
  
• Press Enter.
• Find the NK2 file (usually you will see it as Office Data File).
• Right-click the NK2 file and select Copy.
• Go to folder medium where you want to place the backup copy and select Paste.

You have now successfully backed up your Autocomplete Entries.


6. To restore/use the backup:

• Close Outlook.
• Go to folder medium where you have the backup copy and right-click the file to select Copy.
• Go to Start>Run and type the following into the box:
  
  %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
  
• Press Enter.
• Right-click in the folder and select Paste.
• Click Yes when you are prompted to overwrite the existing file.

You have now imported your Autocomplete Entries.

Thanks for the guide! yesterday faced with this problem.