How to Export Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook

Updated On - October 23, 2024 by Armaan | Reading Time: 5 minutes

If you are looking for a solution for exporting Mozilla Thunderbird Address Book contacts to Microsoft Outlook, then this article is for you. This article talks about the manual methods and available third-party solutions to efficiently export Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook. We will discuss manual and automatic methods one by one, keep reading.

Thunderbird

Introduction to Mozilla Thunderbird: Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client developed by Mozilla Foundation. It is a popular alternative to web-based email services and provides a standalone application for managing emails, contacts, and calendars. Thunderbird offers a range of features and customization options to enhance the email experience.

Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is an email client and personal information manager developed by Microsoft. It is a part of the Microsoft Office suite and is widely used in both personal and professional settings. Outlook offers comprehensive email management capabilities along with features like calendar management, contact organization, and task tracking.

Comparison of Thunderbird and Outlook:

• UI and Design: Thunderbird offers a user-friendly interface with a customizable layout and a menu-driven navigation system. Outlook has a modern and intuitive interface that aligns with the Microsoft Office suite, providing a consistent user experience.
• Email Management Features: Both Thunderbird and Outlook offer comprehensive email management features, including support for multiple accounts, advanced search capabilities, filters, and organizational tools. However, Outlook provides more advanced features like a focused inbox, email rules, and advanced email categorization options.
• Calendar and Scheduling: Outlook has robust calendar and scheduling features, allowing users to manage appointments, meetings, and events seamlessly. Thunderbird also offers basic calendar functionality, but it may lack advanced features found in Outlook.
• Contact Management: Outlook provides a powerful contact management system with extensive customization options and integration with other Microsoft applications. Thunderbird offers contact management features but may have fewer advanced options compared to Outlook.
• Integration with Other Applications: Outlook seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, allowing users to create, edit, and share files directly from within the email client. Thunderbird, on the other hand, offers limited integration options and may require additional add-ons or plugins for similar functionality.
• Security and Privacy: Both Thunderbird and Outlook prioritize security and privacy. Thunderbird’s open-source nature and active community contribute to frequent security updates and a focus on user privacy. Outlook, developed by Microsoft, adheres to industry-standard security practices, provides built-in encryption, and offers options for data protection.
• Cost and Licensing: Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client, available for multiple platforms. It does not require a subscription and can be downloaded and used without any licensing fees. Outlook, however, is part of the Microsoft Office suite and is typically available through a paid subscription or as a bundled product with Microsoft Office.

Need to export Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook

A user might need to export Mozilla Thunderbird Address Book contacts to Outlook due to numerous reasons such as:

• Switching for better facilities, features, security, and data management.
• Outlook provides better emailing and calendaring events.
• Outlook offers better security and privacy standards.
• MS Outlook PST files offer more flexibility to users for managing their emails.
• Outlook is easily accessible and available for all users worldwide.
• The non-effective spam filtering forces users to migrate to Outlook.

Related Blog: Reasons to move from Thunderbird to MS Outlook

Manual Method to Export Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook

Exporting Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook can be done in two ways:

1. Export Thunderbird contacts to vCard (.VCF) file and then import contacts from vCard (.VCF) file to the Outlook PST file.
2. Export Thunderbird contacts to CSV file and then import contacts from CSV file to Outlook profile

Steps to export Thunderbird Address Book Contacts to Outlook:

1. Launch Mozilla Thunderbird email client and click Address Book
2. Or click Tools > Address Book.
3. Click Tools > Export.
4. Select vCard or Comma Separated (System Charset) (.CSV)in the File Type
5. Select a location and specify a name to the contact file.
6. Click Save.

All the contacts of the Thunderbird Address Book will be converted into Outlook-compatible format.

7. Launch Microsoft Outlook.
8. Click File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
9. Import and Export Wizard Select Import from another program or file > click Next.
10. Import a File wizard appears. Select Comma Separated Values > click Next.
11. In the Import a File wizard, click Browse to select a .csv file in which you exported your Thunderbird contacts.
12. Select any of the three available options on how Outlook should handle duplicate contacts:

• Replace duplicates with items imported
• Allow duplicates to be created
• Do not import duplicate items

Click Next.

13. Select the destination folder as the Contacts folder under your Outlook account > click Next.
14. Select the checkbox to import the desired file in the Contacts folder > click Finish.

After import, you will see that imported Thunderbird Address Book contacts are exported and are present in the Contacts category in Outlook.

Limitations of Manual Method

Manually exporting Mozilla Thunderbird Address Book Contacts to Microsoft Outlook has a few limitations, some of them are:

• Complex and Time-consuming Process: Manually exporting Thunderbird contacts to Outlook can be a complex and time-consuming process. It involves multiple steps, including exporting contacts from Thunderbird in a compatible format and importing them into Outlook.
• Compatibility Issues between Thunderbird and Outlook: Thunderbird and Outlook use different contact file formats, which can cause compatibility issues during the export-import process. This may result in data loss or formatting errors.
• Risk of Data Loss or Corruption: During the manual export-import process, there is a risk of data loss or corruption. Mistakes in file conversion or incorrect handling of contact data can lead to incomplete or inaccurate contact information in Outlook.
• Inability to Transfer Certain Contact Fields: Manual exporting may not support the transfer of all contact fields between Thunderbird and Outlook. Some specialized fields or custom contact attributes may not be preserved during the export-import process.
• Lack of Automation and Bulk Export Options: The manual method does not offer automation or bulk export options, making it cumbersome to transfer a large number of contacts from Thunderbird to Outlook. Each contact needs to be exported and imported individually, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

Professional tool to import Thunderbird Contacts to MS Outlook

The third-party professional Regain MBOX Converter tool efficiently exports Thunderbird contacts to MS Outlook PST files. The tool maintains the integrity and folder structure without limiting MBOX file size. Upload multiple Thunderbird contacts files into Outlook in a single go. The software offers a split PST file option that allows users to set a specific file size for the resultant PST file.

Free Download100% Secure Buy NowPrice: $29

Eminent Features of Regain MBOX to PST Converter

• It has a search feature that helps to locate Thunderbird contacts MBOX files in the system. Also, you can add single as well as multiple MBOX files for migration.
• The software supports converting MBOX files into PST, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, EMLX, and MHTML file formats.
• Import Thunderbird mailbox to Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, GoDaddy, and Live Exchange Server
• Displays preview of MBOX email items before conversion and maintains folder hierarchy and structure while performing the migration.
• The tool supports .mbox, .mbx, and .mbs files of several email clients, you can even migrate large-sized MBOX files.
• Supports converting MBOX files supported by more than 25 email clients like Mulberry, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird, Entourage, Spicebird, AppleMail, Eudora, Pocomail, Berkeley, Chaos Intellect, EathLink, Google Takeout, Netscape, The Bat, Turnpike, Opera Mail, Evolution, etc.
• Offers a self-descriptive, easy-to-understand graphical user interface and doesn’t need Mozilla Thunderbird email client installation.
• Compatible with all versions of Windows OS and Outlook versions and you can use its free trial version.

Just 4 Steps and you are done exporting your Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook

1. Download, install, and launch Regain MBOX to PST Converter.
2. Click Open and add the MBOX file folder that you want to convert.
3. Following, select added MBOX files and then click Export.
4. Select a file format and location to save converted MBOX files.

The Thunderbird MBOX to Outlook PST Converter converts Thunderbird MBOX files and displays a live log report.

Final Words

This article is helpful for those Thunderbird users who want to export their Address Book contacts to Outlook. The article discusses the manual method to export Thunderbird contacts to Outlook. But since the manual method has some limitations, we recommend using a professional Thunderbird Mailbox Converter for accurate Thunderbird Contacts to Outlook conversion. Free to download demo version will let you check its capabilities with only a restriction that it will save only the first 30 items per folder. Purchase a full license to export contacts from Thunderbird MBOX files to MS Outlook PST files without any limitation.