How to Import Hotmail Contacts to Gmail?
Summary: Are you looking for a way to import Hotmail contacts to Gmail account? If so, this article explains how to transfer contacts from Hotmail to your Gmail account. For more information stay with us until the end.
Hotmail is a free email client service that has been around since the mid-90’s. Tech giant Microsoft now owns all rights to Hotmail. Over 300 million users were later transferred to Microsoft Outlook using the same credentials. Hotmail has been discontinued, but users can still import Hotmail contacts into their Gmail.
On the other hand, Gmail is a brand that needs no introduction. Almost everyone has his Gmail account for primary purposes. Therefore, it is clear why transferring Hotmail to Gmail is the first choice of many Hotmail users.
However, some users may be confused or don’t know how to import Hotmail contacts to their Gmail. To help you, here we present the latest method. But before that, let’s see why you need to move the Hotmail data file to Gmail.
Also Read: How to Import Excel Contacts to Thunderbird?
Reason to Import Hotmail Contacts to Gmail
Everyone has different reasons for importing Hotmail contacts to Gmail along with emails, calendars, etc. Some of the most important causes are:
- One major advantage that users get once they move Hotmail contacts to Gmail is the ability to bulk delete without limitation. This is because Hotmail (more specifically, Outlook) restricts the mass removal of accounts to 10 at a time. This increases the time it takes to clear out contacts that are no longer required.
Note: You can get around this limitation in Outlook by turning off the New Contacts button. - Inside the Gmail contact screen, more contacts are visible at a single glance. It can be increased further by toggling the compact view. Whereas, in the Hotmail contacts screen, users have to scroll more to get to the person they wish to contact.
- Google offers a more minimalistic look with fewer options cluttering the screen, whereas Microsft tries to cram all available information on a single screen. For devices with less screen space, this becomes quite cumbersome.
- Another big drawback of not knowing how to transfer contacts from Hotmail to Gmail is the struggle with duplicate contacts. On one hand, Gmail can automatically merge duplicate contacts, but Outlook (where most Hotmail accounts come from) can’t.
As a result, those who remain on Hotmail have to manually rebuild the contact list from scratch. This is the only way they can get rid of contact copies.
Now, let’s learn how to quickly transfer a Hotmail contacts file to Google.
How to Transfer Contacts from Hotmail to Gmail?
People might think that we have to visit Google Contacts and try an approach similar to the one where we import Excel contacts to Google Contacts. Although that approach is available, here we will tell you about the direct import mechanism present in Gmail itself.
- Start by opening your Gmail account in any browser.
- Then click on the gear icon at the top right corner.
- This toggles the settings pane; there, click on the See all settings button.
- On the Settings screen, go to the Accounts and Import tab.
- There, click on the Import mail and contacts link.
- Type your email address to import Hotmail contacts to Gmail and press Continue.
- Read the disclaimer and press Continue once more.
- You will be asked to sign in to the Hotmail account. So keep the credentials ready. Sign in and click on Accept.
- In the Import options screen, deselect all options except “Import contacts”. Then click Start import.
- On the Finish screen, click OK. The rest of the task will be done automatically on the backend.
- You can check import progress by going back to the Accounts and Import tab of Settings.
- If you see the Imported successfully message, click on the blue person icon in the right column. You will see that all the contacts are available.
Why Direct Method to Move Hotmail Contacts to Gmail Fails & its Alternative
Even if this method sounds easy, there are quite a few things that can go wrong. Here is a list of problems that other users have faced during this direct transfer of Hotmail contacts to Gmail.
- Google itself tells you that this method is time-consuming. So much so that you may have to wait almost 2 days to access your contacts.
- If you misplaced or don’t remember the Hotmail password (as most of us rely on autologin), then you might not be able to even use this method.
Moreover, no amount of troubleshooting is enough to give a 100 % guarantee that this method will work the next time you attempt it.
So if you don’t want to wait or lack access to the Hotmail credentials, you can skip this method and move on to the next one which is a three stage approach.
So it is better to generate a contact CSV file by exporting the entire list from the Hotmail account. This can be done easily with the help of the Outlook web or desktop portal on which your Hotmail account is configured. If you still don’t know, then follow the instructions that are given below.
Stage 1: Export Hotmail Contacts to CSV Format
- Open Your Web browser & sign in to Hotmail.
- After that click on the People icon to open the All Contacts tabs.
- Click the Manage Contacts drop-down menu and select Export Contacts Options.
- In the Export Contacts window, click Export Contacts.
- After uploading the file, click Export to Export CSV contacts file.
Skip CSV Upload During Hotmail to Gmail Contact Transfer
You might ask that if there is an option to upload the CSV, then why not use it? To get an answer, look at these points. Users may struggle with one of the following errors during the direct addition of CSV data to Gmail’s contact list.
- Extra fields.
- Missing Fields
- Incompatible Headers.
- Large/Small Size.
- Wrong Encoding.
When we do a one-on-one comparison of the CSV file we get out of the Hotmail account with the CSV file acceptable in Gmail, we can see there are quite a few differences in column order and header name. And if you lack the necessary tools, editing this CSV can be cumbersome.
There may be other differences that are not visible directly and may end up failing the import. So why take chances? Moreover, all these reasons call for a better solution.
That is to use the default way of storing contact information, in other words, a VCF file. Don’t worry, you do not have to make the vCard on your own, as we have a one-shot solution waiting just for such a scenario.
Stage 2: Automatic Solution to Import Hotmail Contacts to Gmail
XLS Contact to VCF Converter is one Software that you can use to perform the conversion in the right way. With this utility, you can convert multiple CSV files to vCard format with all contact information using this utility. This app is 100% safe as no data will be compromised or corrupted after the conversion process. Apart from this, this tool has another advantage. You can complete the process even if you don’t have it installed on your computer. You can also create a separate VCF file for each Comma-separated value {CSV}, making it an easy-to-manage and highly portable option.
Step-by-Step Working Process Guide of the Software
- First, Download the Software
- Click the Browse button to Add the Contacts file
- Preview the contact information in CSV and click Next.
- Next, after mapping the fields, click the Add button. The tool views a list of matching properties. Then Pick the Next button.
- Click save the output and click the Change button.
- Select the Convert Option to start the conversion process.
- Finally, View all the converted VCF files.
Stage 3: Import Resultant vCard File to Gmail
- Sign in to your Google Account
- and click on the three dots icon. choose the Contacts Option.
- Thereafter, select the import option.
- Click “Choose File” and select the vCard generated from your computer.
- After selecting the converted contacts file, press Import.
- After selecting the converted contacts file, press Import.
- The task is completed successfully and you will see the message, which means that everything is finished.
- Now you can see the imported contacts in your Google Mail account.
Conclusion
We have explained how to import Hotmail contacts to Gmail through this article. Now quickly transfer contacts from Excel to Gmail using the above method. Also, try the demo version of the automation software and test all its features for free.
Frequently Asked Question
Q 1: How can I export my contacts from Hotmail?
- Log in to your Hotmail account at Outlook.com and then click People in the lower left corner.
- Click “Manage” and then “Export contacts” in the top toolbar.
- Select “All Contacts” and “Microsoft Outlook CSV” from the drop-down menus, then click Export in the top right corner.
Q 2: How can I export all of my Outlook contacts?
- Choose File.
- Select Import/Export from the Open & Export menu.
- Choose Export to file > Next.
- Next > Comma Separated Values.
- Select Contacts under the email account from which you wish to export contacts.
- Choose Browse… and navigate to the location where you wish
- Enter a file name and then click OK.
- Choose Finish.
