If you are migrating from Outlook, Yahoo, or an older email provider to a new Gmail account, manually re-typing hundreds of names, phone numbers, and email addresses is out of the question. Thankfully, Google makes it incredibly easy to ingest your old address book using a standard CSV or vCard file.
Step 1: Export Your Old Contacts
Before you can import anything into Google, you must export your data from your old provider. Almost every email client (including Outlook, Apple Mail, and Yahoo) has an “Export” option within their Contacts or People menu. When prompted for a file format, choose Google CSV or standard CSV (Comma Separated Values). Save this file to your computer’s Desktop or Downloads folder.
Step 2: Import into Google Contacts
While you can email from Gmail, Google handles your actual address book through a dedicated app called Google Contacts.
- Open your web browser, log in to your Google Account, and go to contacts.google.com.
- Look at the navigation menu on the left side of the screen. Click on Import.
- A pop-up window will appear. Click the Select file button.
- Navigate to the CSV or vCard file you saved in Step 1, select it, and click Open.
- Click the blue Import button.
Google will take a few moments to process the file. Once finished, all of your names, email addresses, and phone numbers will instantly populate in your list.
Merging Duplicates
If you imported a messy CSV file, you might end up with several duplicate entries for the same person. Google Contacts has a built-in tool to fix this automatically. In the left sidebar, click on Merge and fix. Google will scan your list, identify identical entries, and allow you to merge them with a single click, keeping your new address book pristine.