Sync Gmail contacts with Microsoft Outlook

You cannot sync your Gmail contacts directly with Outlook. However, you can export your contacts from Gmail and then import them into Outlook. We'll show you how to do it.

Step 1: export Gmail contacts

First, export your contacts from Gmail as a CSV file, and then import them into Outlook.

1. Log in to Google Contacts.
2. Click on "More" on the left and select "Export". You will now be asked to switch to the old view of Google Contacts.
3. In the old view, click on "More" at the top and select "Export ..." again.
4. To export all contacts, select the "All contacts" option.
5. Select "Outlook CSV format" as the format and click on "Export".
6. Save the CSV file in a directory in which you can find it quickly - for example on the desktop.

Step 2: import Google contacts into Outlook

The following instructions refer to Outlook 2016. In older versions, the menu navigation may differ slightly.

1. Start Outlook, click on "File" and select "Open and Export".
2. Click on "Import / Export". A new window opens, the "Import / Export Assistant".
3. Select the option "Import from other programs or files" and confirm with "Next".
4. Select "Delimited values" as the file type.
5. In the next step, select the file you just downloaded. Then decide on one of the import options and click "Next".
6. Set "Contacts" as the destination folder and confirm again with "Next".
7. Important: Now do not click on "Finish", but first on "Map user-defined fields".
8. Now drag and drop Google's English formatting from the left column to the appropriate values ​​in the right column. With the small plus symbol you can display subitems of the different categories.
9. Click "OK" and then "Finish" to complete the process. The contacts are now imported into Outlook.