People new to import/export frequently pose a question to an Outlook group asking “How do I import from program “x”? The typical (and correct) response is “Look to see what formats does “program X” export to and select that”

For some reason, when Outlook is involved, far too many people seem to think that anything involving Outlook is an Outlook issue. What really needs to be understood is that the actual importing and exporting from any program is a defined process. The import/export functionality in Outlook has not changed since Outlook ‘2000 (or possibly Outlook ‘97) and deals with very specific kinds of data.

Using the Outlook import/export wizard is not an option when you want to import/export:

1. any user-defined fields (standard message class)
2. custom fields contained in a custom form
3. an Exchange public folder
4. a delegate Exchange folder
5. any standard field that does not appear in the Outlook import/export field map

The Outlook import/export wizard only creates new contacts using the standard contact form (MessageClass = <IPM.Contact>) regardless of what the default is for the form

Importing from an Excel file is very common activity. There is likely a good chance that if you are reading this that you are currently investigating a problem that you are having or have had one in the past. One Excel feature that probably generates the most questions (and problems) is “Named Ranges” which include the following:

• When I try to import it keeps asking me for a “named range”