If you have e-mail addresses in another product, such as in an e-mail program or in a word processing, spreadsheet, or database program, you can add the addresses to Outlook 2000 as contacts. Any Outlook folder that contains contacts can be used as an address book, so you can import e-mail addresses and use them to send e-mail from Outlook.

Outlook can import from a variety of programs

Depending on the program the address book file is in, you'll either import it directly, or save it in another file format and then import it.

Import your address book directly from an e-mail program

1. In Outlook, on the File menu, click Import and Export.
2. Click Import Internet mail and addresses, and then click Next.
3. In the list, click the program you want to import from.

If your address book file is in a program not listed, you must save it in either the Tab Separated Value (.tsv) or the Comma Separated Value (.csv) format.

Save the file in .tsv or .csv format

In the program in which you have your e-mail addresses stored, save the file in .tsv or .csv format.

If you do not see .tsv or .csv in the Save as type list, it might still be possible for you to save the file in one of these formats. Many programs provide a text format in which to save files that does not make it clear whether the information in the file will be tab separated, comma separated, or neither. If the program from which you're saving is one of these programs, save the file in text format, and then open it in a text editor such as Microsoft Windows® WordPad. Look to see whether the information in the file is separated by either tabs or commas. If it is, change the file extension of the file from *.txt to .tsv or .csv as appropriate.

If after you save the file as a text file the contents are not separated by either tabs or commas, import the file into a Microsoft Office program such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access. Then save the file in .tsv or .csv format.

Import your .tsv or .csv file into Outlook

1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.
2. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
3. In the list, click either Comma Separated Values (Windows) or Tab Separated Values (Windows), depending on which format you saved your file in, and then click Next.
4. Click Browse, locate your file, and then click Next.
5. Click your Contacts folder or another folder that contains contacts, and then click Next.
6. In the list, click the file that contains your address list, and then click Map Custom Fields.

Translate your entries into Outlook fields

You'll need to translate the values in your file to fields that are used in Outlook. If your e-mail address list is saved as a table, the first row you'll see in the From box of the Map Custom Fields dialog box will be the table column headings. Drag each column heading from the From box to the correct Outlook field in the To box.

By dragging and dropping the column headings, you can quickly assign all the values in your records to their equivalent values in Outlook. When you have finished, click OK, and then click Finish. Your e-mail addresses will be imported into the Contacts folder in Outlook.