You can export Hotmail contacts from outlook.com to your computer for backup, or transfer Hotmail contacts to iPhone iPad or other mobile and tablet devices. You can also choose to add Hotmail account to your mobile device instead, this saves the trouble of exporting and importing Hotmail contacts and you do not need to use a computer in the middle. In this guide, we will show you how to backup Hotmail contacts to computer.
How to Export Hotmail Contacts?
Log on your Hotmail account from https://login.live.com/, http://hotmail.com/ or http://outlook.com/, whatever you prefer. Microsoft has several email service brands.
It is a bit tricky to access and manage Hotmail email contacts. From the Hotmail inbox interface, you can see outlook.com at the top left corner, there is a down icon which you can click to pull down a large menu and access the Hotmail contacts page from there, see below screenshot. (thanks to @Rocco for the feedback through comments below, we have updated the article accordingly). You can find a table icon before outlook.com, click on it you will open the main menu for Outlook web interface. Many related Microsoft products and services are listed, like Outlook.com, People, Calendar, OneDrive, Word Online, Excel Online, etc.
Alternatively you can directly open a new browser tab or window and access this URL: https://people.live.com/.
Once you are in the People page where you can manage, edit, delete Hotmail contacts, click on the Manage link from the top menu. You will get a drop down menu list, see below figure.
Select Export from outlook.com and other services item from the above list, you will see a pop-up dialogue where you can save Hotmail contacts to computer. The exported Hotmail contacts will be saved as a CSV file which you can open and edit with Excel. To set up your Hotmail account on an email account on Windows PC and Mac computers is easy. Most email clients will automatically guide you through, so you do not need to manually input email server configuration and info.
Hi Matt,
Mysteries abound! The problem could be that I am using the free MSN.Outlook.hotmail, NOT the pay for Ver. of
Outlook???
I use the Google Chrome browser. I had Firefox a while back but didn’t care for it much. I felt that
Chrome was more versatile and secure. It doesn’t matter since I’ve added AOL email and its’ Import/Export and features are very good and simple.
Thank you for your patience with me and the best to you.
Sincerely, Rocco.
Hi Matt,
I use Google Chrome. I didnt care
for Firefox when i had it a while back.
The problem may be that I’m using
free MSN.outlook.hotmaimportil site, not the
pay for ver. of Outlook?
Any I’ve added AOL mail and their
import/export wirks fine
Hello Matt, it’s still not right! When you choose “People” and “Manage” and you choose
“Export contacts for Outlook.com and other services” it shows “IMPORT CONTACTS” !
Rocco
There seems to be something wrong on your side. When you choose the “export contacts” option, you should not get the option to “import contacts”. On my end, I get a generic pop-up dialogue asking me whether to open or download the contacts file . I am using Firefox browser on windows 10 PC.
Can you try a different browser see if any help?
Please send us some screenshots to illustrate the issue you meet if the problem persists.
Matt
I think things have changed since you wrote these directions.
Only the “Import” option is displayed! The “Down Arrow” has been replaced by a table of choices.
Clicking on “People” shows the choice for “Export etc.” but selecting it only shows “Import Contacts.”.
Thanks, Rocco.
Hi Rocco,
Thanks a lot for your feedback. This post was published in July 2014, so you can see the difference. We have updated the article.
Best regards,
Matt