Mac OS X 10.4 Help
Transferring your address book from a Windows computer
The way you transfer an address book or contact information from a Windows computer to a Macintosh computer depends on the Macintosh application you intend to use. Some applications let you import contact information in specific formats. Address Book lets you import vCards, LDIF, and text (tab-delimited and comma-separated) files. Use your email or address book application on your Windows computer to export your contact information in the appropriate format. You can then transfer the file from your Windows computer to your Macintosh computer and import the contact information.
If you use Outlook Express on your Windows computer, you can transfer your contact information to Mac OS X Address Book by following the instructions below.
To export your contact information from Outlook Express:
- On the Windows computer, create a folder to hold your exported addresses.
- Open Outlook Express.
- Choose Tools > Address Book.
- Choose Edit > Select All.
- Drag the selected addresses to the folder you created.
- Transfer the folder of addresses to your Macintosh computer.
To transfer the folder, either connect the Windows computer and your Macintosh computer over a network, or copy the folder to an intermediary location such as an external hard disk or remote server. If your Windows computer supports it, you can also burn a CD or DVD disc with the folder. See the links below for information about connecting your computers or using an intermediary storage location.
Once you’ve copied the folder with your addresses to your Macintosh computer, you can import them into Address Book. To do so, open Address Book (in the Applications folder). Choose File > Import > vCards. Select the addresses you’re importing and click Open.