Transferring Google Contacts to Outlook

I recently began using my iPod as a PDA which is pretty cool. I still have my Palm Vx and I use it but seeing the contacts, calender is kind of hard (I have to confess, I really need bifocals...ahh the joy of aging). I first had to upgrade my office suite to 2003 or higher, then I decided to tackle moving my Google contacts to Outlook and by surprised(this is what happens when you actually read) when clicking on Outlook Help it gave a simple walk through on how to transfer your contacts and here it is...

Transfer contacts between Outlook and Google Gmail

You can transfer your Google Gmail contacts to Microsoft Office Outlook. You can also export your Outlook contacts to Google Gmail.

What do you want to do?

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Import your contacts from Google Gmail to Outlook
Export your contacts from Outlook to Google Gmail

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Import your contacts from Google Gmail to Outlook
Log on to your Google Gmail account.
In the left column, click Contacts.
On the right side of your screen, above the message count, click Export.
Click Outlook CSV (for import into Outlook clients).
Click Export Contacts.
When prompted to download the export file, click Save.
Choose a location on your computer to temporarily save the file. The default file name is gmail-to-outlook.csv.
Note You can delete this file after your contacts are imported into Outlook.

Click Save.
In Outlook, on the File menu, click Import and Export.
Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
Click Comma Separated Values (DOS), and then click Next.
In the Import a File box, browse to find the file you downloaded in step 8, and then double-click the file.
Click one of the following:
Replace duplicates with items imported
Allow duplicates to be created
Do not import duplicate items
Click Next.
In the folder list, click the Contacts folder where you want the imported contact information to go, and then click Next.
To add or remove fields to determine the way the contact information is saved in the new imported file, click Map Custom Fields.
Note The Map Custom Fields button in the Import a File dialog box might not be available when you try to import data from another program or file. In the The following actions will be performed box, select the Import check box, and then the Map Custom Fields button is available.

Additional help on mapping custom fields

In the From box, drag the field that you want to convert onto the Outlook field that is listed in the To box.
Note The Name field doesn't appear in the To box because Outlook reserves the first row of a named range or field names. If the range that you import does not contain field names, the first row of data will be interpreted as field names and will not be imported as data. To make sure that all of the data in the named range is imported, use the first row for field names.

To see additional records in the From box, click Previous or Next.
To remove all mapping, click Clear Map.
To reset the original mapping, click Default Map.
To display additional fields in the To box, click the plus sign (+) next to the field. For example, to display the Business Street and Business City fields, click the plus sign (+) next to Business Address.
Click Finish.
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Export your contacts from Outlook to Google Gmail
Before you export contacts from Outlook, it helps to understand the difference between the Outlook Address Book and Outlook Contacts. Both are part of Outlook. However, the Address Book is a compilation of the different address lists you might store in Outlook, such as LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): A protocol that provides access to Internet Directories.) Internet directories, the Global Address List (Global Address List: The address book that contains all user, group, and distribution list e-mail addresses in your organization. The administrator creates and maintains this address book. It may also contain public folder e-mail addresses.) (GAL), or other third-party address books. Contacts is just one of the address lists included in an Address Book. Only contacts can be exported directly from Outlook to Google Gmail.

In Outlook, on the File menu, click Import and Export.
Click Export to a file, and then click Next.
Click Comma Separated Value (DOS), and then click Next.
In the folder list, click the contacts folder you want to export, and then click Next.
Choose a location on your computer to temporarily save the file.
Note You can delete this file after your contacts are imported into Google Gmail.

Type a name for the exported file, and then click OK.
Click Next.
To add or remove fields to determine the way the contact information is saved in the new imported file, click Map Custom Fields.
Note The Map Custom Fields button in the Export to a File dialog box might not be available when you try to import data from another program or file. In the The following actions will be performed box, select the Export check box, and then the Map Custom Fields button is available.

Additional help on mapping custom fields

In the From box, drag the field that you want to convert onto the Outlook field that is listed in the To box.
Note The Name field doesn't appear in the To box, because Outlook reserves the first row of a named range or field names. If the range that you import does not contain field names, the first row of data will be interpreted as field names and will not be imported as data. To make sure that all of the data in the named range is imported, use the first row for field names.

To see additional records in the From box, click Previous or Next.
To remove all mapping, click Clear Map.
To reset the original mapping, click Default Map.
To display additional fields in the To box, click the plus sign (+) next to the field. For example, to display the Business Street and Business City fields, click the plus sign (+) next to Business Address.
Click Finish.
Log on to your Google Gmail account.
In the left column, click Contacts.
On the right side of your screen, above the message count, click Import.
Under Import Contacts, click Browse.
Select the file you exported in step 9.
Click Open.
Click Import Contacts.