Jim the Geordie wrote on 1/30/2026 5:29 PM:
If I use Thunderbird I have several accounts and several address books.
If I post from any account, I can use any of the address books.
I would like to go back to using (desktop) Outlook, but addresses seem
to be 'attached' to specific accounts. This seems to mean that I cannot
post to an address which is allocated to a different account.
Am I missing a trick here?
I have my address books saved in both .csv and .ldif format and would
like to be able to access them from every account. Can I import them
without allocating them to a specific account?
Assuming 'post' means sending an email(since you wouldn't email a newsgroup). Open two instances of Outlook via a shortcut or the Win10 Taskbar.
Click on the 'People' icon or text for 'People(Navigation bar, bottom,
lower left in each open Outlook instance.
For email accounts configured in Outlook you should see:
- a listing or all contact accounts
=> Individual email accounts with contact sync(for Exchange or IMAP;
i.e. accounts using the *.ost protocol)
=> The single Outlook.pst contact file(normally named Contacts -
Outlook) used for storing contacts you enter and normally the storage
place for or when using POP3 email accounts.
A few options are availalbe.
Copy or move contacts to either direction.
- note: doing so, could cause duplicates in each direction if you previously entered in both contact stores, with clean-up of duplicates necessary(manually or using Outlook duplicate tool)
If not desiring the copy/move route, another option when creating an email
The From icon(clicking on) allows choosing the sending email account
The To icon(clicking on) allows choosing the recipient email address
- Outlook should display a dialog box(Search for contacts or similar
name). In that dialog box there is an Address book category with a
selectable option showing the different contact lists.
Note: the ordering in the list will(normally should) be the same shown
in Outlook's configured email accounts(File/Account Settings/Account
- you can send to any address in any of those contact lists.
Yes, accounts can be imported,...the syncable accounts(might have
preferred file import file type extensions - csv, vcf, other. Some email clients might not provide exporting in all formats.
- For syncable accounts, it might be better to import into your web UI interface and then let that sync down to Outlook. If you import into
Outlook and it syncs up, ensure you check that email account's web UI
contact to ensure it imported properly.
You'll have to decide the best approach for you...and also realize that
any route could result in duplicate contacts necessitating later cleanup.
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