How to Export Exchange Contacts to iCloud?
Summary: This article elaborates on a simple approach to exporting Exchange contacts to iCloud. The solution mentioned here applies to Exchange Server 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, and 2000.
Exchange and iCloud at a Glace
Microsoft Exchange Server is an emailing service that includes an email program, a mail server, and multiple group work applications. It is a user collaboration software designed by Microsoft, which is a part of the Microsoft Servers product line for the server. This commercial environment is used by a wide range of organizations in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook to manipulate emails, manage information, name calendars, contacts, mobile web pages, and shared tasks. It supports POP, IMAP, web emails and Microsoft Outlook email clients.
iCloud is a cloud data storage system developed by one of the biggest technology giants Apple. This information storage service stores its data in the cloud and allows users to save photos, videos, music, documents, iBooks, URLs, contacts, and other data items. The media stored in iCloud could be accessed anywhere and anytime using respective iCloud account credentials. Each new iCloud account gets 5GB of free storage space and everything saved in iCloud can be shared easily with multiple Apple devices including iPhone, iMac, etc.
Table of Content
Reasons to Export Contacts from Outlook to iCloud
In this section, we will tell you about the reasons for doing a job. A few of them are mentioned below:-
- App iCloud is smoother for managing data as compared to the MS Outlook email application.
- The safety and privacy for contacts and other email data given by iCloud are better than the Outlook application.
Since iCloud is a modern data-storing platform that users can access anytime with most digital devices. Besides its 24*7 availability, it comprises several other features that attract Exchange users towards it and this is the reason why users are searching queries like how to transfer contacts from Exchange to iCloud. To describe the issue more clearly, we have taken a real-time user query from a forum website:
User Query:
“We use Exchange Server within our organization to send, receive, and manage emails and all my business contacts are saved in my Exchange account. Now, I want to import these Exchange Contacts to my iCloud account so that I can access the contacts from my iPhone outside the company. But, the issue is I don’t know how to convert Exchange contacts file to iCloud. I want a safe solution to copy all contacts from Exchange to iCloud. Please help!”
So if you are one of such users who want to transfer their Exchange Contacts to iCloud then, this article is for you only. Here, we will show you a step-by-step process to move exchange contacts to iCloud iPhone.
Method 1. Export Contacts from the Exchange Server
All your Exchange Contacts automatically sync with your Outlook Contact list if the Outlook account is properly configured with Exchange Server. Therefore, we can directly move contacts from the exchange to iCloud.
- Launch Outlook and click on File >> Open & Export >> Import/Export.
- Select Export to a file option from Import and Export Wizard and click Next.
- Choose the Comma Separated Values button and click Next.
- Highlight the Contacts folder and click Next to move your Exchange Contacts to iCloud.
- Browse a destination location to save the exported contacts CSV and click Next >> Finish.
Disadvantages of the Manual Method
The main ones are listed below:
- As you know from the previous section, the manual method is long and complicated.
- A small error causes data loss
- Technical knowledge is necessary to understand the process.
Also Read: How to Import Contacts from Hotmail to iCloud?
Method 2. Make Exchange Contacts iCloud Compatible via Expert Solution
iCloud does not allow to importing of CSV contact files so we will make the exported Exchange Contacts CSV file iCloud-compatible by converting it into vCard v3.0 or v4.0 file format. To perform this task, you can use Excel to vCard Converter Software to convert all CSV contact files to vCard format without losing any information.
Download the software on Windows Machine and install it. Mac Machine users can Download CSV Contacts to VCF for Mac to convert Exchange Contacts CSV into vCard v3.0 or v4.0 on the Mac machine.
Working Steps to Move Contacts from Exchange to iCloud
Follow the steps below to do the same:
- Run the Software click on the Browse button and add the contact CSV you have exported above.
- Preview the CSV Contacts file and check if all the contact information and fields are correct. If so, click Next (if not, open CSV in the MS Excel application and format it correctly).
- Select the CSV contact field from the Excel Fields section and map it with the cosponsoring vCard Field. Repeat the same step until you map all the Exchange Contact fields with vCard Fields. Once done, click the Next button.
- Select vCard v3.0 or v4.0, check to Create Single vCard and Import empty email addresses options. Select a destination location to save the resultant vCard file and hit the Next button.
Right after this, it converts all the Exchange Contacts into vCard (.vcf) file format.
Method 3. Import All Exchange Contacts to iCloud
- Open your web browser and go to https://www.icloud.com/. Log in with your credentials.
- Choose Contacts from the next window.
- Hit the Settings gear icon and choose the Import vCard option.
- Navigate and Add the vCard file you have converted in Step 2 to copy all contacts from Exchange to iCloud.
After this, all your Exchange Contacts imported and automatically synced with iCloud Contacts. You can access and connect these contacts with all the devices synced with your iCloud account.
Concluding Lines
How to export Exchange Contact to iCloud is one of the most asked queries on the Internet today. This is so because Exchange and iCloud are two very different platforms that support different file formats. Therefore, in this article, we have disclosed a simple and efficient solution to export Exchange Contacts to iCloud. Hope the solution given here has been helpful.
Some Questions Asked by Users
Ques 1. Will my contact information be secure during the export procedure?
Ans. Yes, performing the export process by using this software is safe. Additionally, it has multiple features and provides a simple GUI. So users can easily export Excel contact files to vCard/VCF format without any hassle.
Ques 2. Is there any manual method to export exchange contacts to iCloud?
Ans. Yes, we have mentioned a manual solution in the above section of this post to export exchange contacts to iCloud.
Ques 3. Is it possible to export contacts to iCloud+ and iCloud?
Ans. Yes, it is possible with above-mentioned application users can easily export contacts to iCloud+ and iCloud.