Gmail Contacts Not Showing in Outlook? Try This
Despite Gmail’s free availability, many professionals have shifted to Outlook. The shift occurs even when the Outlook desktop app is a premium product. This is because Outlook offers a much more professional setup than the casual inclination of Gmail. However, after this transfer, there are cases where users complain that Gmail contacts not showing in Outlook at all. This lack of contact data means that one cannot start with the regular business workflow. Don’t you believe us? OK, read a real-time user query that we’ve picked from a forum site:
“Bonjour! I’ve been using Gmail for the past few years but now I’ve decided to switch myself to MS Outlook. I tried importing Gmail Contacts to my new email client but, after performing this task i cant see any of my Gmail contacts in Outlook. I don’t know what’s causing this issue. I surfed the Internet and found no easy solution. Is anyone out there who can help me to resolve Gmail Contacts not importing to Outlook issue? Thanks in advance!”
So, even if you import your entire Gmail account, you can encounter issues like out-of-sync contacts without warning. Therefore, in this article, we will show you a simple solution so that your Gmail contacts will start appearing in Outlook!
Table of Contents
Gmail Contacts Not Showing in Outlook: Why?
For importing Gmail Contacts to MS Outlook, we have two methods: first configure Gmail account to MS Outlook and the other Import and Export. However, some users don’t want to configure the Gmail account into their MS Outlook due to some security reasons also, this method is not that suitable for non-technical users as it requires proper technical expertise over port numbers, security type, and other information.
This is why most of the users prefer the Import/Export method and end up with issues like Gmail Contacts not showing up in Outlook. This error occurs because the exported Gmail contact file is incompatible with Outlook CSV or vCard.
How to Fix Gmail Contacts Not Appearing in Outlook Issue?
In order to resolve the out-of-sync contacts problem, follow the steps below sequentially:
#Step 1: Export Contacts from Gmail
- First of all, log in to your Gmail account and click on the Google Apps icon. Select Contacts
- All your Google Contacts will be listed on your screen. Select all the contacts you want to sync or import to MS Outlook
- Hit the Export button and choose the CSV file format as the export option
- Browse a destination location to save the resultant file and click Export
- Right after this moment, all your Gmail Contacts turn into a Google CSV file.
#Step 2: Make Gmail Contacts Outlook Compatible (KEY STEP)
As we’ve mentioned above that Gmail Contacts not showing in Outlook issue occurs due to the incompatibility of the Gmail Contacts file with Outlook. Hence, it is necessary to make the exported Gmail Contacts CSV MS Outlook compatible and below is how to do this:
- Download and run CSV Contacts to vCard Converter on your Windows machine.
- Click on the Browse button and add the contact CSV you have exported above to proceed to resolve Gmail Contacts not syncing with Outlook 2016 issue
- Preview Google Contacts and check if the exported contact CSV seems well formatted. If it isn’t then open this file in MS Excel and format it correctly. Click Next
- After this, map all the CSV Contacts Fields with vCard Columns and once done with mapping all the columns, hit the Next button
- Select vCard v3.0 or v4.0 and select Create Single vCard for all Contacts and Allow to Import Empty Email Addresses options. Browse a destination location and click Convert
All the Google CSV contacts will get converted into vCard file format and you can start fixing Gmail Contacts not showing in Outlook issue.
Also Read: Steps to Export AOL Contacts to Gmail Profile Easily
#Step 3: Add Contacts to Outlook
- Launch MS Outlook and click on File >> Open&Export >> Import/Export
- Select Import from another program or file and select Contacts folder
- Browse the converted vCard from your local machine. Click Open
All your contacts will sync with the destination
Conclusion
Gmail Contacts not showing in Outlook is a common query asked by users of both email solutions. This article describes an instant and easy solution to get rid of out-of-sync contact issues. Moreover, the solution given here is completely secure and even non-technical users can perform this without any technical expertise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can this tool also allow me to resolve the Gmail contacts not appearing issue in the new Outlook version?
Unfortunately, Microsoft took away the ability to add vCard files in the New Outlook version. As a result, this tool can not assist you in such a scenario. However, if you have access to an Outlook desktop version 2019 or earlier, you may as well use it to populate your contacts. They will sync automatically with your Outlook account via the Microsoft 365 portal.
Q. What may cause my Outlook contacts to be out of sync with the ones that are on Gmail?
Once you add your Gmail account to Outlook, the contact list that comes along is no longer connected to Gmail. This means any new addition or subtraction at the original source does not reflect back to Outlook. In other words, Microsoft and Google don’t maintain a real-time update. This is the core issue that creates out-of-sync problems. Other than that, slow internet and faulty sync might be what’s causing your Outlook contacts to appear different from those on Gmail.
Q. Why should I choose this tool over the default vCard option available during export from Gmail?
The option that is on Gmail is designed for iOS and not Outlook. Moreover, the version that you get is 3.0 which is not even the latest one. The tool, on the other hand, provides you with multiple options, which include the ability to keep each contact in a separate VCF. And to top that, the latest vCard version 4.0 is also available.
