How to export Hotmail contacts

Microsoft's Hotmail was probably the first service to offer free email accounts. Since it has been in operation for more than a decade it's natural that some old and loyal subscribers have hundreds of records in the online contact list. Loss of this sensitive and important data can spell doom for these people. Hence, it is important to take regular backups and export the Hotmail contacts list to preserve a copy on the local machine.

In this article I shall provide step by step instructions along with screenshots on how to export the Hotmail contacts data and save it to your computer. Important note: Remember to keep this file safe because it carries personal information of your contacts.

Instructions to export Hotmail contact list

When you export the Hotmail contact list, all the information is dumped into a single file which can then be downloaded to your computer. This simple ASCII file is in the standard CSV (Comma Separated Values) format, ideal for exporting and importing tabular data. It has all the Hotmail contact list data separated by the comma punctuation mark.

• Open a web browser window and log in at your email account.
• The link to the Hotmail Contacts is located in the left panel below the folders [Slide 1]. Click on it to get the list of contacts in your email account [Slide 2].
• When there are tons of people on the Contact list, there is a chance of having duplicate entries. So the first thing is to get rid of these. Choose "Manage" -> "Clean up contacts" [Slides 3 and 4].
• It's now time to save a copy of the contact list. Select "Export" from the "Manage" menu [Slide 5].
• As mentioned above, the data in the Hotmail Contacts is sensitive and hence the service protects your interests by making it slightly convoluted to download this precious information. A set of 8 characters (alphanumeric) is displayed [Slide 6].
• You need to decipher these characters and type them in the blank text field below [Slide 7]. If the characters are too muddled, get a new set by clicking the "refresh" button which shows you a new picture.
• Hit the "Export" button when you are ready [Slide 7].
• The Hotmail contact list will now be exported as WLMContacts.csv [Slide 8]. Depending on the web browser settings on your computer, this file will either begin to download immediately or you shall be asked to "save" it to a folder. Anyway, you'll get all the contacts list data on the computer in a single file.

The CSV file will be saved to the default download folder as set in the web browser program on your computer. Since this CSV file can be read by most, if not all, services and programs, you can work on this data as you like. For instance, you can open and edit this file in MS Excel or import the Hotmail contacts into a Gmail email account.

Tip: Exporting the Hotmail contacts list is the best way to carry the data over to a new email account when you are shifting to another service.