Windows

How To Export Your AOL Address Book And E-mail

Posted by on Oct 24, 2005 | 4 Comments

If you want to Export your AOL address book from AIM mail and use it in another program, like Gmail, you need to follow a few basic steps. Exporting your e-mail from your AOL mail is a little bigger undertaking. If you among those looking to save your AOL address book contacts to a new service, along with backing up your AOL email, read on for a complete how to.

Recently, exporting AOL address book contacts became a fairly easy process, although there is no AOL address book export tool that magically gets your email moved. After you sign in to AIM Mail, click the Contacts link below your mail folders, and then click Tools > Export as pictured in the screenshot below.
Export AOL Address Book Contacts

From here you are presented with three options for exporting your AOL contacts. If you want to save your AOL address book as a backup, choose the tab-delimited text (TXT) option. For importing AOL contacts to Gmail or another email provider, choose the comma-separated value (CSV) option. The CSV format is the easiest to import into other email applications and services, allowing you to copy your AOL address book to a new email service provider.

Exporting your email from AIM Mail is a little more complicated because you can’t simply export it. You will need to use an email program, like Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Windows Mail to import your AIM Mail. Back in your AOL inbox, click on the Settings link on the top right hand side of the AIM Mail window. You will then need to click the IMAP and POP link to reveal the email settings you need to configure in your email program. Once you complete the configuration in the email program, all your AOL mail will be exported into the email application. While this is far from ideal, it does provide you with an export of your AOL email for later use.

  • Barbara L. Nolan

    I don’t want to change from AOL, but after so-called help(??) from some of your tecnicians with a problem I had I can no longer access my
    address book with all my information in it. I have tried calling but I got
    very frustrated talking to a computer. How can I get through to a
    technician?????? It won’t work no matter how hard I try–I need to have
    a verbal conversation with a live person.

  • Paul A. Walker

    How can I forward an e-mail to several people on my address book? Since changing from dial-up service to high speed, I no longer can forward messages from my address book which is now under contacts.

  • Baz

    Slightly different take on this problem, but one which I hope will help: I used ‘AOL Communicator’ (a kind of own-brand version of Outlook Express) for 3 or 4 years and then, this summer, bits started falling off it. Turns out AOL no longer support it; no, that’s an understatement – in a Stalinist rewrite of history, AOL virtually deny it ever existed.
    I downloaded the free version of Eudora, didn’t like it, got the free Mozilla Thunderbird, loved it. Now, how to get all my (many indispensible) AOL addresses…..
    This worked for me; if it floats your boat I’m delighted but if any technically-proficient people out there want to write in to say my advice is potentially lethal and a sop to Voldemort and evil Communists throughout the world that’s fine:
    1) Open AOL Communicator; go to Window/Address Book then File/Export; you’ll see it saves as an “LDIF” file – give it an easy name & save it somewhere obvious. Don’t save it in ‘Northern Rock Bank’. Close AOL Communicator and its Address Book.
    2) Open Eudora; go to File/Import; you get a small new window – click ‘Advanced’ then ‘Netscape Messenger’ (no, I don’t know why either); you’re asked to ‘Please locate your LDIF file…. /Browse…./Open’. (If you’ve stayed awake long enough to read this far I’ll assume you know how to do this.)
    3) Close Eudora and open Thunderbird. Go to ‘Tools/Import/Address Book/Next/ EUDORA!!!!!!’(bit excited there)/Next.
    4) Salivate. Rub yourself privily. Molest any nearby mammal. Thank me. Erase every last trace of AOL from your computer.
    Good luck.

  • yapay

    TRY WEBMAIL!?! don’t know if it is bcuz i use aol webmail or not BUT….and i almost hate to admit this – it was quite easy to export my aol contacts. click contacts. click tools. click export. choose format csv/text delim/ldif and go for it.
    i downloaded my contacts in all three versions and it took less than one minute.
    don’t have outlook loaded right now. am reconfiguring my pc. but as i recall, can upload spreadsheet data to outlook. know i can to dbase and dbase to outlook etc.

    i know that csv gets me into just about any place i want my contacts. try signing on to your aol by using just the webmail and see if that is the difference