Duplicate Contacts folders

[Me]

I see several posts for this subject, but none of them has exactly addressed
my problem. I apologize in advance if this issue has already been answered
elsewhere and I just didn't see it.

In the Navigation Pane of my Outlook 2003, I have a button to click labeled
Contacts. It has a bunch of contact addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc.
When I look at my Personal Folders list, I see a folder also called
Contacts. When I click on it, a somewhat different bunch of contact
addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. appear. Why the two Contacts folders
are different, I don't understand. Without going into a lot of detail, I'm
sure that I've duplicated information by copying and importing from
different Outlook pst files to the point where I don't have consistent data
across the two folders and I would like to combine everything into one.
Here's why...

I subscribe to Plaxo and I'm having a deuce of a time syncing my Outlook
contacts with Plaxo to the point where I have one good Contacts folder. The
first Contacts folder I mentioned above is mapped to a folder in Plaxo
called Contacts. After syncing, when I look at the Contacts folder in Plaxo,
it's empty, even though I have some 500+ items in the Contacts folder in
Outlook. The Contacts folder in my Personal Folders in Outlook is also
mapped in Plaxo to a folder called Personal Folders Contacts. After syncing,
when I look at the Personal Folders Contacts folder in Plaxo, it's full of
the items that are found in the Personal Folders Contact folder in Outlook.

Can someone tell me 1) why my two Outlook contacts folders might have
different data in them and , 2) how I go about combining/eliminating
contacts folders in Outlook so that I only have one good folder (I have read
about the use of categories and I don't really want to go there). Once this
is done, I will start over again with Plaxo to make sure I've got the good
folder mapped to the application.

Thanks very much for your help!

Scott
sbirkATmolallaDOTnet

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Indeed, you should never use importing for transferring Outlook data because
it causes problems like this and worse.
Use Folder List view so you can see your entire folder hierarchy. Make sure
you expand the list. Then you can tell how many Contact Folders you really
have and where they are. There is no reason you can't move the data into
your default Contacts Folder and then delete the others.

 

[Me]

Russ,

Thanks for the info. I can see where I can 'move' the Personal Folders
Contacts folder in its entirety, but if I want to put all of the contents
into the Outlook Contacts folder, is it a process of copying each item one
at a time?

Indeed, you should never use importing for transferring Outlook data
because it causes problems like this and worse.
Use Folder List view so you can see your entire folder hierarchy. Make
sure you expand the list. Then you can tell how many Contact Folders you
really have and where they are. There is no reason you can't move the data
into your default Contacts Folder and then delete the others.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I see several posts for this subject, but none of them has exactly
addressed my problem. I apologize in advance if this issue has already
been answered elsewhere and I just didn't see it.

In the Navigation Pane of my Outlook 2003, I have a button to click
labeled Contacts. It has a bunch of contact addresses, emails, phone
numbers, etc. When I look at my Personal Folders list, I see a folder
also called Contacts. When I click on it, a somewhat different bunch of
contact addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. appear. Why the two
Contacts folders are different, I don't understand. Without going into a
lot of detail, I'm sure that I've duplicated information by copying and
importing from different Outlook pst files to the point where I don't
have consistent data across the two folders and I would like to combine
everything into one. Here's why...

I subscribe to Plaxo and I'm having a deuce of a time syncing my Outlook
contacts with Plaxo to the point where I have one good Contacts folder.
The first Contacts folder I mentioned above is mapped to a folder in
Plaxo called Contacts. After syncing, when I look at the Contacts folder
in Plaxo, it's empty, even though I have some 500+ items in the Contacts
folder in Outlook. The Contacts folder in my Personal Folders in Outlook
is also mapped in Plaxo to a folder called Personal Folders Contacts.
After syncing, when I look at the Personal Folders Contacts folder in
Plaxo, it's full of the items that are found in the Personal Folders
Contact folder in Outlook.

Can someone tell me 1) why my two Outlook contacts folders might have
different data in them and , 2) how I go about combining/eliminating
contacts folders in Outlook so that I only have one good folder (I have
read about the use of categories and I don't really want to go there).
Once this is done, I will start over again with Plaxo to make sure I've
got the good folder mapped to the application.

Thanks very much for your help!

Scott
sbirkATmolallaDOTnet

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Obviously moving the folder won't do what you want. Just move the contents
of a folder using any standard cut/paste operation your prefer.
The safest is to use the commands in the Edit menu in the source folder,
such as Edit > Select All > Edit > Move to Folder..., then select the
correct target folder from the dialog box.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,

Thanks for the info. I can see where I can 'move' the Personal Folders
Contacts folder in its entirety, but if I want to put all of the contents
into the Outlook Contacts folder, is it a process of copying each item one
at a time?

Indeed, you should never use importing for transferring Outlook data
because it causes problems like this and worse.
Use Folder List view so you can see your entire folder hierarchy. Make
sure you expand the list. Then you can tell how many Contact Folders you
really have and where they are. There is no reason you can't move the
data into your default Contacts Folder and then delete the others.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I see several posts for this subject, but none of them has exactly
addressed my problem. I apologize in advance if this issue has already
been answered elsewhere and I just didn't see it.

In the Navigation Pane of my Outlook 2003, I have a button to click
labeled Contacts. It has a bunch of contact addresses, emails, phone
numbers, etc. When I look at my Personal Folders list, I see a folder
also called Contacts. When I click on it, a somewhat different bunch of
contact addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. appear. Why the two
Contacts folders are different, I don't understand. Without going into a
lot of detail, I'm sure that I've duplicated information by copying and
importing from different Outlook pst files to the point where I don't
have consistent data across the two folders and I would like to combine
everything into one. Here's why...

I subscribe to Plaxo and I'm having a deuce of a time syncing my Outlook
contacts with Plaxo to the point where I have one good Contacts folder.
The first Contacts folder I mentioned above is mapped to a folder in
Plaxo called Contacts. After syncing, when I look at the Contacts folder
in Plaxo, it's empty, even though I have some 500+ items in the Contacts
folder in Outlook. The Contacts folder in my Personal Folders in Outlook
is also mapped in Plaxo to a folder called Personal Folders Contacts.
After syncing, when I look at the Personal Folders Contacts folder in
Plaxo, it's full of the items that are found in the Personal Folders
Contact folder in Outlook.

Can someone tell me 1) why my two Outlook contacts folders might have
different data in them and , 2) how I go about combining/eliminating
contacts folders in Outlook so that I only have one good folder (I have
read about the use of categories and I don't really want to go there).
Once this is done, I will start over again with Plaxo to make sure I've
got the good folder mapped to the application.

Thanks very much for your help!

Scott
sbirkATmolallaDOTnet

 

[Me]

Thanks very much for your help, Russ.

Obviously moving the folder won't do what you want. Just move the contents
of a folder using any standard cut/paste operation your prefer.
The safest is to use the commands in the Edit menu in the source folder,
such as Edit > Select All > Edit > Move to Folder..., then select the
correct target folder from the dialog box.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,

Thanks for the info. I can see where I can 'move' the Personal Folders
Contacts folder in its entirety, but if I want to put all of the contents
into the Outlook Contacts folder, is it a process of copying each item
one at a time?

Indeed, you should never use importing for transferring Outlook data
because it causes problems like this and worse.
Use Folder List view so you can see your entire folder hierarchy. Make
sure you expand the list. Then you can tell how many Contact Folders you
really have and where they are. There is no reason you can't move the
data into your default Contacts Folder and then delete the others.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I see several posts for this subject, but none of them has exactly
addressed my problem. I apologize in advance if this issue has already
been answered elsewhere and I just didn't see it.

In the Navigation Pane of my Outlook 2003, I have a button to click
labeled Contacts. It has a bunch of contact addresses, emails, phone
numbers, etc. When I look at my Personal Folders list, I see a folder
also called Contacts. When I click on it, a somewhat different bunch of
contact addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. appear. Why the two
Contacts folders are different, I don't understand. Without going into
a lot of detail, I'm sure that I've duplicated information by copying
and importing from different Outlook pst files to the point where I
don't have consistent data across the two folders and I would like to
combine everything into one. Here's why...

I subscribe to Plaxo and I'm having a deuce of a time syncing my
Outlook contacts with Plaxo to the point where I have one good Contacts
folder. The first Contacts folder I mentioned above is mapped to a
folder in Plaxo called Contacts. After syncing, when I look at the
Contacts folder in Plaxo, it's empty, even though I have some 500+
items in the Contacts folder in Outlook. The Contacts folder in my
Personal Folders in Outlook is also mapped in Plaxo to a folder called
Personal Folders Contacts. After syncing, when I look at the Personal
Folders Contacts folder in Plaxo, it's full of the items that are found
in the Personal Folders Contact folder in Outlook.

Can someone tell me 1) why my two Outlook contacts folders might have
different data in them and , 2) how I go about combining/eliminating
contacts folders in Outlook so that I only have one good folder (I have
read about the use of categories and I don't really want to go there).
Once this is done, I will start over again with Plaxo to make sure I've
got the good folder mapped to the application.

Thanks very much for your help!

Scott
sbirkATmolallaDOTnet