Outlook Contacts into Public Folder

[Robert A]

1. Using Outlook, is there a way to import contacts from a CSV file directly
into a Public Folder? (The Import dialog only shows folders within my
mailbox.)

2. Is there a limit to how many contacts can be imported into a contact
folder?
The employee has a list of 10,000 contacts that she would like to import
from a CSV file.

Thank you.

 

[Francine Otterson [MVP - Outlook]]

I am not sure of a the limit on how many can be imported but have worked
with Public Folder Contacts with over 20,0000 entries.

The more important thing to consider is that Public Folders are going away
and SharePoint will be used starting with Exchange 2007. Depending on your
timeline for Exchange 2007 you may want to wait to put them on SharePoint.
If this is not an option then create a shared mailbox with contacts.

--
Regards,

Francine Otterson
President, San Diego Outlook User Group
MVP - Microsoft Outlook

 

[Robert A]

First, thank you for verifying the number of contacts you have seen in your
experience.

Do you have an answer to the question regarding Importing with Outlook
directly into a Public Folder?

:
I am not sure of a the limit on how many can be imported but have worked
with Public Folder Contacts with over 20,0000 entries.

Second, I would like your clarification on the statement you made.

I have not heard anything to the effect of Public Folders going away with
Exchange 2007, but it is a deprecating feature and would be discontinued with
the NEXT version following Exchange 2007.

Here is a link that I have that deals with the public folder question:

-----------------------
http://spaces.msn.com/russkaufmann/Blog/cns!9628511B4C1D269C!390.entry
Russ Kaufmann / A Working Geek's Life / February 21
Exchange 2007 and Public Folders
It appears that the rumors of the demise of Public Folders has been greatly
exaggerated. Per the Exchange Team Blog, Exchange 12 (Exchange 2007) will
continue to support public folders and will actually improve manageability.
Personally, I recommend using SharePoint Services (Windows SharePoint
Services - WSS) and SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) for collaborate
application development for all future in-house initiatives and strongly
suggest moving any public folder applications that you might have to WSS or
SPS in the near future.
The writing is on the wall that WSS and SPS are the way to do this in the
future.
-------------


For this particular solution, we only will use this for 6-12 months, so we
are not worried about the public folder question (yet !).

Thanks,

 

[Leon Hao [MSFT]]

Hi,

If I understood properly, your issue is: you are searching a way to
directly import from CSV file to Public Folder.

Is that correct?

As far as I know, it is by design that you cannot import CSV file directly
into a public folder.

The reason is performance - the import/export wizard walks through the
complete tree to get every single folder (can be used as destination
folder) and if the PF server contains lots of folders this would have a
huge impact on the performance of the wizard. Therefore our Dev team
decided not to offer the import/export from/into Public Folders.

The current workaround is to import the data to the mail box first and then
manually drag the contacts into the public folder.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this by design feature may cause. If you
need some more assistant, please feel free to let me know.


Regards,

Leon Hao

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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[Robert A]

Ok, thank you.

 

[Francine Otterson [MVP - Outlook]]

Ooops, yes you can import to a Public Folder. If you select the Contact
Public Folder then select File - Import Export - Import from another
program.

--
Regards,

Francine Otterson
President, San Diego Outlook User Group
MVP - Microsoft Outlook

 

[Robert A]

The information you provided conflicts with the information provided by the
Microsoft rep in the earlier reply.

I tried the steps you suggest, but in the Select Destination Folder, there
are no public folders available for selection.

 

[Leon Hao [MSFT]]

Hi,

Yes, this is what expected.

For the performance reason, we decided not to add this feature into
Import/Export Wizard.


Regards,

Leon Hao

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.