How do I transfer my phone numbers to an Android phone?

Question

I just bought a new Android Phone (HTC Hero), but I need to import my Outlook contacts with all their phone numbers.

Any directions as to how to do this?

Answer 1

Your aim needs to be to get the contacts in to the Google account that it is associated with the phone. Once the contacts are in Google, they should automatically synchronise to the phone.

The first step is to create a CSV from your Outlook contacts:

1. From Outlook, do the following: File -> Import and Export...

2. Choose Export to a file

3. Choose Comma separated values (DOS)

4. Select the Contacts folder

5. Choose a filename to export to and OK it

6. Hit Next and then Finish and let Outlook create the file

Now that you have your file, you need to import the CSV file in to Google Mail.

1. Log in to Google Mail in the normal way

2. Select Contacts from the left navigation bar

3. From the top right, choose Import

4. Choose the CSV that you just saved from Outlook

5. Hit the Import button

Once that has finished uploading, your contacts should be available in Google Mail. They should automatically sync up to your phone within a few minutes.

Answer 2

The easiest way would be to synchronise your contacts with your Google Account (you have one of those, right?). If your account is signed in to that Google Account all your contacts will soon appear on that phone.

Something like OggSync might help, although I'm sure there's others.

Answer 3

For others who are looking to move their contacts from a Nokia S60 phone to an Android phone, these instructions work well:

http://www.upfrontsystems.co.za/Members/gustav/the-perpetual-newbie-experience/how-to-move-contacts-from-nokia-phone-to-android-phone

The idea is essentially the same, but the aim is to create a big vCard (.vcf) file containing all the contact details in place of the CSV file.

The part requiring a command line terminal can be replicated in DOS/Windows. Instead of:

cat *.vcf > contacts.vcf

use:

type *.vcf > contacts.vcf

Works very well.

Answer 4

There is a good comparison of the available software on syncdroid

I have used the Companion Link trial. The sync worked fine, but the software on the phone was not that good. But there is a new version I did not try. I will try gsyncit next.