Exchange Online and Outlook

In this FAQ, we explain how you can easily import your contacts using a CSV file in Editions, Microsoft 365, Editions, and Office 365. Before importing contacts, you should first export the contacts from another email service to a CSV file. Once you have saved the CSV file on your local computer, you can begin importing the contacts. Follow these steps to achieve your goal:

Step 1: Sign in to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

Step 2: Click on the "All Apps" button.

Step 3: In the next menu, scroll down to "All Apps" and click on the "People" button. Alternatively, you can switch to the Contacts tab in Outlook.

Step 4: Now click on "Manage" in the top right-hand corner and then on "Import contacts".

Step 5: In the next window, you will now be prompted to upload a CSV file. Click on the "Browse" button. Now select the CSV file you created earlier from your computer and confirm by clicking on "Import".

Step 6: Your contacts have now been successfully imported into Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

Notes on the CSV file: You can also create a new CSV file in which you enter your contacts in order to import them. You can use Excel for this, for example. In a blank workbook, add the desired content as column headings in the first row. These could be first name, last name, position, email address 1, telephone (private), telephone (business), mobile phone and website. You can find further options on this Microsoft page. You can then enter the desired information for a contact in each new row. The document should then be saved in CSV-UTF-8 format (separated by commas).

If you want to share a calendar with a colleague in Microsoft 365, you can do so via the Microsoft 365 portal, among other ways. First, log in to Office 365 and then switch to the web version of Outlook. Outlook will then open in a new browser tab. Click on the calendar icon on the left-hand side of the window.

You will then find yourself in the Outlook calendar view. Now click on the Share button in the top right-hand corner of the window.

A window will now open where you can add people with whom you want to share your calendar. You can also manage the permissions of people with whom you have shared your calendar here.

Enter the email address of the person with whom you wish to share your calendar and select the permissions you wish to grant them for your calendar:

• Can show when I am busy
• Can display titles and locations
• Can display all details
• Can edit

The invited employee will now receive an email containing a link to add the shared calendar to their own Outlook Web App. The email also contains a link allowing the employee who created the share to grant access to their own calendar.

In the Microsoft 365 portal, you will find the calendars shared with you in the "People's calendars" section on the left-hand side. There, you can view them, overlay them or remove them again.

How to share calendars in Outlook on Windows and macOS

Follow these steps to share a calendar in the Outlook application on Windows:

1. First, switch to the calendar view in Outlook.
2. Then click on Share Calendar at the top of the menu bar and select the calendar you want to share.
3. In the next step, a window with the permissions will open. Now click on Add.
4. In the next step, select all the people with whom you want to share your calendar.
5. An overview of the selected persons will now open, and you will have the option to define the permissions for each person.
6. By clicking OK, you confirm the settings and share the calendar with the selected people.

On Mac, the procedure and user interface differ slightly:

1. Here, too, you first switch to the calendar view in Outlook.
2. Now click on Calendar Permissions in the menu bar at the top.
3. Another window will open with a list of people who have been granted access to your calendar and an overview of their permissions.
4. Click on + here and search by name or email address for the person you want to share your calendar with, then select the desired permissions.
5. Click the Add button to share your calendar with the selected person.

If you have only used Outlook in conjunction with a non-Exchange server up to now, your calendar and contacts will only be stored locally. Below, we describe how you can transfer both to your cloud-based mailbox.

First, you need to export the existing Outlook structure. To do this, click on "File" at the top left of the Outlook window. This will open the menu shown below. Click on "Options". The options menu will now open. Switch to the "Advanced" tab and locate the "Export" section.

The "Import/Export Wizard" will now open. Here, select the option "Export to file".

In the next step, select the file type to be created: "Outlook data file (.pst)". In the next step, select which Outlook areas you want to save in the export file. Click on the name of your email account to export the entire mailbox. After clicking "Next", select a storage location and give the export file a name. The default name is "backup.pst".

If the Outlook data file and the integrated mailbox are to be exported, this process must be performed once for each account. Once all accounts have been exported, you can either remove the current Outlook profile or create another profile.

To do this, click on 'File' in the top left corner of the Outlook main menu and switch to the 'Information' tab. Then select 'Manage Profiles' from the 'Account Settings' menu.

In the "Profiles" section, click on the "Show profiles..." button. Now you can remove the current Outlook profile and add a new one. After starting Outlook, you will be asked to specify a mailbox. Enter the login details for your Microsoft 365/Office 365 mailbox here.

Then switch back to the Import/Export Wizard. This time, select the option 'Import from other programmes or files'.

Then select the file you want to import. An overview of the folders and files to be imported will now appear, and you can choose which mailbox the import should be made to. Depending on whether you want to migrate multiple accounts, this process must be carried out once for each file to be imported.

The import is now complete. All emails, contacts and calendar files are available in your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 email account. The local Outlook now automatically synchronises the data with Exchange Online. You can now also access the mailbox to the same extent via the Outlook Web App.

To migrate emails from your old email provider (IMAP) to Online, we recommend using the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre:

Using the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre for IMAP migration

After adding your users to Microsoft 365 or Office 365, you can use IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) to migrate these users' emails from their previous server to Exchange Online.

Step 1: Log in via the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre.

Step 2: Navigate to Setup > Data Migration.

Step 3: A page will open where you will find a selection of common email providers.

Step 4: Now perform the following steps:

Your provider will be listed: Select your provider to begin the migration. In the next step, a page will open where you will see all your users listed with their source email addresses pre-filled.

Please note: When migrating from Gmail, your users must create an app password, which you will use instead of the users' account passwords. If you want to migrate emails from Outlook or Hotmail, your users must set up two-factor authentication and also create an app password. The app password is also used here instead of the account password when connecting Hotmail or Outlook to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

Your provider is not listed: Select Other email sources.

On the following page, you must now manually enter the IMAP server name and the correct port, and select the encryption type. You can usually find this information from your email provider. Add the email address of the mailbox to be migrated and the corresponding password.

Confirm now by clicking Save and the connection will be tested. You will then see the users you have added listed on the Email Migration Status page with the email addresses you have provided.

This and the following steps are now the same for all email providers:

• Next, select all users whose emails you want to migrate, then enter both the email alias and password (or app password in the case of Gmail, Hotmail, and Outlook).
• After entering the required information, select Start migration.
• Once the status is Synchronised, IMAP Migration will continue to synchronise with the source email regularly until you select Stop Migration. Once you are finished, click Close Connection.

Please note: In some cases, domain owners may need to create DNS records for Microsoft after migration is complete so that emails can be delivered to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 mailboxes. To add your own domain, follow the steps on this page.

Important information about migrating IMAP mailboxes

The following restrictions apply when migrating IMAP mailboxes to Microsoft 365 or Exchange Online:

• Only items from the inbox or other subfolders of a user or email address can be migrated. You cannot migrate contacts, calendar items, or tasks, as these are not stored in the IMAP mailbox.
• A maximum of 500,000 items or emails can be migrated from a user's mailbox.
• The maximum message size that can be migrated is 35 MB, as Exchange Online cannot receive or process larger emails.

Additional ways to migrate IMAP mailboxes to Exchange Online

In addition to the convenient method via the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre, Microsoft also offers other ways to migrate IMAP mailboxes to Exchange Online. You can find detailed instructions for this in the Microsoft documentation:

• Using PowerShell for an IMAP migration to Microsoft 365
• Migration of other types of IMAP mailboxes to Microsoft 365 or Office 365