Generate Contacts CSV from SpreadSheet

Question

My goal

is to use a spread-sheet that has company employees info & to be able to generate a contacts csv/vcard such that when we create new emails I can simply import only the most current and useful contacts ( aka the ones in the SpreadSheet)

I know there are different types of formats for contact-info that are wide-spread.

Like:

1. Microsoft Outlook
2. Gmail
3. Apple vCard

Is there a way to take cell delimited data in excel, or google-sheets, etc. Where there is a first name column, last, email, etc. & convert that data into a csv or vcf since they are basically just text-files? Ideally without vba.

I know google has join and split, formulas that are useful for creating delimited lists ( or separating them ).

I tried searching for sources on the structure of these formats, or to try to study them myself by creating them with my gmail by exporting my contacts and then opening them in note-pad ... but the text wall I see is very difficult to read or understand.

Answer 1

Do you mean you want to just clear out the existing address book and then import a csv file with all the current contacts you need? This method is actually great in my experience as you can save backups csv files, update them, and import them across different programs...even map custom fields if you want!

To edit the csv file, you can use Excel (or LibreOffice) just like you would any spreadsheet...but make sure you save it in csv format when you're done. Each row is a separate contact and their information fields will be based on the values in each column. Don't bother formatting it or making it look nice since it won't be saved in csv format.

To get the csv file structure/headers you'll need, just use the export function in either Outlook or Gmail. Here's some links:

http://www.copytrans.net/support/how-to-import-csv-contacts-to-outlook/ http://email.about.com/od/gmailtips/qt/How_to_Export_Your_Gmail_Contacts.htm

Answer 2

It's not that simple as choose CSV. MS Excel offers a few different CSV formats, which are available in the Save As Type drop down menu when you choose Save As. The different CSV formats are:

Text (Tab delimited) This creates a text document with your cells separated by tabs.

Formatted Text (space delimited) This uses space to separate cell data.

CSV (Comma delimited) This is an actual CSV file extension and thusly separates your data with actual commas.

CSV (Macintosh) This is for those few Apple users out there. Uses Apples CR standard.

CSV (MS-DOS) This was used for Pre-Windows PCs.

On the flip side, viewing a CSV file in Excel is just as simple. Open your CSV file with Excel, it'll have everything in one column but on multiple lines. Start by going to the "Data" tab, then select "Text to Columns". It'll ask a few things about the data before separating it into columns. This may be the trick you need to make that file you made in note-pad readable.

You may want/need to try each of these to see how they behave when importing the delimited file into your mail clients contacts. You may also have to rearrange the columns to import properly with the client as well.

Good luck and Enjoy!

Answer 3

Microsoft Excel allows you to save spreadsheets as csv files.

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save As.

The Save As dialog box appears.

In the Save as type box, choose CSV.