Import A CSV File from Argenta into Outlook 365

Any mailing list in Argenta can be exported as a CSV file and imported straight into Outlook, so the people you already track in Argenta show up in your Outlook contacts without retyping a single address.

Step 1: Export the list from Argenta

1. Go to Communication > Manage Mailing Lists.
2. Click the green Open List icon on the list you want. The Mail Room List Workspace opens on List Members.
3. Narrow the list first if you only want part of it. The search box and both switches above the list (Include "No Solicit" Constituents In List, and Include Constituents Who Cannot Receive Email, Mail or Text Messages, depending on the list type) all apply to the export, so what you see on screen is what you get in the file.
4. Click Export List. Your browser downloads a file named after the list, like MajorDonors_Export.csv.

You need to be an admin or have the Can Export Lists To Excel permission to see the Export List button.

Manage Mailing Lists sits under Sending Email in the left menu.

The green Open List icon on a list opens its workspace.

List Members is the second item in the Workspace Menu.

The search box and the switches above the list shape what Export List gives you.

You need a mailing list before you can export one. For help creating one, see Add Mailing Lists, and for working with one, see Using Mailing Lists.

What is in the file

The columns depend on the type of list, and every file has a header row that Outlook reads as field names.

• Email List. First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Cell Phone (blank when the member has none). This is the one you want for Outlook contacts.
• Mail List. First Name, Last Name, the three salutations, three address lines, City, State, Postal Code, Country, a combined city and state and postal column, and Is Solicit Ok.
• Text List. First Name, Last Name, Mobile Number, Mobile Provider, and Is Solicit Ok.

A Text List export leaves out anyone with no mobile number. Email List and Mail List exports include everyone on the list, with or without an address.

Step 2: Import the file into Outlook 365

Outlook is Microsoft's product and the exact screens move around between the new Outlook, Outlook on the web, and the classic desktop app, so the short version is this: find the import option under your contacts or People area, choose to import from a comma separated values (CSV) file, browse to the file Argenta gave you, and pick the contacts folder you want the people added to.

Two things are worth pausing on when the wizard offers them:

• Duplicates. Outlook asks whether to replace existing contacts, allow duplicates, or skip duplicates. If your Argenta data is the more current of the two, replace. If you are not sure, skip duplicates and review afterward.
• Field mapping. Outlook matches our header row to its own contact fields on its own. If anything looks off, use its map fields option to line up First Name, Last Name, and Email Address by hand before you finish.

For the current screens in your version, Microsoft keeps its own walkthrough at Import contacts to Outlook.

Good to know

• The export is a snapshot, not a live link. Changes you make in Argenta later do not flow into Outlook, so re-export and re-import when you want a refresh.
• The CSV opens fine in Excel or Google Sheets if you want to check it or trim it before importing.
• If you have more than one email account in Outlook, choose the Contacts folder under the account you actually want these people attached to.

For the classic Outlook desktop path with the field mapping detail, see Import A CSV File from Argenta into Outlook Contacts.