Export Exchange Global Address Book – Get Best Tips

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Published By Robin Morgan
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Published On July 9th, 2026
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A user cannot export Exchange global address book directly via MS Outlook. However, these contacts can be added to contacts folder in batch. To separate the desired contacts from the personal contacts, a user can temporarily move the present contacts to a separate folder or filter the contacts at a later stage by the parameter created date or modified date. In this way, the Exchange Server contacts can be separated from personal contacts.

To export global address list from Exchange server, a user can convert these contacts to CSV or XLS file format for further usage and then, using these contacts directly from contacts folder for a Mail Merge.

If Microsoft Access is installed on the system, users can directly import Global Address List (GAL) contacts into an Access database. They can also use the imported data as a Mail Merge source. Additionally, users can export the Access data to CSV or XLSX files for further use.

Techniques to Export Exchange Global Address Book to CSV

Method 1 

To export global address list from Exchange server, a user needs to follow these set of instructions:

Step 1: Add Global Address List Contacts to Your Contacts Folder

To add the contacts from GAL to a personal folder of contacts, follow these steps:

  1. Launch your address book. The keyboard shortcut to do the same is Ctrl+Shift+B.
  2. Choose the Exchange address list which consists of the contacts.
  3. Choose all the contacts that are to be exported.
  4. Right-click on the selection made.
  5. Select the option of add to contacts.

Warning: This procedure is slow. If you select a large number of contacts, Outlook may become unresponsive for an extended period. To export the entire Global Address List (GAL), contact your Exchange administrator or system administrator for assistance. They will be able to produce that list quickly and will also require fewer resources.

Step 2: Filter and Export the Added Contacts to Export Global Address Book 2013 

  1. If you have not moved your personal contacts to any separate folder, you can still differentiate between own contacts and the contacts added from Global Access List.
  2. You have to change the sorting order or apply the filter to view your contacts. Also, you can simply use the feature of instant search. As these contacts are newly added, their created or modified date will be the same and they will be grouped together.

Tip: While customizing your Contacts view, do not forget to choose a list view such as phone list.

After grouping the transferred emails, users can easily move the filtered list of contacts to another folder. They can then export the folder using Outlook’s Export option. Alternatively, users can select the required fields and copy them directly to Microsoft Excel to export the Exchange Global Address Book from Outlook 2010.

Note: In Outlook 2007, a user can also temporarily alter the folder where to create contacts. To do this, a user has to launch the address book, then tools followed by options. Set an option of keeping personal addresses into newly generated contacts folder.

Method 2

It is the alternative approach to export Global Address List Outlook 2013. In this approach, a user has to import GAL contacts into Access. Follow the below mentioned steps:

  1. Generate a new blank database.
  2. Choose a table to export GAL to Outlook 2013.
  3. Choose the option of External data tab.
  4. Based on versions, refer these steps:
    4.1. Access 2007, Access 2010 and Access 2013.
    Under the Import and link group, hit on More button and then, choose Outlook folder4.2. Access 2016Under the Import and link group hit on the new data source button and select from other sources followed by Outlook folder.
  5. The Get External Data- Outlook Folder window will open on the screen. This allows the user to select between actually importing data or establish an active link to MS Outlook to export contacts from Global Address Book Outlook 2010.
    (This option is convenient when you work on same data frequently and that keeps on changing frequently. If it is only required to take a snapshot of the current working directory, the regular import will be suitable.)
  6. In the address books list, look for the options Offline Global Address Book and Global Address Book.
    If the Offline Global Address Book option is not available, there are chances that you are connected with the cached Exchange mode available or you have to enlarge the entry of All address list.
  7. Once the items to be imported are selected, you can leave the default or fine-tune the columns. In the next screen, you can uniquely identify each record by addition of a primary key to the table.

Note: Using Office365Import tool user can easily import Outlook contacts to Office 365 in few clicks without getting any issue.

The Bottom Line

Outlook cannot directly export contacts from Exchange Server. However, users can export the Exchange Global Address List (GAL) if Microsoft Access is installed on their system. To accomplish this, they can follow either of the two workaround methods described below to export the Exchange Global Address List in Outlook 2016. A user can choose anyone depending on the needs.

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