Importing Outlook 2002 .pst into Outlook on new Mac

by maryde Apr 17, 2011 2:26PM PDT

HI! I just bought a new Mac and am transitioning from PC to Mac. I have Outlook 2002 on my old PC and am trying to import all the email to the version of Outlook that came with my Office for Mac 2011. It keeps telling me I can't import the old email because it's in the wrong format:

"Outlook for Mac
can only import Unicode-based .pst files which are the standard
format for Personal Folders files for Outlook (for Windows) 2003 and
later versions. ANSI-formatted .pst files, also known as Outlook 97-2002
Personal Folders Files, were the standard personal folder format for
saving data in Outlook for Windows in versions 97-2002. This file format
can't be imported into Outlook for Mac. If you have the older version
of ANSI-formatted .pst file, there is no automated procedure to convert
that file to the newer file format. However, you can create a new
Outlook Data File (.pst) in Microsoft Outlook for Windows 2003 or later,
and then import items from the older file into the new file. You can
then import the new .pst file into Outlook for Mac. For more information
about how to create .pst files and importing items, see Help for your
version of Outlook for Windows."

Any suggestions as to how I can get my old email onto my new Mac?

Thank you in advance for the help!

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -

The answer is in that explanation.

by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Apr 17, 2011 9:52PM PDT

Fire up the old PC and launch Outlook
Create a new PST file in the correct format, not Outlook 97-2002.
Import the data from the original PST file into the new one.
Quit Outlook
Copy the new PST onto a thumbdrive and put it on the Mac.
Launch Outlook on the Mac and import the PST file.

- Collapse -

Thanks!

by maryde Apr 18, 2011 3:57PM PDT

Thanks!! I ended up downloading Office 2010 which automatically imported all the old email, but still saved it in the wrong format. So, I created a new Outlook data file, renamed the pst so it would import into the new Outlook data file, backed the new data file up on an external hard drive and Voila! it finally imported into Outlook on the Mac. (Or at least it is importing right now. I guess I shouldn't get too excited until it is finished and I verify it is working correctly!)

- Collapse -

Do you have any access to a newer version of Outlook?

by Bill Osler Apr 18, 2011 8:24AM PDT

If you can copy your PST file to a newer Outlook version then you could use the newer version to convert from ANSI to Unicode.

Alternatively, you could sider downloading a trial version of Outlook and use it to make the conversion to a unicode version that you could then import on the Mac.

There are also utilities that are sold for converting unicode PST files to other formats.

I have not used any of these options, and I don't have access to Outlook 2002 so I cannot test any of them. YMMV.

- Collapse -

Thanks!

by maryde Apr 18, 2011 3:57PM PDT

Thanks!! I ended up downloading Office 2010 which automatically imported
all the old email, but still saved it in the wrong format. So, I
created a new Outlook data file, renamed the pst so it would import into
the new Outlook data file, backed the new data file up on an external
hard drive and Voila! it finally imported into Outlook on the Mac. (Or
at least it is importing right now. I guess I shouldn't get too excited
until it is finished and I verify it is working correctly!)

- Collapse -

Importing ANSI .pst files into Windows for Mac

by KEHartsough Aug 2, 2011 11:05AM PDT

I have the same issue with an older Windows .pst file that I'd like to use with Outlook 2011 for Mac.

However, I no longer have any Windows PCs - everything we have is Apple.

What are the utilities that might convert the ANSI pst to something Mac Outlook could open?

I haven't had a luck yet trying to locate them on google.

Thanks.

- Collapse -

Make that call to MSFT

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 2, 2011 11:14AM PDT

I bet someone there runs a WIndows old version and can do this.

Importing Outlook 2002 .pst into Outlook on new Mac

CNET Forums

Other Forums

Forum Info