Manual Method to Convert Lotus Notes to Outlook

Summary – If you want to convert Lotus Notes to Outlook, you need to go through this blog to learn the best techniques for migration. You will explore all the major aspects of migration like why you need to migrate your emails and what are the best techniques. So, read the blog carefully.

Introduction

Lotus Notes is an email communication platform that allows you to communicate within and outside of organizations. It supports the NSF file format for mailbox data and is always in sync with the Lotus Domino server.

MS Outlook, on the other hand, is a widely used desktop-based email client developed by Microsoft. It allows you to manage multiple email clients. Also, it gives you all the advanced features for a better user experience. Outlook creates a backup in PST file format and works in synchronization with MS Exchange Server.

Let us discuss some reasons why a user might want to migrate files to Outlook.

Reasons to Convert Lotus Notes to Outlook

Lotus Notes was one of the most popular and advanced email clients once. However, in recent years, its popularity has declined because of its old features, complicated configuration, and difficult user interface. There are numerous reasons why you should switch from Lotus Notes to Outlook. Below we explain to you the most significant causes.

• The complex GUI of the Lotus Notes is the major reason. Because of this, a non-tech user cannot use this application without technical assistance.
• Also, IBM Notes does not allow you to log in to multiple email accounts in the application. The only way to add multiple accounts is by login into every account separately.
• Every time you use Lotus Notes you need an active Internet connection. However, Outlook requires an internet connection during sending and receiving emails and while synchronizing with the Exchange server.
• Comparatively to Lotus Notes, Outlook is compatible with smart devices and users can access their emails wherever they are.

Converting Lotus Notes to Outlook is always considered to be an excellent choice. Also, it offers all the latest and in-demand features. Now, we also provide you with the benefits of using Outlook and Exchange for different purposes.

Prominent Features of MS Outlook

• Business and academic institutions often use Microsoft Outlook for email.
• MS Outlook provides you with various advanced features like contacts, calendars, tasks, etc.
• Outlook synchronizes mailbox data with the Exchange server. It helps to save email backup on the server.
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) is a cloud version of the Outlook desktop application. It is a part of MS Office 365. So, you can manage your mailboxes from virtually anywhere.

Now, you have learned all the major benefits of MS Outlook over Lotus Notes. It is time to explore the techniques to convert Lotus Notes to Outlook.

Methods to Export Lotus Notes to Outlook

Although there are numerous methods to export Lotus Notes emails to the Outlook application, they are categorized as either manual methods or professional solutions. First, we discuss manual techniques. They are DIY solutions that are free of cost and require technical knowledge to perform the steps.

Step 1- Exporting mails from Lotus Notes

Here, you have to backup your Lotus Notes emails as CSV files and then import that CSV file to Outlook. Below are the detailed steps to migrate your mailbox data.

• Open the Lotus Notes application on your PC.
• Click on the File button and choose the Export option.
• From the drop-down menu, select the Comma Separated Value for your file.
• After that, click on the Export button.
• Click OK to export the CSV files.
• You can see the created file on the PC below.
• Now, let us move towards importing the CSV files into Outlook.

Step 2- Import the CSV Files into Outlook.

• Launch the Outlook application on your PC.
• Click on the File button in the menu bar.
• After that, click on the Open & Export option then hit on the Import/Export icon.
• In the Import and Export Wizard, select Import from another program or file. And click Next.
• Choose Comma Separated Values then press the Next button.
• Click on the Browse to select the desired location for the folder then hit on Next.
• Select the folder in Outlook where you want to import then click on the Next button.
• In the end, Click on Finish to complete the process.

The manual method to convert Lotus Notes to Outlook is easy and free to use. But the process is time-consuming and data loss can occur if the user is transferring a large amount of data. There are also numerous flaws in the DIY techniques which make these methods obsolete.

Limitations of Manual Approach

• Using the manual methods you can not convert emails in bulk. These techniques only allow you to backup one email at a time.
• The procedure requires sound technical expertise which most users do not have. Therefore, they refrain from following the standard steps.
• CSV is meant for storing tabular data. You cannot expect to hold import email messages in it and then import them in another program without losing the necessary attributes and other metadata.
• The manual technique is a DIY process and as such users do not get any guarantee of data security. It means while performing this methodology you may have to suffer from data loss.

Because of all these drawbacks of manual solutions. Manual procedures become suitable for only technical experts or advanced users. For beginners, I would suggest the professional Lotus Notes Converter which saves time and effort.

Professional Method to Export Lotus Notes to Outlook

Although the manual method seems feasible, it can only import one NSF file at a time. There will be only one PST mailbox folder imported. So, use the professional NSF to PST Converter tool to convert Lotus Notes to Outlook files easily. Along with all the characteristics, the free version allows you to evaluate the tool before investing.

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Conclusion                                                                          

In this blog, we have discussed the basics of Lotus Notes and MS Outlook. Also, we learn some points about MS Exchange as well. The steps that we have performed in the manual method to convert Lotus Notes to Outlook were easy but complicated and time-consuming. So, we suggest you an alternate method that is more convenient than the manual method.