Microsoft Outlook is a personal organizer that focuses mainly on email but also includes a calendar, task manager and content manager. Gmail is a product of Google, which focuses solely on email. If you want to combine these two programs, you must export your Gmail settings and import them into Microsoft Outlook. This task is simple using Outlook 2010.
Log in to your Gmail account. Click the "Settings" link in the top right-hand corner. Choose the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab, then look for "POP Download" in the left column. POP stands for "Post Office Protocol" and allows you to download emails from the Google server to Microsoft Office (and other programs.) Choose either "Enable POP for all mail" or "Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on." Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the screen.
Click on "File" in the "Outlook" menu, then scroll down to "Info." Under the "Account Information" tab, click on the "Add Account" button.
Enter your user information under "Email Account" beginning with your full name as you would like it to appear on the receiving end. Enter your Gmail email address as well as the password you use for your Gmail account. Click "Next" and wait for Outlook to find the account. This should only take a few seconds, and Outlook will notify you with a message once it accomplishes this task.
Export your contacts from Gmail by clicking on "Contacts" in the left sidebar. Choose "Export" in the top right-hand corner of the window that pops up. Mark whether you want to export only a group of your contacts or all of them. Choose the "Outlook CSV" option by clicking the circle next to it. Click "Export" and save the file to your desktop.
Import your contacts into Outlook by clicking "File" followed by "Open." Click on the "Import" option, and a wizard will pop up. Select "Import from another program or file," then click "Next." On the next screen, choose "Comma Separated Values (DOS)" by clicking on it from the list of options. Click "Next" again.
Click the "Browse" button and find your "Saved Contacts" file, which can usually be found on your desktop unless you have changed the default settings. Click "Next" to move to the next screen. Choose "Contacts" as a destination for the file. Click "Finish" to conclude the wizard.
Log in to your Gmail account. Click the "Settings" link in the top right-hand corner. Choose the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab, then look for "POP Download" in the left column. POP stands for "Post Office Protocol" and allows you to download emails from the Google server to Microsoft Office (and other programs.) Choose either "Enable POP for all mail" or "Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on." Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the screen.
Click on "File" in the "Outlook" menu, then scroll down to "Info." Under the "Account Information" tab, click on the "Add Account" button.
Enter your user information under "Email Account" beginning with your full name as you would like it to appear on the receiving end. Enter your Gmail email address as well as the password you use for your Gmail account. Click "Next" and wait for Outlook to find the account. This should only take a few seconds, and Outlook will notify you with a message once it accomplishes this task.
Export your contacts from Gmail by clicking on "Contacts" in the left sidebar. Choose "Export" in the top right-hand corner of the window that pops up. Mark whether you want to export only a group of your contacts or all of them. Choose the "Outlook CSV" option by clicking the circle next to it. Click "Export" and save the file to your desktop.
Import your contacts into Outlook by clicking "File" followed by "Open." Click on the "Import" option, and a wizard will pop up. Select "Import from another program or file," then click "Next." On the next screen, choose "Comma Separated Values (DOS)" by clicking on it from the list of options. Click "Next" again.
Click the "Browse" button and find your "Saved Contacts" file, which can usually be found on your desktop unless you have changed the default settings. Click "Next" to move to the next screen. Choose "Contacts" as a destination for the file. Click "Finish" to conclude the wizard.