Problems importing contacts from Google

[freedda]

I followed the instructions to bring over my contacts from Google, however, the imported list act strangely, or not at all.

First, when I looked at a few of the database files I created, the emails were often in odd fields like, 'Address 2' and so forth. It seems that there were some options to alter this, but I wasn't sure what the correct fix would be.

I finally did import a contact list into T-bird, but now what shows up are the people's names AND their emails, as separate entries. So, when go to enter email addresses in the To, CC, or BCC fields the auto fill feature will give me David at Work, and a separate entry for my work email; or an entry for my friend 'Anita' and another one for her email. So, I'm getting names (without emails attached to them) along with emails addresses in the email list?

Luckily, I did not import my entire list, so I can always start over, but I don't know what steps I'd take to correct this.

Any thoughts on what I can do to fix this.

Thanks, David.

[tanstaafl]

Whose instructions did you follow?

Normally you need to remap what field is used. i.e. what field should Thunderbird use for the primary email address, which one for the name etc. Sometimes its easier to do that by loading the .csv file into spreadsheet software such as Excel and edit it there.

[mgagnonlv]

I didn't import contacts from Google for a long long time. Last time I did it, I had an issue with addresses, but since then, Google has streamlined its addresses on a single line. Will it help or not? I don't know.

Anyway, the process I used was the following:
– Export Google contacts to a "CSV" file.
– Export Thunderbird contacts to another CSV file. I did that just to check what was the name of each field; I then updated the 1st CSV file to make sure the fields had *exactly* the same names.
– Import the Google.csv file in Thunderbird.

One caveat, though: if you do that, your contacts will be in a local file in Thunderbird, so if you add or update your contacts, you will have to update them in Thunderbird (for computer use) and on Google for web and telephone use.


So if you use a telephone, I would suggest that you use one of the following two extensions and connect to your Contacts on Google. That way, you will be able to have your up-to-date contacts both on Thunderbird and on your phone (and on the web).

– gContactSync
A simple add-on that connects to your Google account and uses its contact to populate a second address book. I occasionally had issues with it, so I stopped using it about 1 – 1.5 years ago.

– Cardbook
It is really a much improved version of the traditional address book. This is the one I currently use. It allows the use of a local address book, as well as those from Google and a number of WebDAV and Exchange (i.e. corporate) servers.
It takes more time to master, but once you get the kick out of it, you'll love it.
I find that Cardbook is also much more reliable than gContactSync.

[freedda]

Anyway, the process I used was the following: ...

One caveat, though: if you do that, your contacts will be in a local file in Thunderbird, so if you add or update your contacts, you will have to update them in Thunderbird (for computer use) and on Google for web and telephone use ... So if you use a telephone,

Thanks Michael. I will try your method. Just reading about it, and it seems to make sense.

As to keeping contacts updated, you described two methods for phone. I wonder if there's a way to 'snyc' my Google contact list with T-bird on my computer (Win10)?

Best, David.

[mgagnonlv]

I never used Windows 10 contacts, as I had been a Thunderbird user long before, since the days of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

The "Cardbook" extension will actually use your contacts from Google (as well as local contacts. So if you make sure all your contacts are on Google Contacts, Cardbook will allow you to use them in Thunderbird (just like the original address book). And it automatically syncs both ways, so that you can create/modify contacts in Thunderbird and you'll see them on your phone or vice versa.

[freedda]

The "Cardbook" extension will actually use your contacts from Google (as well as local contacts. So if you make sure all your contacts are on Google Contacts, Cardbook will allow you to use them in Thunderbird (just like the original address book). And it automatically syncs both ways, so that you can create/modify contacts in Thunderbird and you'll see them on your phone or vice versa.

Thanks again Michael. But tell me, where do I find this 'cardbook' extension? And what do I do with it once I find it?

Best, David

[tanstaafl]

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/th ... ok/?src=ss