Outlook sync with Gmail

For a Gmail account in Outlook for Windows, email and contacts are handled differently:

1. When a Google account is added to Outlook, mail syncs via IMAP, but contacts do not automatically appear as an Outlook Contacts folder unless they are either:
   • Imported into Outlook as contacts, or
   • Synced via the Microsoft cloud integration that supports Google contacts.
2. To get Gmail contacts into Outlook when nothing appears under Contacts after a “successful” setup, export contacts from Google and import them into Outlook:
   1. In Google Contacts, export contacts to a CSV file (for example, contacts.csv). Ensure All contacts or the correct group is selected.
   2. Open the exported CSV in Excel and confirm that it contains data (names, email addresses, etc.). If the file is empty, delete it and repeat the export until the CSV clearly contains contact data.
   3. When closing the CSV in Excel, always choose Yes when prompted to keep the CSV format; otherwise the file may not work for import.
   4. In Outlook, use the Import/Export feature to import the CSV into the Contacts folder.
3. If, after import, no contacts appear in Outlook, verify again that the CSV actually contains data. If it does not, repeat the export from Google and then re-import into Outlook.
4. If using Outlook for Mac with a Google account instead of Windows, only specific fields sync (name, title, company, department, nickname, emails, phones, notes), and some Google contact fields (like address type or images) are not fully supported or editable in Outlook.

References:

• No contacts appear in Outlook after import
• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook
• Known issues syncing Google accounts to the Microsoft Cloud

Hi Peter Byrnes

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum. In Classic Outlook for Windows, a Gmail account added as IMAP will sync email only, not Contacts or Calendar, so it’s expected that Gmail contacts don’t appear as an Outlook Contacts folder. See: Sync basics - what you can and cannot sync - Microsoft Support 

Please confirm:  

• Is this a personal Gmail (@gmail.com) or Google Workspace account?  
• Do you need ongoing two-way sync, or is a one-time import into Outlook enough? 

I would love to hear from you soon. Have a lovely day!