The reason that notesdo not always import from Outlookinto ACT! is the format in which Outlookexports the notes. Outlookexports extra characters such as carriage returns and line breaks thatinterfere with the import. These extra characters must be removed beforeimporting it into ACT!.

To remove the carriagereturns and line breaks that are causing the issues, you will need to exportyour Outlook data to a ExcelCSV (Comma Separated Value) file, create a temporary macro to scan this file toremove any of these characters from the document, and then import into ACT!.

ExportOutlook ContactData:

The first step is toexport the contacts as a Comma Separated Values (DOS) file. Use the followingsteps:

Note: The following information is provided asa convenience. Sage Software, Small Business Division, does not provide supportfor Microsoft Products. For more information on this topic go to Microsoft.com

1. Click Contacts on the left navigation bar in Outlook. The Contacts view appears.
2. Click the File menu, and then click Import and Export. The Import and Export Wizard appears.
3. Click Export to a file, and then click Next. The Export to a file dialog box appears.
4. Click Comma Separated Values (DOS), and then click Next. The following Export to a file dialog box appears:
5. Click the Contacts folder, and then click Next. Another Export to a file dialog box appears.
6. Click the Browse button. A Browse dialog box appears.
7. Navigate (if necessary) to the desired Save in location for the export file (the Windows Desktop is suggested), enter a File name, (take care to note the name and location of this text file) and then click OK to save the file. The third Export to a file dialog box re-appears with the Save exported file as: field populated with the file name of your export file. Click Next to continue. The following Export to a file dialog box appears:
8. Click the Map Custom Fields button. The Map Custom Fields dialog box appears:
9. Ensure that the Outlook Notes field is included in the list of fields being exported, and then click OK.
10. Click Finish at the Export to a File dialog box to complete the export process.

RemovingUnnecessary Characters:

Once the CSV file hasbeen created, you can use Microsoft Excel to clean up formatting issues in thefile. Use the following steps:

Note: The following information is provided asa convenience. Sage Software, Small Business Division, does not provide supportfor Microsoft Products. For more information on this topic go to Microsoft.com

1. Launch Microsoft Excel, click the File menu, and then click Open. An Open dialog box appears.
2. Change the Files of type to Text Files (*.prn; *.txt; *.csv), navigate to and Open the .csv file exported in the procedure above.
3. Press ALT+F11 to open the macro editor. The Microsoft Visual Basic utility launches.
4. Click the Insert menu, and then click Module. The Module1 window appears:
5. Type the text below into the Module1 window. (as illustrated above).
   
   Sub CleanMe()
   Dim cel As Range
   Application.ScreenUpdating = False
   For Each cel In ActiveSheet.UsedRange
   cel = Application.Clean(cel) (Use the tab key to indent this line of the code.)
   Next cel
   Application.ScreenUpdating = True
   End Sub
6. Press ALT+F11, to close the Visual Basic window.
7. Press ALT+F8. The Macro dialog box appears:
8. Click CleanMe from the Macro name box, and then click the Run button. The file will be cleaned
9. When completed Save the Excel (.csv) file, and then Close Excel.

Importingthe CSV File into ACT!:

Note: Beforeproceeding with any of the following steps it is recommended that you perform abackup of the destination database(s):

Before mergingdatabases, it is imperative to verify the duplicate matching criteria in thedestination database.

Duplicate Matching Criteria:

1. Click the Tools menu, and then click Preferences. The Preferences dialog box appears:
2. Under the General Tab, click the Duplicate Checking button. The Duplicate Checking dialog box appears; prompting you to verify the fields and field order that will best distinguish duplicate contacts in the databases you will be merging.
   
   Note: Browse users will not have access to this feature.
3. Click OK to close the Duplicate Checking dialog box and save the settings.

Importing:

1. Open the database that you wish to import your Outlook Contact Data into. (the destination database)
2. Click the File menu, then click Import. The Import Wizard launches.
3. If the Welcome to the Import Wizard dialog box appears, enable the Check to hide in the future option (if desired), and then click Next. The Specify Source dialog box appears:
4. Ensure that Text Delimited is displayed in the What type of file do you want to import? field.
5. Click the browse button to the right of the File name and location field. An Open dialog box appears:
6. Navigate to (if necessary), click the text delimited file you created above, and then click Open.
7. Click Next. The Specify record type(s) dialog box appears:
8. Enable the Contact Records option, and then click Next. The Specify Import Options dialog box appears:
9. Enable the Comma option, and then click Next. The Predefined Map Files dialog box appears:
   
   Important Note: If the Yes, import the first record option is enabled while importing a Text Delimited file, the Contact Map will NOT display correctly. This is a known issue that is under investigation. Please be sure to clear this option.
10. Enable the Do not use a predefined map file option, and then click Next. The Contact Map dialog appears:
11. The Map from this field column represents the fields in the Text Delimited (source) file that is being imported. The To this field column represents the fields in the current (destination) ACT! 2005 database. Complete the mapping by ensuring the To this field column has an entry for each field that you wish to receive data into. If a field is not mapped in the To this field column, any data in the source field will not be imported into the ACT! 2005 database. To change the mapping of a particular field, click in the To this Field column, and then click the proper field from the drop-down.
    If the source column does not list entries as expected, click the advance button to advance to the next record in the source file. You may need to click this button several times to find a record from the source file that will give you complete mapping information.
12. Ensure that the Notes field from the Map from this field column is mapped to Add to ACT! Notes in the To this field column.
13. When all fields have been mapped as desired, click Next. The Specify Merge Options dialog box appears:
    
    Note: If you find that First Name and Last Name are not listed on the To this field side of the Contact Map, you must update ACT! 2005 to the 7.0.1 (or higher) version. Click the following link for detailed Update information.
    
    Note: you can only map a field to one other field, selecting the field again in this list will blank or remove the first selection.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Note: Enabling the Confirm each match option will create a warning for any Contact that matches on two or more duplicate checking criteria fields, if you have the possibility of having many contacts in either database that will match some of the criteria you will be prompted to manually confirm every match, this can cause delays with a large number of matching Contacts.
14. Click the Contact Merge Options button The Contact Merge Options dialog box appears:
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    If source records match destination records (according the your Duplicate Matching Criteria), merge options allow you to combine the data in duplicate records, replace with the newest data, replace with the source data or leave the data unchanged. This applies only to duplicate records:
    
    Merge - Imports data only into fields that are blank in the destination record
    Replace with the newest contact - Populates all fields with the newest data from either record
    Replace with the source contact - Replaces all fields with source data
    Do not change - Leaves all data in destination record unchanged
    
    Note: If these merge options are not adequate, you may create new fields in the destination database, and map these for the import of your data. Once the data is in the destination database, you can use the Replace feature in ACT! to copy (or swap) data between two different fields in your ACT! 2005 database. For information in using the Replace feature, refer to the following document:
    
    
    
15. When the options have been set, click Next. The Completing Import Wizard dialog box appears:
16. Review your settings, and click Finish to begin the import process. A progress indicator appears as the text file is imported:

Note: The amount of time required for an importis dependent on the amount of data being imported (Contacts, Activities,Notes/History, Opportunities, and so on), the speed of the computer performingthe import, and the available network bandwidth if accessing a database storedon a network drive. Please do not interrupt the process.