How do I synchronize Office 365 contacts w/ 3 PC's

PA WOODCHUCK · Oct 22, 2025

I have 365 installed on my 3 PC's and would like to have contacts shown on all 3 PC'c. Currently only have 1 list contacts shown as (this PC only).

thanks

allan · Oct 23, 2025

Well, one option is to use Office 365.

PA WOODCHUCK · Oct 23, 2025

allan said:
Well, one option is to use Office 365.

I'm using Office 365 on all 3

allan · Oct 23, 2025

Sorry, you did say that in the first post - for some reason my brain saw "outlook", not Office 365. Then I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Are you saying the other two Outlooks to not have "contacts" or that they aren't syncing contacts properly?

Hornblower409 · Oct 23, 2025

PA WOODCHUCK said:
Currently only have 1 list contacts shown as (this PC only)

This is normal if you are using an IMAP email account.
Getting rid of This Computer Only - Microsoft Q&A

Not sure how to "sync" the Contacts to all three PCs.

Adding the same Microsoft Cloud Account (e.g. a free "[email protected]" email) to all three would do it. But the Contacts would only be available when you are sending from the Microsoft Account.

Building a PST file just for your Contacts and copying it to all of them? But you would have to keep it synced. PITA.

There should be a way, but I'm not coming up with anything at the moment.

TraderGary · Oct 23, 2025

I currently have two computers, System One and System Two, below.
I have a subscription to Microsoft 365.
I log in to both computers using Microsoft Hello.
I have Microsoft Office 365 installed on both computers.
I keep all my data and photos in my OneDrive folder which is synced on both computers.
When I open Outlook Classic on either computer, they are identical.
Contacts (People) are identical.
I can transparently move between computers.

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

Hornblower409 is correct when they say, create a PST file for your contacts, but it has to be shared via your M365 account for all 3 PC’s

Being IMAP, whatever is on one, should be on the other.
The caveat would be that your contacts are now stored on Microsoft servers.

You can try the following.

1. Check Where Your Contacts Are Stored

Open Outlook on the PC where your contacts are visible.
Switch to the People view.
Look for a folder labeled This PC only—this means contacts are stored locally and not synced.

2. Export Contacts from “This PC Only”

Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
Choose Export to a file > Outlook Data File (.pst).
Select the “This PC only” contacts folder.
Save the .pst file somewhere accessible.

3. Import Contacts into Your Microsoft 365 Account

Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
Choose Import from another program or file > Outlook Data File (.pst).
Select the file you exported.
Choose your Microsoft 365 account’s contacts folder as the destination.

4. Verify Sync Across All PCs

Ensure all three PCs are signed into the same Microsoft 365 account in Outlook.
Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings > Email tab.
Confirm your Microsoft 365 account is listed and set as default.
Switch to People view and confirm contacts now appear under your Microsoft 365 account.

5. Optional: Remove “This PC Only” Folder

Once everything is synced, you can delete the local “This PC only” folder to avoid confusion.

TraderGary · Oct 23, 2025

"This PC only" folder has nothing to do with my two computers working identically.

I'm logging in to the same Microsoft account. I'm logging in to the same Microsoft Office. And OutlookClassic is identically using the same IMAP.

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

TraderGary said:
"This PC only" folder has nothing to do with my two computers working identically.

I'm logging in to the same Microsoft account. I'm logging in to the same Microsoft Office. And Office is identically using the same IMAP.

As far as I am concerned, if those steps are followed, this member should be in the same situation you are in with contacts. No onedrive needed as IMAP is the same when used on any email client on any PC.

Perhaps my steps are wrong, perhaps they arent. But I would suspect it was the way the contacts were initially setup, which isn’t the same way you did it.
Easy to do, I suspect, Gary.

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

PA WOODCHUCK said:
Currently only have 1 list contacts shown as (this PC only).

This PC only, is not an IMAP folder, hence relocating the contacts. This PC Only is client side, not server side.

TraderGary · Oct 23, 2025

antspants said:
As far as I am concerned, if those steps are followed, this member should be in the same situation you are in with contacts. No onedrive needed as IMAP is the same when used on any email client on any PC.

Perhaps my steps are wrong, perhaps they arent. But I would suspect it was the way the contacts were initially setup, which isn’t the same way you did it.
Easy to do, I suspect, Gary.

Agreed. IMAP data is stored on the mail server IMAP logs into. I mentioned OneDrive simply because that's how my two computers work identically and I can transparently move from one computer to the other and keep right on working as if nothing had happened.

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

TraderGary said:
Agreed. IMAP data is stored on the mail server IMAP logs into. I mentioned OneDrive simply because that's how my two computers work identically and I can transparently move from one computer to the other and keep right on working as if nothing had happened.

Personally, although I have never used it, I am starting to think that a sub to M365 and using OneDrive might be the way to go.
I especially like that you always post a positive review. I have just never gotten around to it, Gary

PA WOODCHUCK · Oct 26, 2025

antspants said:
This PC only, is not an IMAP folder, hence relocating the contacts. This PC Only is client side, not server side.

That's my issue. How do I create a contact list that's on the server... which I presume contacts will then show up on M365 all 3 PC's Once done I can move/copy contacts to that list

antspants · Oct 26, 2025

PA WOODCHUCK said:
That's my issue. How do I create a contact list that's on the server... which I presume contacts will then show up on M365 all 3 PC's Once done I can move/copy contacts to that list

So my instructions in post 7 didn’t work or did you scroll past it? Did you read them? Especially the part about importing them to O365?

How do I synchronize Office 365 contacts w/ 3 PC's

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