Where is Windows Live Mail address book (contacts) folder located?

I want to backup my Windows Live Mail address book or contacts but I could not find its folder.

I thought it would be at C:\Users\User name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\{36 characters folder name} but this folder is empty. Next I tried C:\Users\User name\Contacts. This folder is also empty. I did a file search for *.wab but could not find any.

Where is the address book or contacts folder located in Windows 7?

Welcome

Go to live mail, >contacts (bottom left). Then on the top file>import, export. Export it (transfer) to a finger drive or medium of your choice.

From what I was able to find, they are located in C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\{b5f3929f-ba60-4632-ad4e-b602b1c8e007}\DBStore

There is a contacts.edb file in there. So I would say richc46's answer will be best. A Guy

A Guy,

I have discovered that DBStore folder is a hidden protected operating system file. No wonder I did not see it earlier. Now that I have unhidden the folder I can see ...\DBStore\contacts.edb file. This is what I was looking for. Thank you.

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richc46,

Your method is too convoluted, although it is an option. Thank you.

Stong said:

A Guy,

I have discovered that DBStore folder is a hidden protected operating system file. No wonder I did not see it earlier. Now that I have unhidden the folder I can see ...\DBStore\contacts.edb file. This is what I was looking for. Thank you.

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richc46,

Your method is too convoluted, although it is an option. Thank you.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm glad you got the answer you were looking for, but I still think Richard's answer is best way to go

A Guy

Just joined the forum, hope I'm in the right spot... Exporting Windows Live Mail. My machine is a Compaq, Windows 7, 64-bit. I've gone to the Contacts, clicked the Export, selected CSV and exported. The result was an excel file with only the headers, no contacts at all. I've searched those Contact.edb files which are nothing I can understand.

I prefer WLM, but my ISP, Charter Communications, has become restrictive on my sending email to bulk email addresses (club organization with about 250 addresses), so I've been trying to figure out how to copy/export my Live Mail Contacts to Charter and use their web mail for these bulk mailings. Not even sure if that will work or not, or even if I can import a contacts list. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Oh, and my Windows Live Mail is version 2011.

earlp said:

...The result was an excel file...

Click to expand...

It should be a *.csv file. Perhaps you should check where the file is about to be stored and look there for it.

Also this thread (from last June) is about the location of the contacts folder. You may want to start a new thread since your question is about exporting contacts in a form that can be imported elsewhere.

richc46 said:

Welcome

Go to live mail, >contacts (bottom left). Then on the top file>import, export. Export it (transfer) to a finger drive or medium of your choice.

Click to expand...

I can't seem to find the "file" selection. Airpix

To find "file" go into WLM, click on the contacts book bottom left, then Import and Export should be in the ribbon at the top towards the right hand side.

Thanks Scottie, Airpix

Does anyone know why I can't find this string / folder, as shown in the above post, on my Dell running 64 bit Windows 7?

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\{b5f3929f-ba60-4632-ad4e-b602b1c8e007}\DBStore


I don't have the \Windows Live Contacts\


Thanks, Airpix

In 2011 it's under "Windows Live/Contacts" : Windows Live Mail – Contacts Database « The Field Guide

Stong said:

I want to backup my Windows Live Mail address book or contacts but I could not find its folder.

I thought it would be at C:\Users\User name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\{36 characters folder name} but this folder is empty. Next I tried C:\Users\User name\Contacts. This folder is also empty. I did a file search for *.wab but could not find any.

Where is the address book or contacts folder located in Windows 7?

Click to expand...

Windows 7 WLM does not use the folder \users\user name\Contacts used by Vista with the filenames whose extension is contacts. Now the contacts are stored in *.edb files. The problem is that there are a lot of edb files in various folders and one has to find the right one for backing up his/her WLM contacts. After quite some research and experimentation, I ended up with this : I don't know if the answer has already been given, but the contacts folder location of Windows Live Mail in windows 7 is :

c:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\contacts\Default\15.4\DBStore

It is apparently the only place where the real contacts are stored and maintained. If you copy this folder to the same place from computer A to computer B, (after temporaly renaming computer B contact folder to preserve it), you'll get the contacts of computer A in computer B WLM, in place of computer's B contacts. This is the proof that this folder is the one and only one, among many others, containing the contacts. All copy and renaming must be done with WLM closed.
Therefore, to backup your contacts, you only have to backup this folder with all what is within it.

Extra important note : if and when you are connected to windows live, you won't see your local computer address book contacts in WLM anymore, but those recorded in windows live on the net (in Hotmail) ! As soon as you disconnect from windows live in Windows Live Mail, by clicking the appropriate icon, your windows live mail contacts on your local computer will reapear !

scottie said:

To find "file" go into WLM, click on the contacts book bottom left, then Import and Export should be in the ribbon at the top towards the right hand side.

Click to expand...

FYI. WLM will have the Import and Export buttons in the ribbon grey-out UNTIL you enter at least one contact. I'm trying to do the opposite of the OP, import contacts from an Outlook Express setup to a new WLM setup, and found out this little gotcha. Effing Microsoft.

Thank you Rolands, this was helpful as all I had was a backup and needed the contacts from an old computer. In my case my Contacts were stored in c:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\contacts\Default\15.5\DBStore - copied the entire 15.5 folder to the new computer's location and it worked. Thanks!

Hello,

My old computer (which was running Windows 7 Ultimate) recently died due to a power glitch.
I bought a new one and I have the old drives installed in the new computer (which is running Windows 7 Pro).
Ii was able to transfer my (Windows Live Mail) messages from the old computer to the new one, but I cannot retrieve the contacts. I copied the entire folder in the user directory \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\contacts\Default\ from the old drive to the new one, but still none of the old contacts show up in the new Windows Live Mail.

Thanks in advance for any help that you might be able to offer. This is a very aggravating problem.

Mate my two cents worth this is all I do - in pic. It may not be what you want but a thought.

Fast forward another two years (you can run, but you cannot hide ) ...

My compuiter was running Win7 quite(?) happily. Then Microsoft persuaded me to upgrade to Win10, which aslo ran quite(?) happily until last December.

Then things went pear-shaped. The upshot was, I went out & bought a new computer, running Win10.

BUT... I had saved onto an external drive the entire "Users" folder. So I can SEE all my old e-mails, in their correct folders, and if I click on one of the *.eml files I can read it in NotePad.

I have searched and searched, and eventually came to the same conclusion as mentioned above, that all my "Contacts" are in
K:\20180214 WinX\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\Default\15.5\DBStore\contacts.edb

But HOW do I get them out of there ? The file is not an ASCII file, i.e. I cannot use NotePad.

Yes, it "would be nice" to simply export the file directly into, say, Outlook, but MicroSoft hasn't made that possible.

What other program can read such a file ?

Robin Clay said:

Fast forward another two years (you can run, but you cannot hide ) ...

What other program can read such a file ?

Click to expand...

Windows Live Mail originally had an option to "sign in". If you did that your contacts were, and still are, on Microsoft's server. Those contacts are visible in Windows 10's "People" app, which integrates with the new Mail app that also comes with Windows 10. So if you had been "signing in" to WLM and now want to use "Mail", you're all set, no need to import anything.

But if you were not signing in, your only copy of the contacts is where you indicated. In that case you can download, install, and use an old copy of Windows Live Mail, which still works in Windows 10, but since it's not officially supported, it no longer syncs with Microsoft servers. If you weren't "signing in" before, then you probably won't miss that feature. As long as the old version you downloaded is the same version as the one you were using previously, you should be able to swap the contacts database you saved in your old users folder with the contacts database for the new install in Windows 10. You should be able to get the old version of WLM from here: http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/msn-messenger-live-essentials-2011-15-offline . It will actually be a complete version of Windows Live Essentials, from which you will only choose to install "Mail", nothing else. When swapping the contacts database in Windows Explorer, it's best to close WLM so it's not running.

roncerr said:

Windows Live Mail originally had an option to "sign in".

Click to expand...

Never tried that.

roncerr said:

...download, install, and use an old copy of Windows Live Mail

Click to expand...

Done that - thatns for the Link.

roncerr said:

you should be able to swap the contacts database you saved in your old users folder with the contacts database for the new install in Windows 10.

Click to expand...

I'll give it a go.

I note you say (often) "you should be able to", and I can - though I do get a warning that it's a system folder, and that doing anything in ther "may make your computer inoperable" - which MAY explain why my new computer seems to want to re-install Windows every time I switch it on...

That DBStore folder contains several files, and a folder with more files. I wonder if I should copy the entire set, or just that one file...


Only one way to find out...

I shall:-
1. COPY that whole "new" set onto an external drive
2. COPY the "old" in its place
3. Fire up LivMail
4. Export the AddressBook
5. Check the .CSV file
6. Close LiveMail
7. COPY the "new" back
8. ReBoot.

I wouldn't put it past MicroSoft to install a trigger if I make changes, a trigger that will create the boot-up problem I currently have....

Thanks again