Convert Lotus Notes Archive To Outlook – Easy Migration Process

Convert Lotus Notes Archive to Outlook

Nowadays users are migrating from Lotus Notes to Outlook. As compared to Outlook, Notes is little complex and this is the reason that makes any user switched to any other email client like MS Outlook. There are many organizations across the world that are using Notes are their primary email client but due to simplicity, they are preferring to transfer Lotus Notes emails to Outlook. In this post, we will discuss everything in detail. But first, to convert Lotus Notes Archive to Outlook, it is important to know the basic file formats that are supported by these email clients.

Lotus Notes: Archive files in Notes are in NSF file format. That are also called as Notes Storage File. It is more like a database file that stores all the emails, journals, events, calendars, etc. There are a number of archive files like Names.nsf or Archive.nsf that includes such data.

Outlook: On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook stores the emails and other items in PST file format. It is a Personal Storage Table file that stores all the data items like emails, calendars, notes, journals, etc in an organized way. One can keep that file on their local system and can access it in the application anytime.

Reasons for Lotus Notes to Outlook Migration

There are many reasons that one want to convert Lotus Notes Archive to Outlook. Some are:

• Cost and maintenance: One can configure and repair general issues in Outlook but if it comes to Notes, it is expensive to maintain and recover from issues.
• User Interface: The interface of the Outlook is very easy and simple to use for a non-technical user with less maintenance cost. Lotus Notes is little complex as compared to Outlook. It is one of the main reason to migrate.
• Complexity: There are many NSF files that are created in Lotus Notes. A user can access his database in the application only but if it comes to access the file, then he may get confused regarding the files and their proper functionalities.
• Errors: There are various causes that corrupt NSF files like Power Failure, abrupt shutdown, header corruption, checksum mismatch, etc. If any user tries to access the file, one can get error messages like “Unable to open Address Book”, “File doesn’t exist”, “Could not open database”, etc.

Manual Way to Convert Lotus Notes Archive to Outlook

You can access your emails and other items in MS Outlook by following a two-step process as discussed:
Export Lotus Notes NSF file

• First, create a backup of NSF file on your system. Sometimes there is a chance of corruption of file at the time of importing process.
• Now open IBM Notes application and NSF database file.
• Click on File >> Export in the application.
• Select the desired location and save the file in Comma Separated Values file format.
• Rename the NSF file and click on Export button. Now you can process to next step to move Lotus Notes database to Outlook.

Import NSF file in Outlook

• Open Microsoft Outlook in your system.
• Click on File >> Import.
• Select Import from another program or file. Then click on Next button.
• Select CSV(Comma Separated Value) option. Now browse the location where you have saved your NSF file. Check the Replace Duplicates option.
• Select the folder where you want to import the data of the NSF file in Outlook and click on Next button.
• Then end the process, click on Finish button.

Drawbacks of Manual Approach

Above method might confuse non-technical users and they may face some issues in migrating their Lotus Notes database to Outlook. If a user is migrating a large amount of data, then he might lose his data. It is not possible to move the data if NSF file is corrupted and user is unable to open it. One can fix NSF file using fixup -f command but again it is a lengthy process to execute.

Expertise Solution

One cannot afford to lose his valuable data kept in NSF files. It is important to migrate the data from one email client to other keeping the data safe. You can go for an automated solution and export Lotus Notes email to Outlook in a simple way. It is easy to use the application and even a non-technical person can understand and run the tool. It is a hassle free solution for the users those are looking for the perfect method.

Conclusion

Information regarding the details of NSF files in Lotus Notes and PST in Outlook are discussed in this article. One can simply follow above steps to transfer Lotus Notes emails to Outlook. It is easy and simple to move the data using a third-party software as it is hassle free solution.