How to import contacts that include foreign language UTF-8 text, from Google to Outlook 2021 on PC

Nowadays as I am writing these lines Outlook 2021 has some unresolved issue with importing contacts from Google to Outlook 2021 installed on a PC. When Excel 2021 simply open the *.CSV file that was created by Google, UTF-8 foreign language text is displayed in Excel as gibberish and being imported to Outlook as gibberish while English text is displayed OK.

I found the following way to import the contacts from Google to Outlook properly so all the text is displayed correctly.

Note: Click on any of the following pictures to enlarge it.

1.    Export contact/s from Google to *.CSV file

1.1    Open Google contact/s

This example will export from Google a single contact.

Go to Google's contact and click a contact to open it.

 

1.2    Click the three dots at the top right corner of the contact page

If you wish to export a batch of contacts select/check the contacts you want to export, then click the three dots that will be displayed above the contacts list.

 

 1.3    Click Export

    

1.4    Select the Outlook CSV option.

Click Export and save the CSV file that was created by Google.

In this example the name of the saved CSV file is contact_from_Google.csv

 

2.    Process the contact_from_Google.csv file

 

2.1    Open Excel 2021. Click Data, Get Data, From File, From Text/CSV

2.2    Navigate to contact_from_Google.csv file and click Import.

 

Pop-up window, as shown in the next step, will open.

2.3    In the pop-up window make sure that

        File Origin is 65001 and Delimiter is Comma     

In the above pop-up window, if everything was imported properly to Excel, the foreign language text and the English text should be displayed correctly.

Click the Load button.

2.4    Uncheck Header Row then click Home

 2.5    Select the 1^st row and delete it

2.6    Delete SHEET1

2.7    Save As,

        in Save as type field select CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)

Warning:

Don't select the CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimiter) option

shown above the CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) option.

Rename the file.

In this example the new name is Book1.csv

Click Save.

3.    Import Book1.csv to Outlook 2021

We started with contact_from_Google.csv file that

was created by Google and after some processing we have now

the Book1.csv file ready to be imported contact/s to Outlook.

3.1    Open Outlook 2021. Click Contacts icon in the left bottom bar

3.2    Click File in Outlook top bar

3.3    Click Open & Export and then Import/Export button

3.4    In the pop-up window select import from another file

Click the Next button

3.5    Select Comma Separated Values

Click the Next button

3.6    Browse to the location of Book1.csv

        Click the Next button

3.7    Select Contacts (This computer only)

        Click the Next button

3.8    Finally, in Outlook Import a File window click the Finish button

Outlook will import the contact/s from the Book1.csv file.

3.9    Here is how the imported contact will look in Outlook 2021

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