Copy Outlook Express Email & Settings Into Windows Live

It's easy to migrate from Outlook Express to Windows Live

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by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated February 13, 2019

If you want to switch from Outlook Express to Windows Live Mail, or at least just copy all the same data from the former into the latter, you can easily do this with little effort.

To migrate your messages and other settings between these email clients, you have to first export the Outlook Express email and account settings before you can import them into Windows Live Mail.

Export Outlook Express Mail and Settings

  1. Go to the Tools > Accounts menu in Outlook Express.

  2. Open the Mail tab.

  3. Highlight the desired email account.

  4. Click the Export... option.

  5. Choose Save to export the settings to an IAF file named after the account in your documents folder.

  6. Pick a folder that's easily transferable or accessible from the other computer, like a location on a flash drive or network drive.

To export the Outlook Express email files, you have to first know where they are stored on the computer in order to know where to copy the files from. You can find the "Store Location" folder for the Outlook Express messages in the Tools > Options > Maintenance > Store Folder... button.

Import Mail and Settings Into Windows Live Mail

  1. In Windows Live Mail, go to the Tools > Accounts menu, or File > Options > Email accounts... in older versions. You might need to hold down the Alt key to see the menu.

  2. Select the Import... option.

  3. Choose the IAF file you just saved in Outlook Express, and then select Open.

  4. Go to File > Import > Messages... from the menu.

  5. Make sure Microsoft Outlook Express 6 is selected.

  6. Choose Next>.

  7. Click Next > again. 

  8. Choose specific folders to import under "Select folders:" or leave "All folders" selected to import all Outlook Express mail.

  9. Click Next> and then Finish.

  10. Imported messages and folders are found under "Storage folders" in the Windows Live Mail folder list.

You can also import your Outlook Express contacts into Windows Live Mail.