The Contact Import tool provides an easy way for you to import your contact information from other applications. Even if it's a Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, or another Yahoo! account, the Contact Import tool brings your contacts over. It even copies contacts from programs such as Outlook, AppleMail, Eudora, or Thunderbird. While you're at it, you can have the tool send each contact a notification letting them know about your new email address.

Tip: If you plan to use this tool to import contacts from a desktop application, such as Outlook, you need to create a .csv or .vcf file.

Here's how to use the Contact Import tool to copy your contact information from other applications:

1. Sign in to your Yahoo! Mail.
2. Click on Yahoo! Contacts.
3. Be sure you're viewing all of your contacts by selecting View All Contacts from the View button.
4. In the right pane, click Get Started under "Import your contacts from another provider to Yahoo!".

The Contact Import tool opens in a browser window or tab.

5. Click the Get Started button to begin the steps to import your contacts.

In Step 1,

1. Check the box next to an application (or applications) from which you'd like to import contacts.
2. Type the email address and password that you use for the application.

Note: The Contact Import tool must have your email address and password to access the contacts in the old account. Once the process is complete, it discards the password, never to be seen again. In other words, you're information is perfectly safe.

1. If you're importing a .csv or .vcf file from a desktop application, check the box next to "A desktop email program (Outlook, AppleMail, etc..." and then browse to and select the file.
2. Complete the information for each application from which you'd like to import contacts.
3. Grant permission by reading the terms, then check the box next to: "I give permission to send my user name and password provided above to TrueSwitch for the sole purpose of obtaining contacts, and I acknowledge that I have read and agreed to TrueSwitch's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy."
4. Click Continue.
5. To help Yahoo! fight spam, we ask that you type the visible text in the "Character string" box, and then click Continue.

In Step 2,

1. Check the box next to each contact that you want to import to your Yahoo! Contacts.
2. If you want to add all of the listed contacts, check the box next to "Select All".
3. Click Import.

The next page lists all of your selected contacts so that you can decide whom to notify about your new email address.

In Step 3,

1. Check the box next to each contact that you want to notify about your new email address.
2. If you want to notify all of the listed contacts, check the box next to "Select All".
3. You can edit the message you send to notify your contacts - or send the message we have written for you.
4. Click Finish.

Tip: If you don't want to notify anyone, don't check any boxes before clicking Finish, or click Skip Notification & Just Import.

The amount of time it takes to import your contacts depends on how many you are importing. The final page lets you know how many contacts you've added to your Yahoo! Contacts and how many you've notified.

The Contact Import tool adds your imported contacts to categories with names reflecting the application from which the contacts came, such as MSN and Gmail.