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Adding Contacts to Your Messenger List

OverviewA Safe EnvironmentImporting ContactsUsing the Add to Messenger List WindowAdding From Your Address BookAdding From an Instant Message

Importing Contacts

If you have several accounts with contact information, wouldn’t it be nice if you could easily pull contacts from those accounts into your Messenger List? Well, you can. Messenger’s import tool can access many popular programs, such as Microsoft Outlook. AOL, Gmail, and of course Yahoo! Contacts (to name just a few).

The import tool searches through your accounts and does the following:

  • Ignores people that are already on your Messenger List.
  • Returns a list of people that are currently using a compatible instant messenger application (all Yahoo! Messenger applications and Windows Live™ Messenger) that you can to add to your Messenger List.
  • Returns a list of people that have email addresses so that you can invite them to join you in using Messenger.
 

Here’s How

  1. In your Messenger window, select Import Contacts from the Contacts menu.

    The Import Contacts window opens.

    The Import Contacts windowEnlarge

  2. Check the box next to each account in which you have contacts you’d like to import.

    Check the box next to the accounts you want to include in the import.

    Note: You must supply the ID and password you use for each account, if required, so that Yahoo! and TrueSwitch, the program that does the actual processing, can access the account’s contacts.

  3. Check the box at the bottom of the window to give permission to Yahoo! to send your account information to TrueSwitch, then click the Continue button.

    Check the box to give permission for Yahoo! to send your account information to TrueSwitch.

    If found, the import tool displays all contacts who already use Yahoo! Messenger and who aren’t on your Messenger List.

  4. Check the people you would like to add to your Messenger List, modify the message your friends will see (optional, you can delete it if you like), then click the Continue button.

    Check the people you would like to add to your Messenger List.

    Modify the optional message that your friends will see.

    These people will receive a request from you to be added to your Messenger List.

    In the next page, the import tool displays email addresses for all of your friends who aren’t using Messenger.

  5. Check the people you would like invite to use Messenger, customize the message your friends will see if you like, then click the Continue button.

    Check the people you would like to invite to use Messenger.

    Customize the message that your friends will see if you like.

    The final page shows you how many people have been added to your Messenger List and how many you’ve invited to use Messenger.

    The final page tells you how many people you’ve added to your list and how many you’ve invited to use Messenger.Enlarge

  6. Click the link to import more contacts or click the Close button to end the import process.

    Messenger displays the names of the newly added contacts in a pending state on your Messenger List. When contacts accept your request, their names become permanent. If contacts decline, Yahoo! Messenger sends you a notice and removes the names from your list.

    Yahoo! Messenger sends email invitations to the people you selected.

 

What’s Next

Importing is a quick and efficient way to add multiple contacts to your Messenger List without having to know anyone’s ID. When you want to add one person and you know the ID, add the person to your Messenger Lists using the Add to Messenger List window.

 
 
 

Words to Know

  • Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email, instant message, or text message.
  • Messenger List: the main part of the Contact List in Yahoo! Messenger. The Messenger List includes the contacts with whom you communicate most often.