Convert NSF File to PST & Access Lotus Notes Data in Outlook

Nowadays, migrating from one email client to other is quite common. There are many users who are troubled using Lotus Notes email application and want to move their important data from NSF database file to Outlook PST file. It is true that Notes is a bit complex email application as compared to Outlook. Its high maintenance cost is one of the main reasons for a user to switch to Outlook. For migration process, you need to convert NSF file to PST and open the PST file in MS Outlook. In this post, we will discuss reasons and measures to migrate IBM Notes to Outlook.

NSF File: It stands for Notes Storage File. It is also known as a database or archive file. All the data items like emails, contacts, journals, events, calendars, etc. are stored in the datbase file of Lotus Notes.

PST File: It stands for Personal Storage Table file. Microsoft Outlook stores all the data items like emails, contacts, etc in PST file format in an organized way. You can also keep this file as a backup in your local disk and access it in the application anytime.

Reasons to Export Lotus Notes NSF to PST

There are many reasons to move the data from Notes email application to MS Outlook. Some of the reasons to convert NSF file to PST are listed below:

• 1. Complexity: Lotus Notes email application is highly complex for a non-technical user. On the other hand, there are many types of NSF files created in Lotus Notes. A user may get confused regarding the different files and its functionalities.
  
• 2. Cost and maintenance: It is easy to repair general issues in MS Outlook but not in case of Lotus Notes. It is expensive to maintain and recover the issues in IBM Notes.
  
• 3. User Interface: When it comes to the interface of Lotus Notes, it is little complex as compared to MS Outlook. Therefore, it is one of the major reasons for the migration of data.
  
• 4. Errors: There can be many reasons due to which NSF file can corrupt. It can be Power Failure, abrupt shutdown, header corruption, checksum mismatch, etc. These are some of the error messages like “Unable to open Address Book”, “File doesn’t exists”, “Could not open database”, etc that can be displayed at the time of user’s access to that file.
  

Manual Method to Convert NSF File to PST

You can import all the data items from Lotus Notes to Outlook by exporting NSF file to PST by the following two-step process as discussed below:

Export Notes NSF file

• 1. Open Lotus Notes and click on Open button to upload NSF file which you want to export to PST format.
  
• 2. Click on File >> Export. In Export wizard, select a folder to save the file in your hard drive. Now from the Save as Type drop down list, select Comma Separated Values (CSV) or Structured Text.
  
• 3. Now, name the file and click on Export button.
  
• 4. As per your selection, you will get CSV Export or Structured Text window. Select the options to save the exported file. After that, click on Ok button.
  

Import Exported File in Outlook

• 1. To convert Notes NSF to Outlook PST, open MS Outlook and click on the File >> Open >> Import.
  
• 2. In Import and Export wizard, you will see a list of options. Under Choose and action to perform, select Import from another program or file and then click on Next button.
  
• 3. A window will appear. Select Comma Separated Values (Window) and then click on Next.
  
• 4. Click on Browse button and navigate to the location where you have NSF file imported from Lotus Notes to your hard drive.
  
• 5. There are three options to import and ignore the items i.e. Replace duplicates with items imported, Allow duplicates to be created and Do not import duplicate items.
  
• 6. Select the from the options as per your need and then click on Next button.
  
• 7. It will take a while to import the NSF file to Outlook.
  
• 8. Click on Finish button on completion of the process.
  

Drawbacks of Manual Approach

Above method is very easy to move the data items from Lotus Notes to Outlook but it may be little confusing to the non-technical users. They may face issues in migrating NSF files to Outlook. There is a possibility of data loss during this process. The procedure may take a lot of time to move big database. You cannot convert NSF file to PST if the NSF file is corrupted. A user may not be able to open that file. He can fix it with the help of fixup -f command but then, it is another lengthy process to execute.

Expertise Solution for NSF to PST Conversion

Data is valuable to the user and he cannot afford to lose it. But the migration of data from one email client to other is also important. To save your time and efforts, you can go for the automated solution that can convert NSF file to PST file in MS Outlook in a simple way. The application is very easy to use for a non-technical user. You can convert the file formats and open NSF file in Outlook.

Conclusion

In the following article, we have discussed Lotus Notes database file i.e. NSF file and Outlook PST file. You can try the manual process if you have a small amount of data to transfer from Lotus Notes email application to Outlook. A user can experience data loss if the database is big enough. But there is no need to worry. You can opt for the third-party software to convert NSF file to PST effortlessly.