The problem with converting the xls file into a csv file is that any
carriage returns in the Notes field creates a new record or entry, not only
creating bogus contacts but also rendering the Notes incomplete. Also, for
those records which have names that contain special characters, meaning any
letter with an accent mark, thus, Spanish, French and German to name but
three, such characters get often replaced by a ? or some other ANSI
character. As if this were not enough, converting into CSV causes anything
that has a comma, like addresses and notes, will shift all data beyond it to
another field, pushing some past the last column. A better solution to the
commas problem is to convert to a Tab Separated Values, which actually saves
it as a txt file, but even this does not save you from the first two
problems I stated.

Here is a better way:

To use a Microsoft Excel workbook to import information, cancel everything
in Microsoft Outlook, and then open up the file in Excel. To define a named
range in Microsoft Excel, follow these steps:

1. Select the range of cells (including column headers) that you want to
import.

2. On the Insert menu, point to Name, and then click Define.

3. In the Names In Workbook box, type a name (the name may not contain
spaces nor should it be the same as one of the column header names) for the
range that you specified, and then click Add.

4. Click OK, and on the File menu, click Save.

5. Save and quit the workbook.

(edited excerpt from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196743/en-us)

-or-

1. Select the range of cells (including column headers) that you want to
import.

2. While that block is selected, type a name for the range in the box above
the grid, to the left of the formula bar (it usually has a cell number in it
and if you hover over the box it should say Name Box).

3. Save and close the spreadsheet and try to import into Outlook again.

(formatted answer given by Jocelyn Fiorello, MVP - Outlook


--
Cheers,
Alphonse


"Karl Timmermans" wrote in message
...
To avoid the "Named Range" requirement for the Excel file using the Outlook
import wizard, just save the worksheet with the contact info as a CSV file
and import the CSV file in Outlook instead.

Karl

__________________________________________________ _
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com



"Alphonse" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have received and Excel file with Contact information; all the headings,
Title, First Name, etc. are correctly placed at the top of each column,
but
when I try to import the xls file I receive a message stating "The MS
Excel
file [path\filename] has no named ranges. Use Excel to name the range of
data you want to import."
I don't understand what it means by "named ranges"... I have looked in XL
but have not found anything that helps. Can someone please tell me how to
do
this?
--
Cheers,
Alphonse