A friend called me up tonight because he had run into an insurmountable obstacle. He wanted to transfer the contacts from his Treo 680 to his new Blackberry Curve. Simple, right? It comes with software to do that. Well, even after spending hours and hours with AT&T and RIM support, he was left without a successful migration. Even the software tool that’s supposed to transfer the data directly from a Palm Treo to the Blackberry Curve failed to work–it didn’t allow him to select the Treo device as the data source even though it was plugged into the PC. If you’re in this situation as well, here’s how we got the job done.
Note: Since I don’t own these devices, this is written from memory (very recent memory; half an hour ago). Thus, the actual names of some things such as menu items may be slightly different but that won’t prevent you from carrying out the steps.
Before you begin (things you’ll need):
- Palm Desktop (the software that came with the Palm Treo)
- Blackberry Desktop (the software that came with the RIM Blackberry)
- Microsoft Outlook 2000 or newer (even if you don’t normally use it, you’ll need it to act as a translator and synchronization source for the address book data)
- Blackberry device and sync cable
Exporting/importing the data:
- Start Palm Desktop. (The latest version as of this writing is 4.2 although Palm’s own web site only has the older version 4.1.4 available. [Update: apparently 4.2 has compatibility problems so Palm reverted to an earlier version on their site.])
- Create a new entry and in every field, put the name of the field as the value for the field (e.g. in the Last Name field, enter Last Name; in the First Name field, enter First Name). This will make it easier to do the data mapping later.
- Go to the address book and select all the entries you want to export (choose Select All from the Edit menu to choose everything). Failure to select entries will result in only the first one being exported.
- Choose Export from the File menu.
- Choose the file type as CSV (comma-separated value).
- Enter the name for the file (e.g. Contacts.csv) and remember where you’re saving it.
- Start Microsoft Outlook.
- Open your Contacts.
- Select Import from the File menu.
- For the file type, select Windows CSV or DOS CSV (the name may be different in your version of Outlook).
- Select the file you exported in step 6.
- If Outlook doesn’t automatically map the fields in the CSV file, you’ll have to map them manually. The easiest way to do this is to go to the address of the person named Last Name (remember that you entered this in step 2?) so that you can easily see which field is which in the CSV file. Then assign them to the appropriate field name in Outlook (the method to do this may vary with different versions of Outlook).
- Click the Finish button to import all the addresses.
- Go to the Blackberry Desktop and open the synchronization utility.
- On the configuration tab, make sure that the Address Book is associated with Microsoft Outlook (there will be a double-headed arrow between the two).
- Plug the Blackberry into your PC with the synchronization cable.
- Watch all the messages go by as the data is synchronized.
- When the sync is done, disconnect the Blackberry and check that everything appears in the Blackberry’s address book. If it doesn’t, reboot the Blackberry (not sure why this is necessary but my friend’s Blackberry wouldn’t show the new data until he took the battery out and put it back in).
That should do it. If you don’t have Outlook, then Outlook Express may also work. I believe I saw it as an option in the Blackberry synchronization software’s configuration options.
I tried to transfer my calendar, contact, and memos from my Palm Tungsten/E to my new Bold 9650 using the BB Device Switch Wizard. While synching the calendar data, it just hung at record 293 out of 456 during the export. I then purged all records older than a week as suggested in a crackberry forum. It then hung at record 92 out of 122. When I then deleted all repeating events it hung at record 121 out of 122 (progress!). I figured that there was something wrong with my last calendar entry, so I searched for it & deleted it, but now it hangs at record 120 out of 121. It seems to hang at the second to last record no matter what. I then tried synching my palm to outlook (I have Outlook 2000) – that seemed to work, but when I go to configure the sync in BB Desktop Manager, there is no option to sync to outlook (the only options are ASCII Importer/Exporter & Yahoo!). Any Suggestions?
It sounds like the BlackBerry Desktop connector for Outlook is not loading, corrupt or missing. The easiest thing to try first is re-install BlackBerry Desktop since that should insure that the files are good and that the connector is registered in Windows.
The direct way to attack it, if you’re comfortable using the Command Prompt, is to check where the connector DLL is located (e.g., C:Program FilesResearch in MotionBlackberryIS71 ConnectorsMS Outlook Connector) and make sure that MsOutlookConnector.fil exists. Then, from the command prompt, try to register it manually with the following command (you will likely have to have Administrator rights to do this):
regsvr32 MsOutlookConnector.fil
I am trying to transfer my datebook and contacts from a palm centro to a BB Curve 8520 with the BB desktop, and when i go to transfer wizard, the screen freezes where I have to choose that i want to transfer from palm, what can i do?
Perhaps try re-installing the BB Desktop software first. See if that helps. If not, then perhaps a different version of BB Desktop.
Do you get the following error when trying to import your CSV file into Outlook?
Translation Error
A file error has occurred in the Comma Separated Values (Windows) translator while initializing a translator to build a field map.
If so, make sure that the first line in the CSV file contains the names of the data fields. Outlook needs that in order to display the field names so that you can map them for import.
An old post, but still helpful! Thanks! I wish I could say it worked, but without Outlook, sounds like I’m screwed. I’m not paying Microsoft $100 just so that I can transfer my contacts lol.
I had to put my beloved Treo down, and this BB is what they sent me to replace it. I’m sad, and miss my Palm already
Oops ETA: The new Blackberry desktop version 5.0.1 for curve 9330 will sync from the Palm desktop version 4.1.4 with zero problems.
I’m still getting a Pixi as soon as ATT takes over Alltel :-p
Hi. I’m moving from a Palm 4.1.4 desktop (the ol’ Palm T7) via Outlook 2010 (32 bit, thankfully) to my nice new Blackberry Torch 9800 (Desktop v. 6)
Used a programme called “Desktop Mirror” downloaded to seamlessly move my Memos, Tasks, Calendar, and Address book from Palm to Outlook…… minus address categories which took some time to recreate/assign.
NOW. My Tasks and Memos (aka “notes” to outlook) sync’d beautifully into the Blackberry.
BUT. The address book wouldn’t TF to the device.. though a test addition on the Blackberry DID show up in Outlook.
AND. The calendar only transferred events from this day forward.
Tried Setting the BB desktop to sync only one way TO the device. Tried REBOOTING the BB Device.
Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks
oops……… the old device was a T3, not a T7. The host runs Windows XP.
Peter you are a genius. Thank you so much for this step by step advice. I just successfully transferred all my contacts from my Palm Centro to my new Blackberry. I no almost nothing about comupters but i followed your steps and it worked. Again… thank you so very much for sharing!!! I spent hours on the phone with Sprint with no luck previously as well as visiting TWO Sprint stores trying to get contacts to transfer over!!!
Thanks you saved my life. Got my data from Palm Treo 650 to Blackberry Torch, but now I have over 1800 contacts.
Peter,
Thank you, I followed your outline and it worked. My biggest difficulty was getting my Palm Data to Microsoft Outlook 2003. Getting the data from Outlook to my Blackberry was much easier. I have a huge contact file and unbeknown to me, in a couple of places I had corrupted data (alphabetic characters where numbers should be), so at first the transfer to Microsoft Outlook would abruptly stop in the middle (and I would get an error message). This happened several times, but, eventually I determined what the problem was by seeing where the transfer stopped (i.e. what data did not transfer). Then I was able to eliminate the problem by deleting that particular file in Palm.
Since I know very little about computers, I won’t say that the transfer was easy (I was learning things every step of the way). However, once I got the data into Microsoft Outlook, the transfer to my Blackberry was a piece of cake. It probably took me two full days to finally figure everything out. It dawned on me somewhere in the process that I needed to work backwards. I needed to look at the Blackberry and see what data fields it had, and then transfer only those particular fields (Blackberry does not have as many custom fields as the Palm). And, honestly, I never did get my Palm custom fields to transfer, but I got everything else and I am happy (I will just manually enter that data into the Blackberry/Outlook note field).
For future users.
(1) The Palm exports to a Microsoft Excel File.
(2) To map phone numbers, make up numbers 111-111-1111, 222-222-2222, 333-333-3333, etc. and put them in the file that Peter talks about in step 12 so that you can get the phone numbers to the appropriate field. You will need to do the same thing with the postal/zip code: 11111,22222, etc.
(3) Unlike Palm, Blackberry does not use their exclusive software to store all your data. Blackberry uses other folks’ software to save your data when you sync. For example, for me, Microsoft Outlook is actually the file that Blackberry sync to for contact/address data.
(4) Finally, believe that what Peter is telling you does work; you just have to keep trying (and Learn some things along the way about Microsoft outlook and your new Blackberry)
P.S. AT&T help was useless (I went to them first). They did try TO help me and made several suggestions, but none of the stuff that they suggested would work. It was not until I owned my own problem and determined that I was not going to give up that things finally happened. As I said, it took me two days to understand the nuts and bolts of what Peter has outlined (However, when I finally knew what I was doing, the complete transfer only took 30 to 45 minutes), but it would have taken me two weeks to reenter all of my contact data, so it was worth the trouble.
Peter, I am trying to help future users. In my previous post, 3rd paragraph, under the “For Future Users” section please change: (1) The Palm exports to an Outlook Excel File. to (1) The Palm exports to a Microsoft Excel File.
@Jerry: Thanks for your detailed feedback. I’ve made the corrections as you’ve requested.
I have been trying to transfer from my Palm on the desktop to my Blackberry Curve and hit a brick wall when you say to copy the file into Outlook. I have Windows 7 with no Outlook and I did try with the Windows Live but nothing doing. I notice that Alanna (29 Nov) said that she was successful with direct sync between the two but I can’t get it to work. I have Palm 4.1 and not sure which version of the Blackberry but it is new.
@Sandra: If you don’t have Outlook, download and install the latest BlackBerry Desktop software. If that still doesn’t work, then see if a different version of Palm Desktop will do the trick. Backup your Palm files before installing a different version, in case you have to go back/forward. The various versions may not all be compatible with one another.
Hi Peter, I have checked and I have the latest version of Blackberry software, I have also checked on the Palm site and they no longer support my Palm so cannot get it updated. So I expect there is nothing for it but to enter all my data again into the Blackberry.
Thank your for all your tips!!! I have been able to download all my contact from my palm desktop to my outlook. I have not had very good luck with getting my notes to copy. Any suggestions.
What a great help. I used this method to transfer all my 500 contacts from my Palm centro to my blackberry curve with ease. thank you. could not have done it without you.
@Barbara: An alternative for notes is to open Palm Desktop and Outlook and copy+paste them into new notes in Outlook. Then, sync.
@sam Bah: You’re welcome. Glad it went smoothly. That’s quite a few contacts.
I’m a long time Treo user (Treo 700p) but had to make the switch to Verizon Blackberry Bold 9650. I want to convert my data (i.e., contacts/calendar/memos/tasks) from Palm V4.2 Desktop to Outlook 2007 and then transfer to my BB. I do have both telephones and cords. I’m confused by all the posts. I have marked many contacts, memos and dates private (used password protection) and have relabeled the contact information so that it goes as follows: Work, Mobile, Fax, HOme, Email, Work, Work. I am also aware that there have been some compatibilty issues with Palm V4.2 Desktop. Can someone please post a step by step guide to do the conversion/transfer. Thank you.
@Ed: Don’t worry about the follow up comments. First try the steps in the original post. They work fine, as is, for most people.