Software

Transfer Palm Treo Data to Blackberry Curve

173 Comments


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):

  1. Palm Desktop (the software that came with the Palm Treo)
  2. Blackberry Desktop (the software that came with the RIM Blackberry)
  3. 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)
  4. Blackberry device and sync cable

Exporting/importing the data:

  1. 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.])
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Choose Export from the File menu.
  5. Choose the file type as CSV (comma-separated value).
  6. Enter the name for the file (e.g. Contacts.csv) and remember where you’re saving it.
  7. Start Microsoft Outlook.
  8. Open your Contacts.
  9. Select Import from the File menu.
  10. For the file type, select Windows CSV or DOS CSV (the name may be different in your version of Outlook).
  11. Select the file you exported in step 6.
  12. 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).
  13. Click the Finish button to import all the addresses.
  14. Go to the Blackberry Desktop and open the synchronization utility.
  15. 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).
  16. Plug the Blackberry into your PC with the synchronization cable.
  17. Watch all the messages go by as the data is synchronized.
  18. 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.

173 thoughts on “Transfer Palm Treo Data to Blackberry Curve”

  1. I haven’t tried the whole process on a Mac but you could try the following:

    1. Export your contacts from Palm Desktop as a Datebook (.dba) file.
    2. Import the .dba file into Yahoo! Calendar.
    3. Export from Y! Calendar to a .csv file.
    4. Import the .csv file into Blackberry Desktop

    I’d recommend that you get confirmation from wherever you purchase your Blackberry that you can return it without any penalties if you’re unable to transfer your data from the Palm. Then, give this a try.

    Post back with your results.

  2. Please help.
    On my computer I have the Palm Desktop from my old Treo. I no longer have the actual phone. I have a Blackberry Curve now (which I love). How do I get my Memos and my Contacts from the Palm Desktop (no device) to the Blackberry (I do have both desktop and device)? Thank You! -ND

  3. Anonymous, you don’t have to have a Palm device plugged in to run the Palm Desktop and transfer your data to the Blackberry via Outlook. As long as your Palm Desktop software has the data in it, you can transfer it.

  5. Can you help , please ? I followed your instructions to go via MS Outlook – all’s well, except that when I try to import the created “Contacts.csv” file into Outlook ONLY THE LASTNAME tramsfers.
    What am I doing wrong ??
    Yhanks in advance
    David

  6. Hi David. Open the Contacts.csv file in Notepad and verify that all the data is in there. If it is, then perhaps your map in Outlook needs fixing. If the all the data is not in the csv file, then something probably went wrong with the export.

    It’s a good idea to create a dummy record with all the fields filled in with the field name to make it easier to verify that everything is getting exported to the file and mapped correctly.

  7. I works wonderfully…..I have been trying to sync my BlackBerry Storm with the Treo 755p the BB desktop manager did not recognize the Treo as conected….I finally was able to do it with your instructions…..Thank you very much…now to pass info between the two I just have to sync them both to Outlook……Thank you!!!!!

  8. Hi there – What about LifeDrive to Blackberry? I need to condense what I carry and am looking at a Sprint Blackberry 8350i (or the new version of the Palm Centro) and am concerned about moving data to either of them, what with how old the LifeDrive software is. Do you have any ideas on where I might find some guidance on this? Web searches have come up fruitless. Thanks.

  9. Hi Sabre,

    The LifeDrive uses Palm Desktop so the process is similar for moving data from it to a Blackberry. If you go with the Centro, then you probably just have to update the Palm Desktop software.

    Let me know how it goes.

  10. I’ve just gone through this process. (My Treo died just prior to getting the Blackberry Curve, but I had everything in Palm Desktop.)

    To get the contacts over, I selected all the Palm contacts, and saved them as a VCard file, then imported that into Microsoft Address book. I then pulled that into Outlook, after saving it as CSV. (I also pulled the CSV into Yahoo contacts.)

    It “worked”, but not very well — there were lots and lots of things like cell numbers, notes, and home addresses missing. I’d love to hear a more complete solution — I have about 900 addresses, so something automated is crucial. -Boyce

  11. Here is an easy way to transfer ALL your information (address book, memos, to-do list, etc…) from (in my case) Palm Tungsten E to a BB Curve).

    1-Hot-sync your Palm with your PC. 2-Load the Desktop Manager CD. I used ver.4.3.0.17 on the CD that came with the BB device.
    3-Select the “Switch device Wizard” on the BB Desktop Manager.
    4-Accept changes as they are applied.
    5-Enjoy life!

    You may have to re-start your PC and BB device as changes are made, but other that that it’s virtually painless!

  12. Help!!! Peter I’m not sure if you’re still around, but I was SO happy to find your blog online. Being a tech idiot, i tried following all the directions, and I think I did pretty well – it looked like things were working. But after i took out the battery and re-booted my BB 8300 smartphone, I didn’t see the addresses I transfered from the Treo. Do you have any suggestions?

    Hopefully, Iffy

  13. PeterRidge, I’m in need of your advice. I just purchased a Blackberry Curve 8310 and I own a Treo 680. This blog threat is very helpful except I have a Mac Powerbook which i sync my treo with and I wasn’t exactly sure what the steps were for porting over contacts, memo and calendar from treo stored on a mac (with no Outlook or Entourage) to my Blackberry Curve. Can you sum up the steps for that? Many thanks!

  14. I was also unable to sync my palm to my bb curve. I was about to try the stated procedures but did not want to buy or download a free outlook trial. That being said I followed the advice of the first person who posted a comment and downloaded an older vs of the palm desktop software. Once I did this I was able to transfer everything over using the BB desktop software. Also if your PC does not recognize your BB try re-downloading the BB desktop software, check to see if your USB drivers are up to date, or try it on a different PC.

    Thanks for the original post. Without it I would be sitting here tediously typing in all my contacts on my BB. It helped me tremendously.

    Patrick

  15. Iffy (Ifeoma),

    That sounds really odd. Powering off your BB shouldn’t wipe out the data. Did you try doing the sync again to reload it? That should get you up and running again.

  18. I have just purchased the 8330 Curve. Have spent HOURS trying to get my calendar and contacts trax’d over, and Sprint hasn’t been any help. My Palm software (CD) version is 4.2 (Treo 755) which is not one of the supported options for the synch to the Blackberry. How can I roll this back to a previous version make this transfer happen, or is this a viable option? Thanks.

  20. After many many years with Palms, I am seriously thinking about converting to BB. Reading these posts, the main concern seems to be converting address listings. That would be important to me too. But equally important would be converting memos and task lists, as well as the calendar. Does BB even have all of these applications? Checking the BB specs, I don’t see memos and tasks. Can you take notes on a BB?

  21. Hi Lyn. Yes, Blackberries can be used for taking notes and tracking todo items. However, be sure to verify that the particular model that you’re interested in has all your desired features.

  23. Actually, I still use Palm phones. I’m currently using a Palm Centro. Even though the Palm OS is kinda dated, it responds quickly, especially when I’m typing on it, has a touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard in a small form factor.

    Before I decided to get the Centro, I tried a whole bunch of phones but, at the time, the sluggishness of their operating systems or lack of a real keyboard didn’t appeal to me. The Palm Pre looks pretty cool but won’t be out until summer.

    The best recommendation I can give you is to decide what functionality is most important to you. Then, go to some local mobile phone providers and try out the devices. If your primary non-talking activities include taking lots of notes and tracking todo lists, try them out and see which ones work well for you.

    I know people who love using a Blackberry to do what they do and others who hate it. Ultimately, you want to choose the phone that does what you need the way you want to do it.

  24. Thanks, Peter,
    That sounds like good advice. Fortunately, I’m not under great pressure to make a decision, so I have the time to do what you suggest.

  25. What about if you want to move your text message history and call history etc. I’ve been using the Treo 680 but the Sim card holder has loosened to the point where it’s no longer practical to keep rebooting every 5 minutes so I’m temping with a BB Curve until the Palm Pre comes out. Everything syncd easily with Outlook but the call and text history are not in outlook. How can I get them to the BB as I’m having the same problem as one earlier message where the automatic facility on the BB Desktop Manager doesn’t even see the Palm/Treo Desktop. Btw I’m running on Vista

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