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. GQ, transferring that data between Treo and BB will be difficult. The BB can backup and restore its own, but I don’t know of a program that can move it from the Treo to the BB. However, here are some programs that get you half way there. At least you’ll be able to get your text messages and call log off the Treo.

    SMSConvert (download your text messages from the Treo)
    http://www.everythingtreo.com/forum/treo-650/sms-software-9287.html

    TopCallLogTool (download your call history from the Treo)
    http://mytreo.net/downloads/treocalllogtool,968.html

    CZ Call Log (download your call history from the Treo)
    http://www.sharewareconnection.com/cz-call-log.htm

  2. I’m running the same problem in trying to import data from my Palm Treo 680 to my BB Storm. The BB desktop manager didn’t recognize my Treo, although both the Treo and the BB are conected to the computer: it shows the Palm selection in grey and doesn’t allow me to sync both devices. The problem is that I don’t have the Outlook instaled in my computer. Is there any way to overcome this? Thanks for the help.

  4. Peter, I have to say you are the medicine to my almost insurmountable head ache. I spent 30 min on the phone with my IT dept and they hadn’t a clue as how to solve my problem. I was able to follow the instructions on this site and it worked like a charm. You ought to run for president and solve our countries probs too. THX a MILLION!! I LOVE MY BLACKBERRY EVEN MORE NOW!!!

  6. Thank you so much for this advice! I have been trying to figure this out for a week! I thought I was stuck with a Palm forever!
    Thank you!

  7. Peter –thank you ! I am at the crossroads right now; have been using Palm for years and your post #73 just gave me hope not to have to make the switch (just yet). Appreciate your input very much.

  8. You’re welcome, Moe. It’s good to have choices, though sometimes it just makes it harder to choose. 🙂

  9. Hey
    I’ve going cray trying to import my old data from palm desktop into Outlook so I could sync with my new BB Curve.
    Your advice was a total lifesaver- I was pulling my hair out. Of course non of the support centers had a clue how to help…
    I managed to import the contacts and the memos (the memos went so easily I couldn’t quite believe my eyes!)
    Now i’m struggeling with the date book/ calendar…
    and I really can’t seem to figure it out.
    I tried going thru yahoo- but it wont recognize the file and wont upload it so that doesn’t work.
    Do you have any other ideas that I can try?
    (I’m using Palm desktop version 6.2.2 but don’t have a palm device anymore)
    Your thoughts?
    Thanks so much in advance!

  11. Hi Naomi,

    Since your Palm Desktop is pretty new, maybe Yahoo Calendar can’t read it. Do you also have Outlook 2007? If so, there’s a new conduit to sync it with Palm Desktop. You can download it from the Palm support article ID 43867.

    If you have an earlier version of Outlook, try the conduit that comes on the Palm CD. If you don’t have your CD, check out Palm support article ID 24276 to download the appropriate one.

    Hope that helps.

  12. Hi thanks for this great thread. I am moving Palm Data from an old laptop to a new Macbook. I used the Yahoo ‘csv’ method you described above. It worked for contacts but not for memos and notes. I am dreading having to transfer all that text into my new device. Any suggestions? Thanks!

  13. My bad, after I posted I realized I could just cut and paste anything from YAHOO notes to ‘stickies.’ Thanks again!

  15. I’m about to purchase a Blackberry after using various Treos with Palm software containing thousands of business and personal contacts from the past 10 years! What if I have only Mac computers? and no Windows? Would the directions still apply to me?

  16. Hi Karen,

    If you don’t have any access to Windows PCs, do you have Entourage? If you transfer your Palm data to Entourage, you can use PocketMac to sync to your BlackBerry. PocketMac supports other data sources as well, such as Address Book Contacts and iCal Calendar and Tasks:

    http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/mac.jsp
    http://www.pocketmac.net/products/pmblackberry/

    If I remember correctly, the Mac version of Palm Desktop can export to several of the formats that PocketMac supports.

  17. Peter,
    Do you know of a way to go from an SD card to Palms desktop without being able to Hotsynch? I think I have some corrupted data and my palm won’t hotsynch. I can however, back up to an SD card. I would love to get the data from the SD card to my desktop so I can do a hard reset to fix my Palm. Any input would be appreciated…

  18. Hi anz,

    On Windows XP (at least on mine), the backed up application (*.PRC) and database (*.PDB) files from HotSync are located in C:Program FilesPalmPalmUsBackup . However, putting the files from your SD card backup into that folder won’t make the data appear in Palm Desktop. Palm Desktop would still need to HotSync in order to get the data into its database files. One way to do that is to use a Palm Emulator (http://download.cnet.com/Palm-OS-Emulator/3000-2212_4-10111408.html) and do a simulated HotSync.

    Before you go to that extreme, since you’ve already backed up your Palm to an SD card, try doing the hard reset and then restore from the SD card. That might clear up the problem so that you can HotSync normally. It’s worth a try.

  19. Worked great! Until I found this solution, I struggled to transfer my address book from Palm Treo 700p to my new blackberry. Nothing else worked.

    I’m so thankful I found this solution. Worked like a dream..

  20. Thanks. I cannot wait to do this. I too have a Palm Treo 700P and was getting ready to pull my hair out. Thanks again.

  21. Awesome. Couldn’t find any way to do this and all my so-called hi tech buddies including the guy that maintains our company server didn’t know either. And so easy even I could do it. Thanks

  23. I synchronized all the data from palm pilot to blackberry curve.
    Then I synchronized the data to the google calender. It said all data was trasfered. But I do not see anything on the calender. However it schronized new items I put it. Why the current data on the balckberry was not tranfered to the google calender

  24. Sounds like the Blackberry might be setting a flag to indicate that the new records need to be synced but it didn’t do that with the migrated data from the Palm. Not sure. It’s odd. Can you force the Blackberry to sync everything?

  25. Amazing that the info posted 2 years ago is still a godsend. I had to transfer all of my 700p stuff to the new iphone 3GS. Life saver.

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