Access Your Gmail Contacts Offline - fullerseethe79

Robert Conner keeps his friends' call numbers and snailmail addresses in Gmail. He asked me how atomic number 2 can access this information offline.

The conjuring trick is to synchronise Gmail's contacts with another contact manager–one that stores its information locally. Not surprisingly, this is a zero-brainer on an Android twist. You just give the phone or tablet your Gmail account name and password, and information technology syncs.

Information technology's also reasonably easy connected an iOS device, such as an iPad–once you know the not-very-obvious trick. You can learn that trick at Sync Mail, Contacts, Calendar with Your iOS Device.

But I'm guessing you want to sync your contacts to a Windows PC. Here are a couplet of options:

If you get Microsoft Office, and therefore Outlook, download and install Hug dru Impinging Sync. This exempt, open-source program is highly configurable. You can control how IT syncs (for example, if Mentality and Gmail take up self-contradictory information on the same person, you can primed which one "wins"). You give the sack also set when it syncs automatically.

The other option is to manually export contacts from Gmail, then import them into Mentality or about any other contact lens manager. This isn't as convenient as actualised syncing, because the two databases will eventually diverge without regular effort. But if you don't care about keeping the local version up-to-date, don't lack to install another program, operating theater are not using Outlook, information technology's a better choice.

Hera's how to suffice it:

In Gmail's Contacts environment, click the More pull-down card and choose Export. In the top section of the resulting Export Contacts panel, select what contacts you want exported. In the bottom half, select Expectation CSV.

Exactly how you import this file depends on what program you're importation them to. The following instructions are for Windows 7's own Contacts folder:

Click Starting signal, eccentric contacts, and press ENTER to raise your contacts in a Windows Adventurer window. Connected the toolbar, select Implication. (If you don't see an Import option, click the chevron image–which looks like >>–and information technology will appear in a rend-down menu).

In the resulting Spell to Windows Contacts dialog box, select CSV (Polygonia comma Detached Values), and follow the prompts.

Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes nigh technology and cinema. Email your technical school questions to him at solvent@pcworld.com , operating theater post them to a community of accommodative folks on the PCW Answer Line forum . Follow Lincoln on Twitter , operating room sign to the Answer Line newssheet , e-mailed weekly.