Extract text from Outlook offline address books (OAB)
To convert OAB address books to another format, you need Microsoft Outlook or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Address Book Database" file type, you need software like Microsoft Outlook or a similar tool.
A .OAB file is an Offline Address Book generated by Microsoft Exchange Server and utilized by Microsoft Outlook. It functions as a local cache of corporate directory information, allowing users to search for colleagues or send emails while disconnected from the corporate network.
The main disadvantage of the .OAB format is that it is highly proprietary and strictly bound to the Microsoft ecosystem. It locks your contact data inside a specialized binary cache that cannot be read by web browsers, standard text editors, or alternative email clients like Thunderbird or Apple Mail. Because it is a system-generated cache rather than a user-friendly document, extracting data directly from the raw file is frustrating and complex.
If you need to migrate your contacts, the best target formats are CSV (Comma-Separated Values) or VCF (vCard). Converting to CSV allows the data to be easily managed in spreadsheet software, though you will lose Exchange-specific internal metadata and server routing IDs during the export process.
Because this is a closed, proprietary format, it is exceptionally difficult to open or convert online. Standard online converters fail to process .OAB files because the data structure relies on undocumented Microsoft MAPI architecture. Often, only the original Microsoft Outlook software can properly read or export the data. We can inspect the file, reveal raw text or internal content, and if our analysis detects a supported embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your OAB file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PST, OST, PRF and CSV files.
If you want to convert OAB file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Microsoft Outlook or similar software from the "Offline Address Book Cache" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to OAB, try Microsoft Outlook or another comparable tool in the "Offline Address Book Cache" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our OAB converter.