Learn How to Export .nk2 file to MS Outlook
Once the Outlook users started using MS Outlook 2013 and 2016 for the very first time the nickname cached is imported into the hidden message in the user’s default message store. It.s stored with the filename profile name.nk2 file. These files were used in the MS Outlook 2010. But from MS Outlook versions, 2013 and 2016 does not use the .nk2 file for maintaining the nickname caching. However, there can be many scenarios and situations where the user might want to import nk2 to Outlook 2016/2013/2010/2007 i.e. a nickname cache file after the first-run nickname cache import process has been completed. Like for instance, a colleague in some organization wants to share the nickname cache with some other colleague and he wants to update the existing nickname cache of their colleague’s data.
So here, in this article, we will discuss how to copy nk2 File to Outlook in multiple versions MS Outlook like 2007/2010/2013 and 2016.
What is NK2 File?
The file format .nk2 is an AutoComplete file supported from MS Outlook 2002 and later versions. This AutoComplete file plays an important part in MS outlook. It stores all the names of the email address to which the email was previously sent. Also, it saves the name of the person to whom the email was sent months back. Plus, it stores all the email messages and their respective addresses from fields like To, Cc, Bcc etc. Its information is stored in the AutoComplete file for helping the user access the older email addresses.
Location of the NK2 File – The file is located at the location “C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook” by default.
The AutoComplete file is very profile specific; it means if a user has multiple Outlook profiles, there will be only one AutoComplete file for each Outlook profile. Also, these files are saved with the profile name of Outlook, followed by the .nk2 extension.
Steps to Move NK2 file to Outlook
The steps to transfer NK2 to Microsoft Outlook 2016/2013/2010/2007 is as follows:
- First, make sure that .nk2 file is in the folder “%appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook”.
Note: The file name of NK2 file should be same as the current Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 profile. By default the profile name is Outlook. For checking the name of the profile performs the following steps:
1. Click on the Start button and then click on Control Panel.
2. Now double click on the Mail.
3. After that in Mail, setup dialog box clicks on the Show profile option.
- Now click on the Start button and then click on Run.
- After that in the Open box type “outlook.exe /importnk2″ and then click OK.
- Now it should export .nk2 file to Outlook profile.
Note: After the user has imported .nk2 file the contents of that file will be merged into the existing name cache which is currently stored in the user’s mailbox.
Note: The .nk2 file is renamed with the old file name extension while starting MS Outlook application 2013 or 2016. Also, if the user tries to re-import .nk2 to Outlook 2013/2016 it will automatically remove the old file name extension.
Conclusion
NK2 file is a very important file for switching from one Outlook profile to another. In case the user is unable to open NK2 file manually then they can be reliable on the third-party utility to copy NK2 to MS Outlook. In this case, the user can import the data either in MS Outlook or some other address book. Plus, it is an AutoComplete file which stores all the profile information of that account used in MS Outlook.