Visual Basic for Outlook 2016: A Step-by-Step Guide to Importing Emails

In this article, we'll explore how to use Visual Basic (VBA) in Outlook 2016 to import emails from a specific folder and subfolder into an Excel worksheet. This tutorial is designed for users who are new to VBA and want to automate the process of importing email data.

Setting Up the Environment

Before you begin, make sure that you have Microsoft Outlook 2016 installed on your computer and that the Visual Basic Editor is enabled. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook 2016.

2. Go to the 'File' menu and click on 'Options.'

3. In the 'Options' dialog box, click on the 'Add-ins' tab.

4. Check the box next to 'Visual Basic for Applications' and press the 'OK' button.

Understanding the Code

The code we'll be using is a VBA script that uses the Outlook Object Library to connect to your Outlook account and import emails from a specific folder. Here's an overview of how the code works:

1. The first line sets a variable called `Folder` to the default Inbox folder in Outlook, which contains the subfolder 'Net Sales Report' with the sub-subfolder 'Sales.'

2. The next line sets a variable called `OutlookNamespace` to the current namespace of your Outlook account.

3. The main text body from emails will be imported just below this cell, using the `ReceivedTime` property to filter out emails that were received before a specific date (set in the `From_date` cell).

4. The sender information from emails will be imported just below this cell.

5. Date received from emails will be imported just below this cell.

6. Subjects from emails will be imported just below this cell.

Using Named Ranges

Named ranges are used throughout the code to refer to specific cells and values in your Excel worksheet. By using named ranges, you can easily move columns around without breaking your code. For example, if you want to import data from a subfolder of 'Sales,' you would need to append another level of folder hierarchy to the `Folders` object.

Adding Named Ranges

To add named ranges in VBA, follow these steps:

1. Open the Visual Basic Editor by pressing `Alt + F11`.

2. In the Project Explorer, double-click on the 'Insert' menu and select 'Name'.

3. In the 'Names' dialog box, enter a name for your range (e.g., 'From_date') and click OK.

4. Repeat this process to create named ranges for each of the columns you want to import.

Running the Code

Once you've set up the environment and added the named ranges, you can run the code by following these steps:

1. Open the Visual Basic Editor.

2. In the Project Explorer, double-click on the 'Module' menu and select 'New'.

3. Paste the code into the new module and click OK.

4. Press `F5` to run the code.

In this article, we've explored how to use Visual Basic in Outlook 2016 to import emails from a specific folder and subfolder into an Excel worksheet. By following these steps and using named ranges, you can automate the process of importing email data and make it easier to manage your email communications.

Visual basic for outlook 2016