How to Import Google Feeds to Microsoft Outlook

As soon as Google announced the discontinuance of its popular Google Reader app, folks have been left with no choice but to look for other Google Reader alternatives. Most of these alternatives are standalone desktop and web based Readers. Microsoft Outlook the  popular email client has not been thought of as a viable Google Reader replacement but it does do the job quite well. Since Microsoft Outlook stays open round the clock for me, it definitely makes sense for me to move my Google Reader subscriptions to my email client.

Although it is not a full fledged news reader, it saves me the trouble of opening one more application or web page, and does a perfectly respectable job of collecting my feeds and keeping me informed of all my unread news stories. So if you are an Outlook user and are still debating if you should use its RSS services, now is as good a time as any to start doing so. This tutorial shows you how to get import Google Feeds to Microsoft Outlook, so that you can continue reading stuff from where you left off earlier.

How to Import Google Feeds to Microsoft Outlook

1. Export Google Reader Subscriptions.

Backup your Google Reader feeds using Google Takeout.

1. Login to Google Takeout with your Gmail credentials.

2. Click the Choose Services tab and select Reader. Give the tool a few moments to estimate the number and size of your files.

3. Click Create Archive.

4. Once the archiving is done, click the Download button to export OPML from Google Reader .

5. When downloading is complete, extract the contents of the ZIP file.

2. Import Google Feeds to Outlook

1. In your Outlook application, in the left navigation pane, right-click RSS Feeds icon and choose Import an OPML File.

2. The Import an OPML File wizard opens up. On the first screen of the wizard, click the Browse button, navigate to the recently downloaded folder, select the XML file, and click Open. In the wizard, click Next.

3. In the next screen, you will see a list of all your RSS subscriptions. Tick the ones you want to import to Outlook. Click Next.

4. Your subscriptions will now be imported into Outlook. Outlook will automatically create new folders for your imported subscriptions and displays them in alphabetical order in the Feeds group. If you had previously organized your Google Reader subscriptions in a particular format, or wished to import starred items, you won’t be able to do so. If you want to establish that structure again, you will have to do it manually.

Remember, Outlook is its own unique program, and has its unique set of features. I’ve grown to love it and use it to read and manage all my feeds. Do you plan to import Google feeds to Outlook?