How to Export Contacts From Your Sprint Palm Pre
Once you have your Palm Pre setup, you realize that there’s no obvious way to export all your contact list to your computer. Yes, the data is backed up in the clouds, but what if I want to export the data to a spreadsheet or another app?
As it turns out, there’s a “cheat” code for doing this. First bring up the Dialer (the same way you dial numbers to make a call).
Next, dial the number “##66623#”, without the quotes. When you dial the last #, an app called “Monad” will automatically launch and you will see something like this:
The screen above is actually the main screen with the Help screen dialog box over it. All you will see is the “CelleBrite Export” button. CelleBrite is a company that makes a black box that exports contacts from any phone to any other phone. I found out this secret feature when I was at the Apple store buying an iPhone 4.
When you click on the export button, you will get the following screen:
Depending on how many contacts you have, this can take a while to export the file. Just wait and don’t close the app. Once the app is done, it will tell you to connect with the USB cable. At this point, the export file is ready. Connect to your Palm Pre using your USB cable and choose “USB” from the options.
Look in the folder named “.temp” and inside the folder, there should be a file named PmMigration.vcf. This file contains your entire contact list in VCF format (vCard).
Copy this file to your computer and manipulate it or import it to another app on your computer using the vCard format.
Tried this – no temp file was created…
The .temp folder is already there. The actual file is PmMigration.vcf inside the .temp folder. Might only work with Sprint Palm Pre. Not sure.
This worked for me. Why isn't this more well known? I've been trying to figure this out for days and finally stumbled onto this. The file is hidden, so you have to serch for hidden files" Also, it adds a bunch of blank .vcf contacts, so use word pad t delete them befor importing to your next device.
Ahh. That's why the other commenter didn't find the file. I already had my computer set to show hidden files so I didn't realize they were hidden. Thanks for the heads up dmon.
Thanks a bunch!!!! I never saw this trick anywhere else but it helped me more than anything!
Glad it helped. I too was very surprised when they did this trick at the Apple store.
Hey, I've tried it, and it partially worked cuz there is only one contact that appears in that file. i must have a couple of hundreds of them and there's only one that seemed to have saved. Any help? should i try again ..?
Not sure why this is happening. I did get some blank entries but for the most part, the file was okay.
Tried twice, still the first contact only that was saved and that is available in that .temp file.
Is there any way to select the CelleBrite Export with the physical keypad? My screen is broke…
I don't think so but not positive.
To add to that, I can get to the screen where it has the green CelleBrite Export button but I can't figure out how to select it and click it with the keypad alone.
Works beautifully. Thanks a ton!
It worked yea! The following helped me reveal the hidden files on my mac.
http://www.macworld.com/article/51830/2006/07/showallfinder.html