I’ve actually had this happen before, and the fix was really easy. It’s possible that the default printer in your email program isn’t set correctly. If this happens, it will look like it’s printing, but nothing comes out of your printer. Rather than just clicking on the printer icon on the toolbar, go into File then Print. See what printer is listed as the default. If it isn’t correct, choose the right printer and then click on Print. If this doesn’t solve your problem, try these options:
- If you can’t print from the Print option, try printing from the Print Preview option on the File tab. If you don’t see Print Preview, click on the small arrows at the bottom and the tab will expand to show this option. Sometimes you won’t be able to print from HTML, so change the email to Rich Text and see if you can print from this tab.
- If your computer printed emails at one time, but doesn’t anymore, you might want to try a system restore. This will bring your computer back to an earlier time when things were working right - it is basically a ‘snapshot’ of your computer as it was at that time. Make sure that you have all of your data backed up before you try to restore your computer as you will lose anything that has been added to your computer after the restore date. Go to Start, then Program, then Accessories. Click on System Tools and System Restore.
- Is the computer printing only the headers but not the body of the email? This can happen in Outlook, and you just need to adjust your settings. In Outlook, go to Tools and click on Options. Go to Preferences, then Email Options. Uncheck the box marked Read All Standard Mail in Plain Text. Click OK. While still in Tools, go to Options again, then Mail Format. Check Use MS Office Word To Read Rich Text Email Messages. Click OK. This should solve the problem.
- Another, more drastic, solution is to uninstall and reinstall your email program. Go to Start then Control Pane. Click on Add/Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components. Find the email program from the list and click Change/Remove at the top right of the panel. You will then need to reinstall your email program.
If you are trying to print but getting a specific error message, you will need to post that message in order to determine the problem. Hopefully, one of these easier fixes will work for you.

Outlook Express has a feature for exporting contacts in the address book, which is easy enough to use, but it does not break down the contact list into specific groups. So, we’re going to need to get creative. First, let me show you how to export the list in case you don’t already know how to do so. Then, I’ll suggest what you can do about the mail group.