Windows 10: Outlook 2010 Data file import error to Outlook 2013

My employer (School Board) requested all staff laptops be returned over summer so the OS could be upgraded from Win 7 Enterprise, so I did an export of my Outlook 2010 file to work on from home- they now want all Outlook profiles below 50 MB. My personal laptop (Win 7 Pro with Office 2010) died last Tuesday before I could import said file. New ASUS G771J laptop came with Win 8.1 Home which I upgraded yesterday to Win 10 Home. Employer is moving to Office 2013 so I installed the HUP version yesterday as well.
Am now trying to import a password protected Outlook 2010 file (backup.pst) that was backed up from the work Acer running Win 7 Enterprise computer and Office 2010. I use Thunderbird or Gmail as my email client so will not use Outlook 2013 beyond weeding through this mound of work emails.
Was on M$ Win 10 website
Import Outlook items from an Outlook Data File (.pst)
but get either "This Outlook data file (.pst) is already in use in the current profile" when using the export function or "We didn't find anything to show here" when I use the Open Data File (.pst) command from "Open & Export" from the File tab and point to the backup file from work.
Both backup files are named differently depending on the Outlook version 2010 (backup.pst) and 2013 (Outlook.pst) so I copy/pasted the 2010 file into the same folder as the 2013 file then renamed the 2013 file to Outlook.OLD hoping that would trigger Outlook to accept the 2010 file but Outlook wouldn't open saying it was missing the outlook file.
Made a new profile to load the 2010 .pst into but Outlook again said there was nothing to see.
I don't have access to the full Office 2010 program as our employee only gives a link to the install EXE which is now not available as they move to Office 2013, so I can't replace 2013 with 2010.
Checked the password (employer says mandatory) I used when making the backup at work and it is correct - entered it both on my iPhone and on Password Corral when I got home.
Could the problem lie with an export file done from Outlook 2010 on Win 7 Enterprise and then importing to Outlook 2013 on Win 10 ?
While I can work through most problems with Win 10 this has me stumped. Passed it on to my IT trained son who also has run out of suggestions.
Any help would be appreciated.

:)

 

Home Office and Student 2010 on updated Window 8 to 10

Export the data you want to save following this tutorial:
Export or back up messages, calendar, tasks, and contacts - Office Support

Then install Windows 2010, import the data following
Import Outlook items from an Outlook Data File (.pst) - Office Support

Be sure to save the backup.

Then after Outlook 2010 has been working correctly for awhile, you can uninstall Office 2013 trial.

Another method is here for
Moving Outlook to a new Windows computer

 

Problems converting my contacts to my Windows Phone Contact list (People)

You can learn how to use the Outlook Hotmail Connector (and find a link where you can download it)

by reading this article that is posted to my blog.

If you upgrade to Outlook 2013, you can set up your Microsoft account to sync directly to Outlook (Outlook 2013 includes the added functionality of the Outlook Hotmail Connector).

You can learn how to set up Outlook 2013 to sync to your Microsoft account by reading this article that is posted to my blog.

Manipulating the CSV file to remove records is okay, but removing columns is probably what caused your problem. If you export your contacts from Outlook 2010, you should be able to use THAT unedited CSV file to import into your Microsoft account, but removing
columns from the file confuses the import procedure (at least that's been my experience). If there's data in the columns you deleted that you don't want included in the record, you'd be better off just clearing the data in those cells instead of deleting
the whole column. Another question about this is "How many contacts are you trying to get into your Microsoft account?" In the past there were some "sizing" issues with importing a large number of contacts into a brand new Microsoft account, but I haven't
heard anyone reporting that issue lately so I'm not sure if that's even an issue with anyone any more.

But, importing a CSV file into your Microsoft account really isn't the correct procedure you want to follow since you'd have to do that whenever you make any changes or add new contacts within Outlook 2010 if you want those changes or additions to also be
carried over to your phone. Syncing is the way to go, so then any changes you make in Outlook 2010 will be synced to your Microsoft account and then synced over to your phone....and any changes or additions you make to the contacts on your phone will sync
to your Microsoft account and then to Outlook 2010. So go read the article about using the Outlook Hotmail Connector that I linked in the first paragraph to this reply and let me know if you run into any problems getting it set up and working on your computer.

 

Have you tried to import it to T-Bird?

Maybe something like this would help?

Exportizer 5.5.5

 

Thanks Gary for the quick reply. Had a look at Exportizer and did a Google search on how to import Outlook to Thunderbird. With all the other tweaks that need to be made on my existing programs so they can run on Win 10, I borrowed time on a family member's Win 7 computer to fuss with those work emails. An hour drive towards the mountains plus a free meal and Outlook 2010 is weeded through. Also had time to take some awesome sunset photos over the mountains.
Heard from a colleague that they just dumped their whole Outlook backup as too much trouble. Did pass on the Exportizer link to others in my Science department as most are running Firefox/Thunderbird as well. My IT son grabbed a copy as well.
Thanks again for the help.