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Change how Contacts are filed and Address Book entries appear
In Microsoft Outlook, the Contact form has three fields that are important to the way you will work with your contacts in combination with the Address Book— Full Name, File As, and Display Name.
Full Name The Display Name is created based on how you type the contact's full name. For example, if you type the first and last name of the contact, you will see the default format of First Name Last Name, such as Jeff Smith.
File As Outlook will organize contacts in the Address Book according to the filing method you select. For example, if the default File As format is Last Name, First Name, when Jeff Smith is typed in the Full Name field, the File As name would be Smith, Jeff. Jeff’s contact information will be filed in the Address Book under the S tab for Smith. The default format is Last Name, First Name.
Display Name This is the name shown on the To, Cc, and Bcc lines of an e-mail message as well as in the Address Book when you search for a contact. The field is created based on Full Name. The default format is the same as Full Name.
When you compose a new message, and then click the To or Cc button, the contacts list might display names that are sorted by the contact’s first name. To change how contacts are saved and displayed, do the following:
Change the name format for new contacts
Full Name format
- On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
- Click View or change existing directories or address books, and then click Next.
- Click Outlook Address Book, and then click Change.
- Under Outlook Address Books, click Contacts: Mailbox – Mailbox name, and then under Show names by, click File As (Smith, John).
- Click Close, and then click Finish.
File As format
- On the Tools menu, click Options.
- Click the Preferences tab, and then click Contact Options.
- In the Default “File As” order list, click Last, First.
- Click OK twice.
- Quit and restart Outlook.
Display Name format
- The Display Name field is based on the Full Name field setting. If you change the settings for the Full Name field, you will change the way the Display Name is displayed.
Change the name format for existing contacts
Full Name format
- Open the contact.
- In the Full Name box, type the name in the format that you want.
- Repeat for each contact you want to change.
File As format
- Open the contact.
- In the File As list, select a different filing method or type a filing method into the box.
- Repeat for each contact you want to change.
Display As format
- Open the contact.
- In the Display As field, type the name in the format that you want.
- Repeat for each contact you want to change.
Notes
- Company names that start with "The" automatically appear under the next word in the name. For example, "The Phone Company" appears as "Phone Company, The."
- You cannot change the name format of Microsoft Exchange Server names, such as the names in the Global Address List.
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