I cannot edit a contact.

Question

A person appears in my contacts. When I try to edit that contact, there's an option to add to contacts. When I click add to contacts, it requires me to add in a name.

Answer 1

Hello Robert Algie, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum! 

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well! 

I understand it can be confusing when you see a contact in your list but cannot edit it directly. 

Based on my research and your description, it appears you are viewing a contact from your organization's global directory rather than a contact saved in your personal list. 

In the New Outlook for business, you can view information about your colleagues directly from the system without saving them as contacts. Their profile card shows information collected from the organization's directory. However, because this data is managed by the server, you cannot edit it directly. 

If you want to add other information (such as notes, birthdays, or nicknames), Outlook requires you to save the colleague to your own contacts first. Once you do this, the new personal contact is auto-linked to the existing directory contact. This allows you to add details that only you will see. 

To help me better understand your specific situation and ensure this feature is working correctly for you: 

1. When you follow the prompt to "Add to contacts," fill in the name, and click Save, what happens next? Does the contact update allowing you to edit it, or does a completely new contact appear separately? 
2. If possible, could you please share a screenshot of the behavior and your steps via Private Message? This would help me investigate further. 

I look forward to your response so I can provide the appropriate troubleshooting steps. I hope this helps clarify the current behavior of Outlook, at least partially

Have a wonderful day! 

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