Microsoft Teams

Question

How do you add or delete contact on Teams? I have many contacts from my mobile device, But I need to add another contact.

Answer 1

Hello

Teams' people app syncs contacts from your Microsoft account, or your mobile device. To edit the contacts, you need to edit from the source, so it will be either your Microsoft account, or your mobile device. You cannot edit in Teams.

Answer 2

Good day @Frederic Mattern, 

Thank you for sharing your concern.  

Just to gently clarify before we go any further, this is a user‑to‑user support forum. I don’t have the ability to access or investigate individual accounts because this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, do not have access to internal systems or the ability to directly take action on Microsoft product features. However, I truly hope I can help review your situation, offer some guidance, and support you in finding the right next steps as best as possible.   

To help me better understand the situation and assist you effectively, could you please share a few details such as:   

1/ Which version of Teams are you using to manage contacts? (Teams mobile/desktop/on the web version) 

2/ Could you please confirm whether you are using the free version of Teams, or if your account is associated with a personal or a work/school subscription? 

3/ What device and operating system you are using? (Android/iOS or Windows/macOS) 

4/ What type of contact you are trying to add? (internal or external people) 

5/ Which contacts you would like to remove? (Contacts synced from mobile device/Contacts from Outlook/ People in your organization directory) 

This will help me better understand the context and provide more targeted support. Any additional information will help me better understand and support you.    

In the meantime, I would like to share a few scenarios that may help clarify the situation: 

Scenario 1: Teams mobile application 

On the Teams mobile app, contacts are synced from your Outlook contacts, so they cannot be added or removed directly within Teams, and to make any changes you can open the Outlook mobile app and manage them in the People section, after which the updates will automatically sync back to Teams.

In addition, if contact sync is enabled, Teams may also display contacts from both your Outlook account and your phone’s contact list. 

You can view and use these contacts in Teams mobile, but managing them depends on the source: 

• Contacts from your Microsoft account should be managed in Outlook, either through the mobile app or through the Outlook or Teams desktop and web apps in the People section. 

• Contacts from your phone are managed directly on your device. 

Any changes made in Outlook contacts will sync with Teams.  

Note: Phone contacts that appear in Teams are not stored in Outlook unless they are added separately to your Outlook contacts. 

Scenario 2: About managing contacts in Teams or Outlook on the web or desktop version 

Teams on the web and desktop version can add or delete contacts in People section: 

Select View more apps > Search People > Click it to open your contacts. 

In this People section, you can add new contacts or delete it. 

You can also manage your contacts by adding or removing them through Outlook on the web or the desktop app in the People section. 

Scenario 2: About deleting contacts 

You can try based on the source: 

• For mobile synced contacts: 

Open Teams mobile app > Go to Settings > Select People > Turn off Sync contacts. 

• For Outlook or Teams web and desktop contacts: 

Open Outlook or Teams > Go to People > Select the contact > Click Delete. 

Additionally, you can try following the steps suggested in the AI response or EmilyS726 and share any additional details so I can better understand your environment and assist you more effectively. 

Looking forward to your reply. 

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Answer 3

To add or delete contacts in Microsoft Teams (including Teams Free), use the People app and Calls view. Since there are already many contacts from the mobile device, additional contacts can be added directly in Teams.

Add a contact (desktop/Teams app)

1. Open Teams and go to Calls.
2. In the top-right, select View contacts to open the People app.
3. Select Add contact at the top.
4. Type the person’s name or phone number and select the correct entry from the dropdown (if your organization has a directory, suggestions appear automatically).
5. In the Add contact box, edit or add any details.
6. Select Save (or Create in the People app) to finish.

The new contact appears under All contacts in the People app and is available across Microsoft 365 (including Outlook) where applicable.

Delete a contact (desktop/Teams app)

1. Open the People app (via Calls > View contacts, or from View more apps and select People).
2. Under All contacts, select the contact to delete.
3. Open the drop-down menu (often labeled More or similar) and choose Delete.
4. Confirm by selecting Delete again.

Note: For directory-based contacts, only the local copy can be removed; the organization’s directory entry itself is not deleted.

Sync or manage mobile contacts in Teams Free (optional) If contacts are coming from a mobile device and more device contacts need to be available in Teams Free:

1. On mobile, tap the profile picture.
2. Tap Settings > People.
3. Turn Sync my device contacts On to sync phone contacts into Teams Free.
4. To stop syncing, switch Sync my device contacts Off; this also removes those synced contacts from Teams Free on desktop and web.

To sync Outlook contacts into Teams Free:

1. Go to Settings > People.
2. Under Sync contacts, select Manage.
3. Under From Outlook, select Sync to add Outlook contacts to Teams Free.

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References:

• View or add contacts in Microsoft Teams
• Sync your contacts in Microsoft Teams Free
• Manage your contacts with the People App in Teams