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What is the "Your contacts folder" in People and how is it different from my "Contacts" folder?

Anonymous
2022-01-03T17:44:52+00:00

My workplace has moved from the desktop Outlook app, which I've used for years, to the web version. I understood the desktop Contacts well, but don't understand the People app at all. I have 4,000+ contacts in my Contacts folder, which shows up if I expand Folders in the navigation pane. But above the folders are several other things, including something called "Your contacts". That contains an apparently random selection, only about 10% of the contacts that are also in the Contacts folder. I have no idea why those particular ones are there. Few if any are used frequently. Some are rather recent but many were created years ago. They don't have categories or any other fields in common that I can see.

I have searched Microsoft sites and elsewhere on the web for an explanation of what this folder is supposed to be and why it exists separately from my existing Contacts folder, and have found nothing. This prominent new feature has been implemented, behaves strangely, and appears not to be documented anywhere.

Not only did it have this random selection of contacts the first time I used, it, but it behaves strangely in other respects. If I go to my own Contacts folder and highlight a contact, an "Add to Contacts" link appears, despite the fact that the item is already in the folder that's called Contacts. If I click on that link, a card appears where I can edit the information. If I then click Save, the contact shows up in "Your contacts". That might make a kind of sense, BUT the process also creates an additional copy of the contact in the "Contacts" folder where it started. This cannot be the intended result.

Can someone explain what "Your contacts" is supposed to be for, how it's supposed to work, and how we can get it properly documented?

Outlook | Web | Outlook on the web for business | Contacts

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Anonymous
2022-01-04T04:38:59+00:00

Hello Elizabeth Fuller,

Thanks for your post in this Microsoft community.

Regarding your post, would like to confirm does you are using Microsoft 365 Exchange Online account or other type of account (such as Outlook.com)?

Generally in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online account, Outlook web app shows contact information as below:

  • Your contacts shows all saved contacts.
  • Your contact lists: Shows your contact lists from all folders.
  • Contacts under Folders: This is the default folder for your all saved contacts and contact lists.

Based on your description, seems "Contacts" under folder have 4000+ contacts while "Your contacts" shows 10% contacts, so kindly verify if other are listed as "Contacts list".

Further as this is the web version of Outlook, so its managed by Exchange. Once you created/add any new contact or contact list via Outlook web app, it will be added in the dedicated folder (contacts in Your contacts and Contact list in Your contact lists) and all contacts and contacts lists are visible in the Folder named Contacts. If facing any issue, you need to check with first clear your current browser’s cache or check via InPrivate browsing mode and you can also check with different browser.

Further for your other contact related issue, request you to kindly provide video with your account details via Private Message only, so we can check it and assist you further. At this point, your kind co-operation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your precious time. Stay safe and healthy.

Best regards,

Ankita Vaidya

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-04-02T00:58:00+00:00

    It's taken me a long time to reply because this whole thing is so outrageously frustrating, and my workplace has updated its license and now I have use of the latest desktop app again, so I thought I wouldn't have to deal with it any more, but now I find that some part of this problem has also affected the way the desktop app behaves.

    Trying to understand that, I finally figured out what the contacts that don't appear under "Your contacts" have in common. They were all created using a custom contact form. So "Your contacts" shows only the contacts that use the standard/default Outlook contact form, and as far as the web app is concerned contacts created with other forms shouldn't be shown along with them. If that were the only problem I'd just put up with it, but I've just discovered that the desktop app also treats contacts from custom forms differently, even if it does display them all in the same folder.

    I created this custom form in good faith, because Microsoft made the ability to do that a big selling point ("You can have your own data, including custom fields, in the way you want to see it!"). I spent days learning how to create and edit forms. The custom form worked more efficiently for me than the standard form and saved me a lot of time. All of this is stuff Microsoft told me I could do, so its software should be able to cope with it. But apparently it can't. For the time being I have converted all of my contacts back to the standard form, in part to see if the additional problems I found in the desktop app will go away. I may have more to say later, but for the time being Microsoft should know that the Outlook web version can't cope properly with custom forms, and should warn all users that contacts using custom forms wont' appear in "Your contacts" and may behave badly in other ways also.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-01-06T08:34:31+00:00

    Hello Elizabeth Fuller,

    Good day to you and hope you are doing well.

    We are writing to follow up on this thread. If you have any further question or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Also for contact related issue, you can provide us above requested information via Private Message only at your convenience. So we will check details and assist you further. Thank you.

    Best regards,

    Ankita Vaidya

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