Adding contact lists in new outlook

Question

Before we switched to new Outlook, our administrator would send us updated contact lists from time to time. All we had to do was drag the contact list to the contact list icon on the left. In new Outlook this is not possible. Importing contacts from a CSV-file is possible, but the contact lists we get from our admin is in some kind of Outlook file format. Is there some way to update or add the contact lists using these files or will our admin have to start using CSV files for future contact list updates?

Answer 1

Hello Linus Kitano,

Thank you for your reply!

It is recommended that you open New Outlook and access Help>Feedbackto Make a suggestionthat will help to improve our products. Your good ideas will benefit the dedicated development engineers at Microsoft to improve the product and services in the future. Actionable feedback is the most useful – tell us what you’re trying to do, and if anything fails to meet your hopes and expectations.

Thank you for your time and understanding!

Best regards

Eleni | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hello Linus Kitano,

Thank you for posting this case in the Microsoft Community!

Based on your description: Adding contact lists in new outlook. I would like to cooperate with you to work on this case. To clarify this case, currently, New Outlook only supports importing contact lists via CSV file format. For my suggestion, you may check this article as a reference to Import contacts to Outlook for Windows. Here are the steps to import your contact list with a CSV file in New Outlook:

1. On the side panel, select the People icon in Outlook.
2. From the ribbon, select Manage contacts > Import contacts.

3. Select Browse, choose your CSV file, and select Open.
4. Select Import.

**Tip:**For best results, make sure that the CSV file has UTF-8 encoding. This encoding works for all languages and alphabets.

**Note:**If the file doesn't have UTF-8 encoding, the import tool may not recognize and display all text correctly. The import tool will then show you some example contacts from your file, and you can check that the text is readable and correct. If the text is not displayed correctly, select Cancel. You will need a file in UTF-8 encoding to continue. Convert your CSV file to use UTF-8 encoding and restart the import. To learn more about UTF-8 encoding, see Why should I care about UTF-8 encoding?

Thus you may inform your IT admin to start using CSV files for future contact list updates. I understand your concerns here but, please note Microsoft is constantly working on improving this product and adding more new features and the new Outlook for Windows (Preview) version is still under active development. Therefore, I suggest keeping an eye on the Microsoft Outlook blog or the Microsoft 365 Roadmap | Microsoft 365 for any updates on this feature. In the meantime, I do apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and will also update here once I get additional information and the specific timeline for the feature will be added.

At this point, it is also recommended that click Help > Feedback or Contact support and provide feedback within the new Outlook for Windows and add your concern as an idea through the new Outlook in-app support Feedback site. Microsoft will keep monitoring customers' feedback and valuable ideas there to consider/include in future product updates.

Please note that nobody here is the product developer/decision maker and has no control over the product. Everyone, including us as a community moderator, can only assist you with the query for providing available solutions and the feature's availability status within our scope and capability.

To check more details about how to submit feedback, kindly refer to this article Learn about how to provide feedback to Microsoft - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn.

Thank you for your time and understanding. For other questions, feel free to add your post to the Microsoft Community.

Best regards,

Eleni | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

OK, thank you for clarifying.

Where can I voice my opinion regarding this matter and suggest improvements?