Outlook Contacts

Question

Contacts, do not appear as first name - last name, but by their .icloud, .yahoo, and .gmail email address. So they do not sort correctly or seach correctly. I found something that says it is spam related... I do not want to have me frinds listed by their email and pay you month for a service to provide my contacts to myu PC, phone and tablet. Here and there i find people says when Outlook does not support that. WOW! Really? there is nothing new in the world of addressbooks. OH, by having a Child below it appears that the other platforms are not responsible to support all.

Answer 1

Dear @Mike Magnant,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I’m truly sorry to hear about the issue you’re experiencing with Outlook. I understand that you don’t want your friends listed by their email addresses. As a forum moderator, I wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and resolve this for you. However, our role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users.

From your description and my research, the issue of contacts appearing as email addresses (e.g., .icloud or .yahoo) instead of names is typically caused by a mapping failure between different data ecosystems. During the synchronization process from your phone or tablet to your PC, the "File As" field in Outlook was populated with the email address because the name metadata from the source (Apple or Google) didn’t align with Outlook’s database structure.

This issue is often triggered by how third-party sync tools, such as the iCloud for Windows app or IMAP account syncs, translate contact headers.

Please try the following steps to see if they help resolve the issue:

1.Sort the Contacts List by Name (Quick View Fix):

• Open new Outlook > click People (or the people icon) in the left navigation.
• Ensure All contacts (or your main folder) is selected in the left pane.
• At the top of the contacts list, click the current sort/filter label (e.g., it might say "By first name" or show a dropdown/filter icon).
• From the Sort by menu, choose:
• By first name (for alphabetical A-Z by John Doe style).
• By last name (for Doe, John style).
• This forces name-based sorting in the People view immediately, even if some entries show emails prominently. It helps with visual scanning and basic search.

2.Edit Contacts to Force Proper Name Display:

• In People, double-click (or select and open) a problematic contact.
• In the contact details pane:
• Ensure First name and Last name fields are filled correctly.
• Look for Display as or the field under the email (it often shows the email or a combined name).
• Edit it to "First Last" (e.g., "John Doe") if editable delete/retype if it's stuck on email.
• Save changes.
• Repeat for key contacts. This updates how they appear in lists, search, and To: suggestions.
• Note: If synced from iCloud/Gmail, edits may revert on next sync—test one and monitor.

3.Bulk Cleanup via Export/Re-Import (Most Reliable for Many Contacts):

In new Outlook, export isn't as direct as classic, so use classic Outlook temporarily:

• Switch to classic Outlook (toggle off "New Outlook" if available) > File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Export to a file > Comma Separated Values > select your Contacts folder.
• Open the CSV in Excel/Notepad.
• Fix columns: Ensure "First Name," "Last Name," and especially "Display Name" or "File As" use proper names (not emails). Combine if needed (e.g., formula =First&" "&Last).
• Import back: In new Outlook or web > People > Manage contacts/Import contacts > upload the cleaned CSV. Map fields carefully.
• After import, sign out/in of new Outlook and wait a few minutes for re-indexing/sync.
• This creates "clean" entries that new Outlook indexes by name.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.