Problems with address lists and groups

Question

I have started to use New Outlook on a Windows 11 computer. I have imported all contacts, and if emailing the system correctly finds the contact if I type the first few letters of the name. BUT I cannot see a list of contacts anywhere, and I cannot create groups.

If I go to Outlook on the web I can see all my contacts and groups I have set up there and can send emails but they go into my "test recipient's" junk file. Nor can I see how to send a group email.

There seems to be a synching problem?

Any help would be much appreciated. I have seen hints on the internet that this is a known problem, but no solutions so far tried have worked.

Answer 1

Hi PM and JD,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

To help narrow down the issue with Contact lists/Contact groups in New Outlook, please help check the following:

• Open New Outlook > select People (the People icon on the navigation bar) and let us know whether your Contact list/Contact group appears there.
• If Contacts/Contact lists are visible in People, please try creating a new Contact List directly in People to test syncing: New Outlook > People > select a contact > Add to list > New contact list (name it) > Save.
• After that, please confirm whether the newly created contact list appears in People and/or Outlook on the web.

Once you have the results, please update us so we can assist further.

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Answer 2

In new Outlook for Windows, contact management works differently from classic Outlook, and some limitations apply depending on how the account is connected.

1. In new Outlook, “Contact Lists” are what classic Outlook called “Contact Groups.” These are managed from the People view, not from the mail view.
   • Open new Outlook.
   • In the side panel, select People.
   • To see existing contacts, browse the list shown there.
   • To create a new contact list (group):
     1. Select an existing contact.
     2. Right‑click the contact or use the Ribbon and choose Add to list.
     3. Select New contact list and add members.
2. If the account is connected using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), local Contact Groups are not supported. In that case:
   • Contact Groups created in classic Outlook or imported from older versions will not be available when connected via EAS.
   • The New Contact Group functionality is disabled for EAS accounts.
3. Contacts and groups visible in Outlook on the web are stored in the mailbox and should sync to new Outlook when using a modern Exchange/Outlook.com connection. If the profile in new Outlook is using EAS, groups will not behave as full contact lists in the client. To work around this:
   • Use Outlook on the web to manage and send to groups.
   • Or use classic Outlook with a non‑EAS connection (for example, a standard Microsoft 365/Exchange connection) if group features are required in the desktop client.
4. For sending to a group in Outlook on the web:
   • Start a new message.
   • In the To line, type the name of the contact list/group; it should resolve if it exists in the mailbox.
5. Junk mail behavior for messages sent from Outlook on the web is controlled by the recipient’s mailbox filtering, not by new Outlook vs web. The recipient needs to mark the sender as safe or add the sender to their safe senders list in their own email system.

If contact lists/groups are critical and they are not appearing in new Outlook, use classic Outlook or Outlook on the web where full contact list/group functionality is available and supported.

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References:

• You can't create Outlook Contact Groups when connected to an EAS account
• Create, edit, or delete a contact list (or contact group) in Outlook