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New Contacts subfolders are coming to Outlook

Jim G 133.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2021-01-01T16:04:24+00:00
Outlook for iOS and Android: Sync contact sub folders as category labels
MC232127
Major update: Announcement started
Applied To: All
We will soon add contact subfolders when we synchronize user contacts from Outlook on the web, Outlook for Windows, and Outlook for Mac to Outlook for iOS and Android.<br><br><br><br><br><br>[Key points] <br><br><br><br><ul><br><li>Microsoft 365 Roadmap IDs<span> </span><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=69139" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">69139</a><span> </span>and<span> </span><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=71507" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=71507">71507</a></li><li>Timing: end of January through end of February 2021<br><br></li><li>Roll-out: device level</li><li>Action: review and assess </li></ul><br><ul><br></ul><br><br>[How this will affect your organization]<br><br><br>Users who have set up contact subfolders in Outlook on the web or Outlook for Windows or Mac will see those subfolders as a new categories in Outlook mobile. The category label will correspond to the folder name in Outlook on the Web or Outlook for Windows<br> or Mac. <br><br><br>As part of the synchronization, each category is assigned a color.<br><br><ul><br><li>If a user has created a single additional contact subfolder, we will create a category and assign it a category color.<span> </span></li><li>If a user has created multiple subfolders, we will create categories for those contacts. Users will have the option to upgrade those categories and assign them a color if needed.</li><li>Changes to category labels in Outlook mobile will not affect folders in the other Outlook experiences.</li></ul><br><br>Users will see changes to the Contact list by navigating to Search > People (iOS) or by navigating to Contacts (Android).  <br><br><br>[What you need to do to prepare for this change]<br><br><br>You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate. <br><br><br>Blog post: Get organized people!
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  1. Anonymous
    2021-01-04T22:35:32+00:00

    So, does this mean that the categories we have created for contacts in Outlook for Desktop will now be synced with both Outlook for Web and the mobile apps? In which each contact can have multiple categories applied to it?

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  2. Jim G 133.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-01-05T03:03:07+00:00

    Hi Samuel

    I do not work for Microsoft and can't speak for them. This announcement came through, and it seemed important, so I passed it along.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-03-02T16:10:48+00:00

    Hello,

    do we have already a deadline for the Android implementation?
    Or can we test a Beta?

    Thank you in advance.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-14T16:40:56+00:00

    Eagerly awaiting this update. Outlook on Android has been a good experience.

    We use CiraSync to push a public contact folder to our users' contacts subfolder. I've heard some organizations create a "common@" mailbox and then ask all users to sync to that "user" as a workaround.

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