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Add a Person to Your Chat Contact List

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Applies to: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, Office 365 for enterprises, Microsoft Exchange, Live@edu

Before you can chat with someone using Outlook Web App, you need to add them to your Contact List.

How do I add someone to my Contact List?

  1. Right-click anywhere in the Contact List and click New > New Contact. Or, click New at the bottom of the Contact List to invite someone to add you as a Contact.
  2. Enter the new contact's instant messaging (chat) address or click the address book icon to select them from your shared address book.
  3. Enter a message for your new contact (optional).
  4. Click Invite.

The new contact appears in your Contact List immediately. You'll be added to their Contact List when they accept your invitation.

What else do I need to know?

  • You can chat only with people in your Contact List.
  • If you sign in to your mailbox through a Web browser using a URL that looks like https://www.outlook.com/\<your domain>, you’re using the cloud-based service. For example, if your e-mail address ends in Contoso.com and you sign in using https://www.outlook.com/contoso.com to sign in, you're using the cloud-based service. If you sign in to your mailbox through a Web browser using a different URL, you're accessing a mailbox that's managed by a local administrator.
    If you're using the cloud-based service, you can add anyone who uses a Hotmail, MSN, Windows Live, AOL, or Yahoo! address as a chat contact. You can also add anyone who uses a domain (the part of the address after the at (@) sign) hosted by Windows Live. If you're accessing a mailbox that's managed by a local administrator, you may be limited to users in your shared address book.
  • The following are other ways to add people to your Contact List:
    • Right-click the sender or recipients of a message and click Add to IM Contact List.
    • Look up someone in the shared address book or your Contacts folder, and then click Add to IM Contact List from the Reading Pane.
  • The IM address listed for contacts in your Contacts folder isn't linked to your chat Contact List. Adding the IM address for a contact in Contacts won't add the contact to your chat Contact List.

What if I want to know more?