How to find missing contacts in the Outlook addressbook
A question/issue seen repeatedly involves contacts that do not appear in the Outlook AddressBook. The following is going to cover the most common reasons for this to occur.
Recap of the Outlook AddressBook (AB)
The Outlook AddressBook is in fact comprised of contact folders designated to be a member of the AB. The first email account configured in Outlook will set the default data file for the profile which in turn is where the “default” contact/calendar folders reside for the profile. The default contact folder is automatically set to be a member of the AB.
Adding additional contact folders
Any additional contact folders you create, must be explicitly set to be a member of the AB which is done by right-clicking the contact folder –> select properties –> Outlook AddressBook tab –> check the box for “Show this folder as an email Address Book”
- select the AB tab
- check the box for “Show this folder as an email Address Book”. If it’s disabled (greyed out) – means this folder like the default contact folder and already a member of the AB
- a commonly overlook item is giving the folder a unique name for use in the AB. Changing the name doesn’t change the actual folder name but is particularly useful to uniquely identify each contact folder especially when you might have multiple contact folders named “Contacts” (as might be the case when multiple Outlook.com/Exchange email accounts are configured.
Setting the correct folder to display as the default in the AB
There is no consolidated view of all contacts that reside in all contact folders that are a member of the AB. When you open the AB, a default contact folder will be set to be displayed (for sake of simplicity – ignoring Global Address List options which also be available if an Exchange Account is present in the profile). Generally, that will be the default contact folder that was initially configured. You can easily select which contact folder you want at any time by selecting the desired folder from the list of member AB contact folders after opening the AB from any folder’s <Home> ribbon
However, you may choose to have another contact folder open by default. This is done by selecting <Tools> –> Options from the AB menu
- select custom
- show the list of available contact folders
(when you have more then one folder with the same name and not sure which one you may want, highlight the folder and click on pr
which will result in something similar to
highlight the contact folder to open as the default when you open the AB
In the above example, you’ll notice multiple contact folders with the name of “Contacts”. Hard to tell which one of these you may want. Highlight a folder and click on <Properties> which will then identify the location as shown below
No contacts appear for the selected folder
This common occurs when the wrong option is selected in terms of what columns are to appear.
Contacts in folder but not in Address Book
Only contacts that have a valid “resolved” email address or fax number will appear in the AB. Resolved means that the email address shows as underlined when you open the detail contact item. The AB is not a rolodex of all contact items. It only includes those contacts to which an electronic message can be sent by Outlook
Multiple entries appear for one contact
If a contact has multiple email addresses or fax numbers, there will be one entry in the AB for each email address and fax number as contained in the contact detail screen. You cannot add a user-defined field for additional email addresses or fax numbers that will be picked up by the AB
Category: Outlook - How To
