Outlook Address Book: The Most Common Problems and Solutions

Those who have problems with their Outlook address book will find a few helpful solutions in this practical tip.

Outlook: Address book problem - contact is not found

If you cannot find a contact in your Outlook address book, this can have various causes. Proceed as follows to solve the problem.

1. Your address book may consist of different address books. To find the contact you want, you must first select a different address book.
2. In order for a contact to be available in the address book, an entry must have been made in the email or fax field.
3. In the dialog box, select "Address Book" -> "Show name from" and click on another address book.
4. Alternatively, you can also select another contacts folder in your Outlook address book.

Address book problem: Contacts folder is not displayed

If the Contacts folder is not shown in the address book and the checkbox "Show this folder as an email address book" is not available, proceed as follows.

1. Check whether the Outlook address book is installed at all. To do this, click on "Tools" -> "E-Mail Accounts" in the menu.
2. Select "View Directory on Existing Directories or Address Books" or "Edit" and then click Next.
3. If the Outlook address book is not listed, click "Add".
4. Select "Additional Address Books" -> "Next".
5. Click on "Outlook Address Book" and confirm with "Next".
6. After clicking on "Finish", start Outlook again.

Address book problem: Search button in the "Select name" field is not displayed

• If the Find button does not appear in the Choose Name dialog box, click Advanced, and then choose Find.

Address book problem: fax numbers and e-mail addresses are not separated

• To see all the information about a contact, keep dragging the dialog box with the name or fax number along the edge until you can see all the details you want.

Address book problem: Wrong address book in "Show name from" in the first place

If you want to anchor another address book in the first place in the "Show name from" list, proceed as follows.

1. Select the "Address Book" item in the "Tools" menu.
2. In the Address Book dialog box, click Tools -> Options.
3. In the "Show names from" list, click the address book that you want to display in the first position.
4. If you want to put the "Contacts" folder first, select the name of the folder instead of the address book.

Contacts have been saved in a public folder but are not in the address book

You must set up the public folder for your contacts so that it appears in the address book.

1. Right-click the Contacts folder.
2. Select the "Outlook Address Book" item in the "Properties" context menu.
3. Activate the checkbox "Show this folder as an e-mail address book".

In another practical tip, we will tell you how to restore contacts deleted in Outlook.