FAQ: Microsoft Outlook

Address Books

There are three kinds of address books in Outlook:

  • Global Address List (GAL) - This is the primary address list for our organization's Exchange e-mail system. All UMB Faculty/Staff e-mail addresses are put here automatically.
  • Outlook Address Book - This is actually what you see as your Contacts folder.
  • Personal Address Book - For those e-mail addresses you want to keep private and store on your own computer. We do not recommend the use of Personal Address Book, most of the time it only adds an extra layer of confusion.

Adding Contacts to Outlook
You can add Contacts as another address book to be searched when you are composing e-mail. On the menu bar:

  • Select Tools;
  • E-mail Accounts;
  • Click on Add a new directory or address book;
  • Click the Next button;
  • Click on Additional Address Books;
  • Press the Next button;
  • On the next window select Outlook Address Book;
  • Press Next;
  • Click OK;
  • Restart Outlook.

After Outlook is restarted you will need to:

  • Right click on Contacts;
  • Select Properties;
  • Click the Outlook Address Book tab and make sure the "Show this folder as an e-mail address book" is checked.

Changing the way Names Appear in Contacts
To change the sort order of an Address Book:

  • From the menu bar select Tools;
  • E-mail Accounts;
  • Select the View or Change Existing Directories or Address Books option;
  • Click Next;
  • Click the Change button;
  • You can change the "Show names by" setting here if you want;
  • Then press Close.

Setting Order of Address Books
If people use the Global Address List, they'll want it at the top of the search order. Others prefer to have Contacts at the top of the search order, it's really a matter of preference and can be changed any time. To change the order of the Outlook Address Book:

  • Select Tools;
  • Address Book;
  • In the Address Book dialog box:
    • Select Tools;
    • Select Options;
    • In the "Show this address list first" drop-down list select the address book you want automatically displayed each time the Address Book or a Select Names dialog box opens;
    • To change the order in which the address books appear click the up or down arrow on the right side.

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