Display of email addresses entered in Contacts (Office 2000)

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Could anyone help me solve a problem I’m having with “Contacts” in Microsoft Outlook, Office 2000, Windows 98. When I bring up Contacts, under my folder list on the left side of the screen, I have a folder which is named “Contacts.” Under this folder, I have created several other folders, such as one entitled, “Friends,” and in this folder, I have copied the contact information/address card information on various friends, which includes their email addresses. Yet when I go to actually send them an email, I’m having trouble getting the names of the friends to display the way I want, which is by last name, then first name. In other words, if I go to my Inbox, and then click on the “New” button, it brings up a blank email message. I then click on the “To” button, and it brings up a dialog box, and at the top right side of this box, I go to the “show names from” section and then arrow down to my Contacts folders. I click on the Friends folder, and it displays the names of the friends that I’ve previously entered information about. By clicking on the name, it automatically enters their email address in to my blank message. I entered most of these names about a year ago, prior to our IS person loading Office 2000, and these names display on the list with the last name showing first. For example, a name would display as “Smith, Jan (email).” However, I recently entered a new contact, and he displays on this list with his first name first. For example, when I bring up the Friends folder, and it shows all the names of the folks I’ve entered, these friends are listed alphabetically by last name. But the new contact, whose name is William Spahn, is showing up under the W’s instead of under the S’s. For example, he displays as “William Spahn (email)” instead of as “Spahn, William (email).” To try to correct this, I went back to “Contacts,” then Tools, then Options, then Contact Options, and I set the way to file the names as by last name, fist name. I then clicked OK, but the Apply button wouldn’t activate. No matter what I do, I can’t get the names to display by last name first when displaying an email list.

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When you went into Tools-Options and told it to file names by last name, first name, that setting only applies to new contacts that you create. Check out this thread for info on changing your existing contacts around.

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Name and Filing Options for New Contacts: Outlook 2000 allows you to determine how you want to enter names for new contacts. To select your options, on the Outlook menu bar go to Tools –> Options –> Preferences tab –> Contact Options button and select the order you would like Outlook to use for new names. If you want to enter contacts names in

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I tried your instructions for Contacts sorting (paragraph 2 of your email), but it won’t let me click on Apply. The Apply button is grayed out. So the names are still showing up alphabetically by first name. Any other suggestions?

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I’m sorry. I should have added that this is one of those lovely Outlook options that requires you to exit and re-enter Outlook before it takes effect. I’ll see if I can edit the previous post, somehow, to include that!

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Thanks for your reply, but that didn’t work either. I exited Outlook, and then brought it up again, but no change. But I’m thinking that I may not have explained my problem clearly enough. When I’m in Contacts, the names of my friends do display by last name, first name in the “file as” column. The problem is when I go to send an email. When I click in the “to” box, and then on the “select names” box, I then page down to the Friends folder, click on it, and the names of all the friends I have in that folder appear. Most of them appear by last name, first name, which is how I want it. I had entered these friends prior to our IS person loading Office 2000. However, any new contacts I add to the Friends folder, display on the email list by first name, last name. Is this confusing or do you know what I mean?

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I think that the new ones are appearing incorrectly because when you added them, the options weren’t set up correctly. Try adding a new one now, and see if it shows up right when you look up the address for the e-mail. If it does, you’re set up correctly now. However, you’ll need to go back and correct the ones you added earlier. In the contact form, click on the Name button. My suspicion is that you’ll find the first name in the last name field. If that’s not the answer, then check the File As field. You may need to change that on each contact.

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