Create, view and edit contacts and contact lists

Advise customers to use the People page in Outlook.com to view, create and edit contacts and contact lists. Customers can create new contacts from scratch or add someone as a contact from an email message. They can also create a contact list for sending email to a group of people. To go to the People page, sign in to Outlook.com and select the icon at the lower left corner of the page.
Luckily there are some easy steps to get customers back into their account, review their personal info and settings, and help them prevent this from happening again. For more information on this topic, see the self-help page on managing contacts.

Import and export outlook email contacts and calendar

Customers can import and export Outlook email contacts and calendars to the Outlook app, Office 365, Outlook.com and Gmail. Find more information for each service on the support page.

Contacts from social media connections not in sync with the Microsoft account

Microsoft is consolidating several consumer services to deliver innovative features in future product releases. As a result, contact synchronisation is no longer supported for third-party social media and external email networks connected to a customer’s Microsoft account. Third-party social media and external email networks affected by this change include LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Sina Weibo.

You can add and maintain contacts that were created using a Microsoft account. These contacts may have been created through Outlook.com or Skype. If a customer connected third-party social media or external email network accounts to a Microsoft account through the People web app, you can advise them that contact synchronisation will stop. Third party social media or external email network contacts will not be visible in contact lists on Outlook.com or OneDrive. Contacts in social media and email networks are not affected by this change. To maintain contacts in social media or email networks, advise customers to use the native apps for those services.

This article explains how these changes will impact connected Microsoft apps and services.

Add or remove Skype contacts in Outlook.com

In Outlook.com, customers can add people in the Skype panel to their Skype contacts. The instructions are slightly different depending on whether a customer is using the Outlook.com beta or the traditional Outlook.com.

Instructions for the Outlook.com beta users

  • Add someone as a Skype contact
    • On the command bar at the top of the page, select Skype
    • Select See All in Skype . Skype.com will open in a new tab
    • On Skype.com select Search Skype
    • Type the contact's name and press Enter
    • Select the contact in the results, and then select Add To Contacts
  • Add someone as a Skype contact
    • On the command bar at the top of the page, select Skype
    • Select See All in Skype.Skype.com will open in a new tab
    • On Skype.com select to open Contacts
    • Right-click the contact you want to remove, and select Delete contact
    • Select Delete to confirm

Instructions for classic Outlook.com users

  • Add someone as a Skype contact
    • At the top of the page, select Skype
    • In the Skype pane, click inside the search box next to the magnifying glass, and enter the name of the person you want to add. Note: If Skype doesn't return the person's name, click Search Skype Directory
    •  When Skype returns the name of the person you want to add, click the name, and then click Add To Contacts
  • Remove someone as a Skype contact: When a customer wants to remove someone as a Skype contact, advise them to go in the Skype contacts list, search for the contact they want to delete, right-click the search result, and select Delete contact

Switch to Outlook People from G Suite Contacts

You can advise customers to switch to Outlook People from G Suite Contacts where they can start working together with contacts by following these quick instructions

Delete contacts or restore contacts in Outook.com

If a customer wants to delete or restore contacts in Outlook.com, advise them to go to the People page in Outlook.com and to delete or restore contacts or contact lists following these steps:

Delete one or more contacts

    In Outlook.com, select at the lower left corner of the page
  • Select one or more contacts in the middle pane, and then select Delete
  • Select Delete to confirm

Delete one or more contact lists

  • In Outlook.com, select at the lower left corner of the page
  • In the left pane, select Contact lists
  • Select one or more contact lists in the middle pane, and then select Delete
  • Select Delete to confirm

Restore a contact or contact list

  • Note: Customers can restore contacts or contact lists they previously deleted. They're restored to the folder they were in when the customer deleted them

  • In Outlook.com, select at the lower left corner of the page
  • On the toolbar, select Manage > Restore deleted contacts
  • In the Restore deleted contacts window, select the box next to each contact the customer wants to restore
  • Select Restore

Clean up or remove duplicate contacts in Outlook.com

Outlook.com can help a customer find multiple entries for some of their contacts and clean up the list. Contacts are not deleted, just linked together. A customer can unlink them later if they wish.

Clean up contacts

  • Sign in to Outlook.com
  • At the bottom of the page, select
  • Select the contact which has been linked
  • Select Linked contacts and select Unlink next to each contact the customer wishes to unlink

Delete Skype contacts still appearing in Outlook.com contacts

Skype contacts that have been deleted in Skype still appear in the customer's People contacts list. This issue is fixed in the Outlook.com beta. Learn more about the Outlook.com beta.

What now?

You've completed Module 3 - now start reading Module 4.

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