Volume 29 Issue 33

Issue Date: November 14, 2024 « Previous Issue | Next Issue »

The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on November 14, 2024.

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More Contacts in Outlook on the web?

Outlook on the web users may have noticed that the All contacts folder will usually have a lot more contacts shown, compared to classic Outlook (or new Outlook).

The “All contacts” folder includes your auto complete list (also known as recipient cache). Users with Microsoft 365 small business accounts that previously used (the now defunct) Outlook Contact Manager will have contacts used in OCM included in the results too.

How can you tell if the address is from autocomplete or a real contact? If you view the contact in Outlook on the web and have a button to Add to contacts, it means it is in the auto complete cache and NOT in your contacts folder.

If you have a switch to use New Contact experience (and slide it on), the All Contacts folder will show only contacts in your contacts folder. New Outlook uses the new contact experience and should only show the contacts you created, however it can be slow to sync updates after deleting contacts.

If you prefer the view with New Contacts button off, you’ll have a folder named Contacts available. This is the same folder available in classic Outlook, containing only contacts you created in the folder.

Note: You may find an Add to contacts button for someone already in your contacts. This occurs when there's both an autocomplete entry and a contact, causing Outlook to hide the duplicate. Contacts moved from other accounts in classic Outlook profile may also have the Add to contacts button.

Classic Outlook’s contacts display only the contacts you created, but Search (in either contacts or Search People on the ribbon) will include entries from the auto complete cache (and Outlook Contact Manager).

If you have duplicate contacts when you search in classic Outlook, change the search scope to current folder to limit to the search to the folder, otherwise it will include the recipient cache (auto complete entries). If you need to search all contact folders, customize the list view to add the In Folder field to the view so you can see which folder the contacts are in.

The Contact lists folder in new Outlook and Outlook on the web is where your contact groups (DLs) are stored. They are shown separately from contacts in both new Outlook and Outlook on the web. Classic Outlook stores contact groups in the same folder as contacts.

Messages stay unread in new Outlook

A user asked about the behavior in new Outlook: “In classic Outlook I had the option to keep messages unread until I opened them in a new window. The new Outlook doesn't mark them read when I do this.”

If you never want messages automatically marked as read, you to set the option in View tab > View settings > Mail > Message handling to "Don't automatically mark items as read".

However, the behavior when this option is set is different from classic Outlook: messages opened in a new window are never marked read, except when you reply or forward. If you want the message marked as read, you need to manually mark it read. You can click in the bar on the left of the message in the message list, click the mark as read button in the open message, or use CTRL + Q to mark it read. (The keyboard shortcut to mark unread is CTRL + U).

URLs to a Shared Calendar

A user wanted to know how to create a link to a conference room calendar.

The only way to get a link to a calendars to log into the mailbox in Outlook on the web and get it from Settings.

Open View tab > View settings > Calendar > Shared Calendar. Then select the calendar by name and set the permissions, then click Publish.

However, in order to do this, you will need to have full access rights to the conference room mailbox. Depending on the sharing policy the administrators set, you may only be able to publish Free/Busy. (Outlook.com accounts will have view all details or free/busy.)

If you need to share the calendar with others within your organization, you can share the calendar with their account. They’ll be able to view it in the calendar module in the Outlook apps.