Contact information does not appear in the address book in Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 (287563)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
This article was previously published under Q287563
For a Microsoft Outlook 2000 version of this article, see 197907.
For a Microsoft Outlook 98 version of this article, see 180830.
For a Microsoft Outlook 97 version of this article, see 161349.

SYMPTOMS

When you use your address book to select recipients for an e-mail message or a fax message, information from your Contacts folder does not appear in the list.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because Microsoft Outlook requires that you complete the following three steps before your contact information is available for you to address messages by using your address book:
  • Install the Outlook Address Book service.
  • Mark your Contact Folder for use with your address book.
  • Specify either an e-mail address or fax number for each item that you want to appear when you address messages.

RESOLUTION

Use the following steps in this section to resolve this behavior.

How to Install the Outlook Address Book Service

  1. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
  2. Click to select View or change existing directories or address books, and then click Next.
  3. If your Outlook Address Book is listed, click Cancel, and then go to the steps in the "How to Mark Your Contact Folder for Use with Your Address Book" section.
  4. If your Outlook Address Book is not listed, click Add.
  5. Click to select Additional Address Books, and then click Next.
  6. Click to select Outlook Address Book, and then click Next.
  7. Click OK when you receive the prompt that the address book you added will not start until you click Exit from the File menu.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. Click Exit from the File menu, and then restart Outlook.

How to Mark Your Contact Folder for Use with Your Address Book

  1. In the Folder List, click to select the folder you would like to use with the Address Book. If you do not see the Folder List, click Folder List on the View menu.
  2. On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Properties for your folder name.
  3. On the Outlook Address Book tab, click to select Show this folder as an e-mail address book, type a descriptive name, and then click OK.

How to Check for an E-mail Address or Fax Number

  1. In the Folder List, click to select the Contact folder.
  2. Double-click the contact to open the item, and then look at the fields for e-mail address and/or fax numbers.
If there is not an e-mail address or a fax number, Outlook does not display this contact in your address book when you try to address an e-mail message or fax message.

MORE INFORMATION

Outlook allows any Contact folder to be used by the address book, not just the primary Contacts folder. For example, if you create a new folder of contacts called "Friends" (without quotation marks), you can specify that the contacts in the Friends folder also appear in your address book by using the steps in the "Resolution" section of this article.

The Contact folders appear in your address book as subcategories of an entry called Outlook Address Book. If you click the Outlook Address Book instead of one of the folder names, you do not see any contact information. To see the contact information, you must click the specific folder name that contains the contact.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/1/2004
Keywords:kbaddressbook kbprb KB287563
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