*Up to date on February 21, 2023

Within the digital period, contacts have change into more and more necessary. They assist customers to create new relationships and nurture present ones, which kind constructing blocks to lasting relationships that allow customers to do extra.

We regularly hear from our customers that their contacts get stale over time, and they want them to replace mechanically. Our customers also discover organizing contacts difficult. They need an straightforward manner of organizing contacts into related classes of individuals from mail, calendar, and Folks hub.  

You requested and we delivered 

We perceive and admire this want and have some thrilling information to share with you! Right now, we’re happy to announce that we’ve launched a brand new set of clever experiences that will help you higher entry and handle your contacts:

1. Self-updating contacts (for enterprise customers solely) to at all times hold contacts updated. 
2. Contact classes to simply set up, discover, and join with contacts. 
3. New contact editor so as to add, replace, and handle contacts. 
4. Upgraded Folks hub to view, handle, and collaborate with contacts.

All the brand new contacts you add from the folks card of an individual belonging to your group might be self-updating contacts. These contacts mechanically keep updated primarily based on the group listing. Any modifications made to contact particulars, reminiscent of telephone quantity, division designation, and so forth., will mechanically be up to date within the contact. 

We additionally make sure that customers can select what data to persist of their contacts with out shedding any information. Customers can select whether or not they want to hold their private edits or override their edits with the instructed replace. No extra stale contacts! 

A picture of the Folks card demonstrating the brand new self-updating contact characteristic (for enterprise customers solely) in OWA.

Manage contacts utilizing Classes 

Shifting away from the standard manner of organizing contacts, we’re introducing Classes—a brand new, straightforward, trendy, and versatile manner of managing contacts changing the prevailing folders. Classes are identical to tags; you possibly can apply these tags to contacts to group contacts into desired classes. 

Categorizing helps selectively view contacts related to that class for sooner retrieval and collaboration. You may add classes to a contact from their folks card in mail, calendar, or within the Folks hub.  

Your present folders are migrated to classes, and you will see them as classes within the left navigation pane. Contacts that have been in a specific folder(s) are stamped with classes that share the identical identify because the folder. These will be accessed by clicking on the class within the left navigation pane.

*Recognized limitation: Folders on Outlook desktop will present as classes in Outlook on the net. New classes created or contacts stamped newly with classes on Outlook on the net won’t mirror on Outlook desktop as corresponding folders. 

New contact editor 

Introducing our new contact editor, which brings a brand new and higher visible expertise. The brand new contact editor means that you can create, replace, and categorize contacts, and handle them from the e-mail, calendar, and Folks hub so you possibly can focus in your core job whereas concurrently managing your contacts. 

A picture demonstrating how contacts are migrated to Classes within the Folks hub.

Folks hub

The abovementioned new experiences and the Outlook Internet App (OWA) Folks hub are powered by the brand new, wealthy, and clever contacts schema. 

What are you able to do in Folks hub?  

• View, handle, and set up your contacts
• Create and handle private contact lists
• Entry necessary contacts by favoriting them
• Rapidly name, message, and e-mail contacts/contact lists 
• All of this and extra!

Please Notice: Customers will not be capable to entry Public Folders contacts from Folks Hub in Outlook Internet App. Please go to Folks Hub in Outlook desktop to view and handle Public Folder(s) contacts. 

How will you entry the brand new contacts options? 

Signal into OWA and choose the Folks icon  within the left navigation pane that reveals a listing of apps inside Outlook.  

We’re listening! 

Our objective is to make it simpler so that you can handle contacts with our newest know-how within the Folks hub. With this newest replace, we hope you may discover it simpler to entry and handle your contacts.

Tell us how you are feeling about these options. If in case you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, or any points to report, please publish it within the weblog’s remark part under, or e-mail us at: [email protected]. 

We’ll use this suggestions to enhance our choices. 

Gargy Shekhar 

Senior Product Supervisor