Lesson: Organizing Contacts

Add, Delete, Import, and Print a Contact

Adding a contact in Outlook is done in the Contacts area, which is accessible from the Outlook Navigation Pane.

To add a contact:

1. Access the Contacts area by selecting People (Contacts in Outlook 2010) in the Navigation Pane.
2. On the Home tab of the Contacts Ribbon, in the New group, select New Contact.
3. In the Contact dialog box that is displayed, enter the contact's name in the Full Name field, and press Tab.
4. Enter other contact details, as desired, and press Tab to move through the fields.
5. To use this contact to create email messages to the person, be sure to enter his or her email address in the E-mail field in the Internet section.
6. To add an image, click the person icon, in the Add Contact dialog box locate the contact image file, and click Open to add it.
7. To add a tag to the contact, from the Contact tab, select an option in the Tags group.
8. When you have finished entering the information, select Save & Close from the Actions group of the Contact tab in the Ribbon.

To delete a contact:

1. In the Contacts area, select the contact to delete.
2. From the Home tab, in the Delete group, click Delete.

To import a contact:

1. Select the File menu and click Open & Export (Import in Outlook 2010, select File and Import and Export).
2. Select Import/Export.
3. Select Import a VCARD file and click Next.
4. Locate the contact and select Open to import it.

To print a contact:

1. In the Contacts area, select the contact to print.
2. Right-click the contact and select Quick Print.

Update a Contact

After entering information for your contacts, you may have a need to update your contacts with new information.

To update an Outlook contact:

1. If you are not already in the Contacts area of Outlook, select People (Contacts in Outlook 2010) in the Navigation Pane.
2. Select the contact you want to update by double-clicking it, which launches the contact's People Card.
3. Enter the new information in the relevant field(s).
4. When you are done, click Save (Save & Close from the Actions group of the Contact tab in the Ribbon in Outlook 2010).
5. The contact information is now updated.

Share a Contact

You can share your contacts with others.

To share a contact:

1. Within the contact, on the Contact tab, in the Actions group, select Forward.
2. Select a contact format.
3. A message containing the contact launches. Fill in the To information, a subject if desired, and click Send to send it.

Attach Notes to Contacts

You can attach a note to a contact in Outlook.

To attach a note to a contact:

1. In People view, select the contact to which you want to add the note.
2. Click in the Notes field and type the note.
3. When you are done, click Save & Close from the Actions group of the Contact tab in the Ribbon.

Adding and Updating a Contact

In this exercise, you will add and save two new Outlook contacts, and then revise one of the contact's information.

1. Create an Outlook contact for a colleague or friend with the person's name and email address.
2. Save the contact, and create and save a second contact.
3. Re-open one of the contacts and add the person's professional title.
4. Save the new information.

Solution:

Locate a Contact

You can search for a contact from any area of Outlook.

To locate a contact:

1. On the Ribbon of the area you are in, on the Home tab, in the Find group, in the Search People (Find a Contact in Outlook 2010) text box, type the contact's name (you can enter a full or partial name, as well as a company name or an email address).
2. A drop-down list of possible choices appears; select the one you want (In Outlook 2010, the list does not appear; press Enter instead).
3. The contact is displayed.

Sort Contacts

You can sort your contacts in Outlook per your personal specifications.

To sort Outlook contacts:

1. In the Contacts area, select the View tab from the Contacts Ribbon.
2. In the Current View group, select View Settings.
3. In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Sort.
4. In the Sort dialog box, select an option under Sort items by, and then select either Ascending or Descending.
5. If you want to further specify your sort options, you can continue to select options under Then by as needed.
6. When you are done sorting, click OK to save your changes and exit.
7. Click OK once more to exit the Advanced View Settings dialog box.

Work with Contact Groups

A Contact Group allows you to group email addresses together under one name. You can then send messages to the Contact Group. In previous versions of Outlook, Contact Groups were known as distribution lists.

To create a Contact Group:

1. In the Contacts area, from the Home tab of the Contacts Ribbon, in the New group, select New Contact Group.
2. In the Contact Group dialog box, in the Name text box, enter a name for the group.
3. From the Contact Group tab of the Ribbon, in the Members group, select Add Members.
4. From the drop-down list, select From Outlook Contacts.
5. To add a member to the group, select the member and click Members.
6. Continue until all the members of the group are selected.
7. Click OK.
8. Select Save & Close from the Actions group on the Contact Group tab of the Ribbon.
9. The Contact Group now appears in your Contacts area.

Add a Contact to a Group

To add a contact to an existing group:

1. Open the contact group.
2. From the Contact Group tab, in the Members group, select Add Members.
3. Select a contact option.
4. Add new contacts and save and close when complete.

Update or Delete a Contact within a Group

To update a contract in a group, open the group, and double click the contact. Then, update the information and click Save & Close when complete.

To delete a member, single-click the member and from the Members group of the Contact Group tab, select Remove Member.

Add Notes to a Group

You can add notes to a group.

To add group notes:

1. Open the contact group.
2. From the Show group of the Contact Group tab, select Notes.
3. Enter group notes.
4. Select Save & Close.

Delete a Group

To delete a contact group:

1. One the contact group.
2. From the Actions group on the Contact Group tab, select Delete Group.
3. Click Yes to delete the group.

Manage Multiple Address Books

Your Outlook Address Book is a collection of email addresses from your Outlook folders. If you are using Outlook with an Exchange Server account, such as at your workplace, your Address Book will include the Global Address List (GAL).

This is a list of everyone who has an Outlook account on the Exchange Server.

To view different address books:

1. On the Home tab, in the Find group, select Address Book.
2. The Address Book: Contacts dialog box will open.
3. Select an address book from the Address Book drop-down list to view its addresses.

Perform a Mail Merge

The Mail Merge feature of Outlook allows you to send an email to multiple contacts in such a way that it will appear to each contact that he or she is the only recipient. You can personalize the information that you send so that each person is the only one in the To field, and you can alter the contents of the message to suit each individual.

To perform a Mail Merge:

1. In the Contacts area, select the email's recipients by pressing and holding Ctrl as you click each contact.
2. From the Contacts Ribbon Home tab, in the Actions group, select Mail Merge.
3. Leave the Only selected contacts radio button selected, as well as New document under Document file, and under Merge options, from the Merge to: drop-down list, select E-mail.
4. In the Message subject line that is displayed, type the subject of the email.
5. Click OK.
6. Microsoft Word will open, which is where you will compose your message.
7. On the Word Ribbon, on the displayed Mailings tab, in the Write & Insert Fields group, select Greeting Line.
8. In the Insert Greeting Line dialog box, if you want to change any greeting options, make your changes.
9. Click OK.
10. The Greeting Line now appears in the Word document.
11. Press Enter, and type the body and closing of your email message.
12. From the Preview Results group on the Mailings tab of the Ribbon, select Preview Results.
13. Use the arrows in the Preview Results group to click through a preview of each individual email.
14. From the Finish group on the Mailings tab, select Finish & Merge.
15. From the drop-down list, select Send E-mail Messages.
16. In the displayed Merge to E-mail dialog box, click OK.
17. Word sends the email to each recipient.

Performing a Mail Merge

In this exercise, you will perform a mail merge using Outlook contacts.

1. Using the Mail Merge feature, send an email to the two contacts you created in the previous exercise, asking when they are available next week for a meeting.
2. Send the email messages.

Solution: