The only area I've found more confusing to Outlook users than faxing is the variety of Address Books they will encounter. Microsoft seems to have gone out of its way to create this confusion by using the term "address book" so loosely and inconsistently among its various products. On this page I'll try to help you sort through the alphabet soup of address books and then cover a few of the most common address book problems I see in the newsgroups.
Losing the connection to the Contacts Folder
Sorting the Outlook Address Book
Autocompletion not using the address book
Here's a quick rundown of the various address books that you might encounter when using Outlook.
People who used Windows and its default email program Outlook Express before they used Outlook were quite accustomed to the "Windows Address Book" which stored contact information in a separate file with a WAB extension. Outlook does not and never has used the Windows Address Book but many users think it does because the old dreadful Internet Mail Only mode of Outlook appeared to. Read on.
The earliest versions of Outlook could store contact information in the Personal Address Book which existed separately from Outlook data in a file with a PAB extension. PAB's are no longer in use and are now obsolete. All Outlook data (Contacts included) is now stored in a single location: an Exchange mailbox if using Exchange Server or in a local Personal Storage File (PST file) if using other mail transports. Many users still assume that their address book in Outlook exists as a separate file. It does not, as you will see in the next section.
Outlook now uses the Outlook Address Book, which isn't an address book at all. The Outlook Address Book is a MAPI service within Outlook that displays the electronic addresses that reside in the Contacts Folders in the Exchange mailbox or PST file. There is no actual data in the Outlook Address Book. It is simply displaying every electronic address (email, fax, pager, etc.) that exists in a Contacts Folder.
One of the reasons users became confused over the difference between the Windows Address Book and the Outlook Address Book is the sleight of hand Microsoft used when it created its "Internet Mail Only" mode of Outlook in Outlook 98 and 2000. This simplified version of Outlook did not have support for MAPI. Instead, it was forced to use the Windows Address Book engine to display the data--so now the address book in Outlook looked and behaved more like the Windows Address Book than the Outlook Address Book, but was missing several key features. It had one unique feature, however, that users of later versions have missed and have tried to recreate: the ability to share Outlook's Contacts with the Windows Address Book. When using IMO mode of Outlook, the Windows Address Book can be configured to show the Outlook Contacts instead of the WAB file in Tools > Options. In all full versions of Outlook this feature never existed and in all current versions of Outlook it does not exist. But former IMO users think it was always an Outlook feature that has been taken away from them. For those users who miss that feature there is a reg hack they can use to force the Windows Address Book to use their Outlook Contacts Folder as its data source.
Offline Address Books exist only for users who are running Outlook as the client to Exchange Server. When such users want to work offline from the server they may still need access to their Contact information (which resides on the Exchange mailbox). The offline address book is a copy of that information that is stored locally in a file with an OST extension. However, this information is available only in an Outlook profile that is properly authenticated to the server. Many users are surprised that an OST file is not a file they can copy and take with them to another profile or installation of Outlook. The OST is usually synchronized with the source data on the Exchange mailbox or GAL the next time the user connects to the server.
For anyone still with me, there is one more Address Book with which Outlook users need to contend, the Word Address Book. As a result of the integration between Office programs, Word uses Outlook to store and retrieve Contact information. The Word Address Book is nothing more than yet another MAPI service that links Word to the Outlook Contacts Folders. All of this makes sense, of course, but many users are unaware that if they want to use any address book functions in Word, they must also be using Outlook for Contact storage and as their default mail client so that they will have the ability to connect to their Contacts data. Moreover, the versions of Word and Outlook must be the same.
The list of "address books" does not end here, of course, but it does for me. Microsoft has taken this address book confusion from manageable to hopeless with its inclusion of server based mail transports such HTTP. These services have their own server based address books with which Outlook may or may not be able to integrate. However, Microsoft's "on again off again" approach to integration of HTTP with Outlook makes these address book integrations such a moving target no one can possibly support or understand it from one day to the next.
The connection that permits the Outlook Address Book to display the contents of your Contacts Folder is fragile and easily corrupted. There are 2 key components for the Outlook Address Book to work. First, the Outlook Address Book Service must exist in the Outlook Profile. Second, any Contacts Folder you want it to display must be enabled as an "email address book" in its properties.
It is not unusual for the Outlook Address Book to “lose track” of this
connection to its Contacts Folder when you move your data file, update your
Outlook version or update your operating system. It may also retain outdated
links to Contact Folders that it can no longer find whereupon it will display
the alarming but unhelpful message the "Contacts Folder is no longer available
and cannot be displayed." The steps to repair or reset this connection differ
with each version. Sometimes brute force is required to correct the settings by
removing the Outlook Address Book service completely from the Outlook
Profile, closing Outlook, and then re-adding it. Version specific steps follows.
For Outlook 2000, Corp/Workgroup:
Go to Tools > Services. Make sure the Outlook Address Book service is listed. If
not, add it. Next, R click on the Contact folder or folders you want the OAB to
display, choose "Properties", go to the Outlook Address Book tab and check the
"Show this folder as an E-mail address book" box. You may also need to go to
Tools > Options > Addressing Tab and choose to show your Contacts folder.
For Outlook 2002/2003:
Go to Tools | Email Accounts, choose View or change existing directories or
address book. Is the Outlook Address Book present? If not, back up a step and
follow the steps to add it. If it is listed, then make sure your Contacts Folder
is enabled as an email address book as above. More details for these current
versions is available here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;287563&Product=ol2002
Hands down, the most frequent question asked about the Outlook Address Book
is "why won't it sort the way I told it to?" Simple answer. Even though we
eventually discover that our Outlook Address Book is simply a mirror of our
Contacts, Microsoft did not configure it to abide by the settings we chose for
our Contacts. Instead, they hid the sort settings for the Outlook Address Book
where no one could ever find them. Depending on your version and mail support
mode of Outlook, you can sort the Outlook Address Book this way:
98/2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode:
Tools menu > Services > Highlight the Outlook Address Book service > Click
Properties > Set sort order
98/2000 Internet Mail Only:
Tools menu > Address Book > View menu > Sort by
Outlook 2002/2003:
Go to Tools > E-mail accounts > View or change existing directories or address
books > Outlook Address Book > Change… > Set your sort order there
Note that your options are always to sort by "First, Last" or by "File As." So if you want your Outlook Address Book to sort by "Last, First," or by "Company" you must have your Contacts' File As fields configured that way.
Another frequent question is "why is Outlook showing fax numbers in the
address book? I don't fax." Another simple answer. Outlook doesn't know you
don't fax. Many of us do and we need those numbers. Outlook correctly considers
fax numbers to be valid electronic addresses, since there are many client- and
server-based components that can use such addresses. There are some workarounds
for those of you who don't need to fax.
One method to hide fax numbers from the address book is to prefix the fax number
with one or more letters (maybe B for business fax, H for home, O for other). If
the fax number begins with a letter, Outlook won't show it in the address book.
There are also a couple of utilities that can help you hide fax numbers from the
address book. See
http://www.rsoutlook.com/us/rshifa.htm and
http://www.sperrysoftware.com/Outlook_Solutions.htm (Hide Fax
Numbers).
Another way to avoid having fax numbers appear in the address book is simply not
to enter data in the fax fields. Put fax numbers in some other (non-phone)
fields.
Gotcha. Autocompletion actually has nothing to do with the Outlook Address Book. It uses another data source entirely. An older addressing feature called autoresolution does use the Outlook Address Book. How these features differ is a complicated subject that I've moved to another page.