How to Add a Contact to Your Outlook.com Address Book

Manually adding email addresses to your contacts list takes time and effort. Outlook.com makes it easy to add new contacts, especially for those who sent you an email. In this guide, we show you how to add contacts using Outlook.com

The People App in Outlook.com

The People app in Outlook.com keeps track of your contacts and their information in a convenient and easy-to-manage address book.

1. Open Outlook.com in a web browser. Click the app launcher icon — the nine-dot box — in the upper-left corner of the screen to view the available apps.

2. Select All apps to expand the list.

3. Select the People app to open your contacts list. In the People app, you can browse through all of your contacts at once or organize them into folders to keep them all organized.

4. Add a contact in the People app by selecting New Contact at the top of the left pane and entering the contact's information in the window that opens.

5. Delete a contact by selecting the person's name and choosing Delete in the toolbar. Confirm the deletion by pressing Delete.

How to Add a Sender to Your Outlook.com Contacts

Follow these steps to add an email sender to your People contacts from Outlook Mail.

1. Open a message from the sender you want to add. Click on their name in the From or the Cc line to display the sender's contact information in a frame to the right.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the contact information window and select Show more.

3. Click Add to contacts on the right side of the contact window to open the Add Contact window.

4. The sender's name and email address are pre-populated in these fields. Add or change the information in the other available fields, such as first name, last name, and notes.

5. Use the Add More link to add nicknames, birthdays, the name of a significant other, company information, personal web page, and more.

6. Select Create at the bottom of the window when you're finished to save the contact information. Your new contact is now in your People app under Your contacts.

Accessing Your Saved Contacts in the People App

Click the App Launcher button in the upper left corner of Outlook.com. Click People to open the app.

In the People app, you can sort the contacts in your address book, including by first name, last name, company, recently added, and other criteria.

There are shortcuts to access your contacts when using Outlook.com.

1. Search Field: Find contacts with a search using the search field at the top of the window. In the Mail app, the search field at the top also lets you search through contacts you've added to the People app. 

2. To Field: When composing an email, start typing a name in the To field. As you do, Outlook displays suggestions from senders and your contacts. If you see your intended contact, click the name to add it as a recipient. Otherwise, click Search People to extend your contact search.

3. Once you add a contact to the People app, it's easy to find them when you need to send an email.

Organize Contacts With Contact Lists

Keep your contacts organized by creating contact lists on Outlook.com that you can define all in one place. For example, create a list of your favorite contacts or a list of your family contacts. After you add them to the People app, you can access the list in any Microsoft cloud app that lets you send messages or connect with contacts.