Phone Link "Messages" shows phone numbers, not names and photos

Anonymous
2022-10-06T15:35:52+00:00

I use Phone Link on my Windows 11 PC to text message through my Samsung S22+ phone. I use the desktop Outlook client on my PC and have my Outlook contacts synchronize with the Samsung Contacts app on my phone. A couple of months ago, I began to notice that the names and photos of some of the people with whom I text were no longer showing up in the Phone Link "Messages" list; just their phone numbers. Also, when I clicked "+ New message" in Phone Link, and typed their name, they never showed up in the list of matching contacts from which to choose. This was very frustrating, especially since those contacts were the ones with whom I text most often.

I tried just about everything I could think of - uninstall/reinstalling Phone Link on the S22+ and my PC, multiple syncing options, etc., all to no avail. Then I noticed that the format of the number that showed up in Phone Link was different than what I had in my Outlook contacts. The numbers in Phone Link all showed up with a leading "+1" and had a dash after the area code without parentheses, like this: "+1 123-555-1212" but the numbers in Outlook Contacts showed up like this "(123) 555-1212". I thought the issue might be a database lookup problem, so I tried to enter the same number format in Outlook that appears in Phone Link: "+1 123-555-1212". But Outlook would NOT let me enter this format! It automatically put parentheses around the area code and removed the first hyphen, like this: "+1 (123) 555-1212".

When the new contacts manager for Outlook.com (Outlook on the web) was launched a short while ago, I used the Contacts editor on those contacts and WAS SUCCESSFUL in entering the phone number in the exact format that appears in Phone Link: "+1 123-555-1212". When I sync'd my contacts to my phone, PRESTO! The names and photos of those contacts reappeared in Phone Link "Messages"! So, if you are having problems seeing a phone number instead of names and photos in the Phone Link "Messages" app, try this!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-01-16T01:57:26+00:00

    So, this problem has been plaguing for about 2 weeks now, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Windows 10 desktop and laptop. This has happened with the Phone Link app on the desktop only for whatever reason. One solution I had several weeks ago for one contact only which began showing up as a cell phone number rather than name, was to delete the contact on my phone and re-enter it. For whatever reason, that fixed it.

    Now, this just started happening with whoever is in my list of Samsung messages on the Phone Link app on my PC. No way was I deleting all those people and re-entering.

    My temporary solution which again just worked tonight, as it is flaky, works for a few days and then reverts back: I go into the Link to Windows app on my phone, and at the bottom of the app it says SYNC CONTACTS, which is supposed to sync the Microsoft contacts on all devices and apps. I am not questioning this! After a T-Mobile update last week, for whatever reason, the SYNC CONTACTS was disabled. Turning it back on and voila! The contacts names were listed again on the Phone Link app. Now, this has been happening every few days since then including tonight. Even though the SYNC CONTACTS IS enabled on the Link to Windows app on the Samsung phone, I disable it and then re-enable it and the contacts names return as it just did now. It's annoying. I never had to do this before. But it's way easier than having to re-enter contacts names or add "other" phone number. And to the OP, yes, the numbers when they appear have a 1+999-999-9999 format.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-01-12T21:06:39+00:00

    Been having the same problem for over a year. Today, I stumbled across the "File As" drop down in Outlook > People > open your contact > upper left, under Job Title (for desktop). It was empty in a contact that always comes up as just a number in Phone Link (Your Phone). Setting it and a refresh in Phone Link instantly solved the problem.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-01-12T17:49:55+00:00

    Working now! 1/12/2023 12:00

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-11T18:25:08+00:00

    Same here. Phonelink on PC and android will not connect. Have deleted all (both devices - Samsung S22 Ultra and Microsoft Go2) and cannot reconnect them.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-01-10T18:28:36+00:00

    Same problem here. Used to work, then there was an update sometime last year and contact names stopped showing. The only fix seems to be reinstalling, but it breaks again within a week.

    It doesn't feel like MSFT is serious about this app/functionality. It never stays connected with the phone, you can't mouse scroll, and the contacts break all the time. Why release software if you're going to treat it like a second class citizen? This hot mess really makes MSFT look bad IMO.

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