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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!
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
It was working fine until I just went to delete certain text messages on my phone. Then I noticed the Phone Link messages went wonky again with showing phone numbers. So, I went back to Link to Windows, disabled Sync Contacts, re-enabled it again and then it updated to show the names. I guess I am going to have to play this game until it is fixed somehow, if ever.
This has been driving me insane, because I love and use Phone Link throughout the day.
I *think* I may have found an annoying, yet successful fix if not workaround.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. All my contacts are saved in my personal email which is connected to Outlook.com. When I save a contact on my phone it is not saved on my phone it is save in the contacts connected to this personal account.
After disconnecting and reconnecting my phone to the phone link app, all the names disappeared in Phone Link (as the OP reported)
**Work around / Fix:**https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/a07cf02c-f52f-4a1f-9cc4-72ee079517c2?platform=QnA I go to contacts on my phone, make a simple edit to the contact then save, the contact updates in the app - immediately.
Any kind of edit will do, just a change then save. I have removed a character, readded it, then saved, same with a number in the phone number, and that does the trick.
update: I am finding that reentering the phone number seems to consistently do the trick, but dont enter any characters - jsut ##########.
Now, I cannot do this for every contact, but for my common contacts its worked and the names have stayed displayed for days now. As other contacts message me, if I care about their name I will update the contact.>
Update 2
As I am modifying my contacts. I am finding that my phone (Galaxy S22 Ultra) stores names in various formats, e.g.: +1 ########## +1 ###-###-####
When I enter a number just as ######### the phone standardizes it to (###) ###-#### and then Phone Link auto updates
Well, it started doing it again, I cannot connect to any specific reason. editing the contact it happens on and saving fixes it... Microsoft needs to fix this
Someone here posted a quick fix that you may want to try:
Open the Outlook app on your phone, access Settings, tap the appropriate email account (where your Contacts are stored), then turn OFF "Sync Contacts". Exit Phone Link on your PC, then turn "Sync Contacts" back ON in the Outlook for Android app. Restart Phone Link and wait a minute or so. The names should be restored in the "Contacts" portion of the Phone Link app on the PC.
I've done this three times in the last week and it has worked every time. A lot easier than entering a second phone number for someone with the different number formatting.
I've done this too. I am looking for the solution that you have to do once though.
