How do I get Outlook app on Android to sync contacts? (Not Outlook.com app)

Anonymous
2015-06-03T04:43:19+00:00

I got a message on my Android phone that Microsoft was no longer going to support the app Outlook.com and that we should use the Outlook app. So I uninstalled outlook.com app and installed the Outlook app.

Now new contacts that I entered on the People page of Outlook on my computer do not show up on my phone. I went to Settings, Accounts, Microsoft Exchange, and clicked on sync for mail,, contacts, calender, and tasks. It said that the sync was done moments later. However, I still do not have the new contacts on my phone. This was not a problem with Outlook.com app.

I am about to uninstall the Outlook app and go back to Outlook.com. However, if you don't support it, I could have problems not getting updates to protect against malmare and hacking.

I don't particularly like the new Outlook app's appearance with all those colored squares with people's initials on the left of the email listing. I prefer to have he boxes on the left so I can look at the list and check off one or more messages and then delete them all at once. What if there is a message with a virus in it. I want to be able to delete suspicious messages without opening them.

Thanks for your help,

Jacki

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for Android | For business

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Anonymous
2015-06-04T04:27:02+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Office Community.

Please provide us the additional information to help you better.

  1. Are you able to see the new contacts on Outlook.com webmail?
  2. Does the existing contacts show up in Outlook app?
  3. Did you setup the Outlook.com account as Exchange Active Sync in Outlook app?

If not, you may setup as EAS account and verify whether contacts synchronize.

If yes, create new contacts in Outlook phone app and check if it syncs.

Microsoft is collecting feedback from customers regarding Outlook app user interface. They are actively looking into the concerns raised by the customers.

You may provide feedback regarding outlook app interface using the In-App function in Outlook for Android. 

I look forward to your reply to assist you further.

Thank you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-03-15T02:44:45+00:00

    Hello.  We are using Exchange and the Outlook app.  Everything is working beautifully -- except something similar to what is mentioned in this post.

    All Outlook (desktop exchange version) sync fine to the Android phone within Outlook app.  However, there are two problems thereafter.  1)  we cannot find a way to edit those same exchange synced contacts. If we change them on the PC they do not reflect the changes on the mobile Outlook app.  2) Added contacts on the phone (within the Outlook app) do not reflect on the desktop outlook exchange profile.  Nor do additional contacts added within Outlook on the desktop exchange profile sync to the Outlook app.

    Essentially, the initial sync works, but no further syncing or changes can be achieved.

    Any ideas on this one team?

    Much appreciated, 

      and an excellent app,

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-17T20:08:05+00:00

    While this is not a fix, it's a great workaround. Thank you!

    I hope that Microsoft will provide a real fix in the next version of its Outlook App!

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-14T18:13:37+00:00

    Good news everybody!!!!   They have added that feature with the newest iOS and Android update!!!!

    Contact push (20K+ votes)—Outlook now allows you to save your contacts to the default Contacts app for iOS or Android. You can easily see the name of a contact when you receive a call or text message from them and view all of their contact information directly from the default Contacts app. Currently, contact push provides one-way sync from email service to the phone. New contacts or contact changes made in your email service (e.g. Outlook.com, Office 365, Gmail) on the web or in Outlook on the desktop will sync to your contacts on your mobile device. Edits made on the mobile device will not sync back to your email service. We are committed to improving Outlook contact capabilities over the coming months.

    I just tried it out and it works!! There are some other features they added, check them out here:

    https://blogs.office.com/2016/01/13/skype-call-scheduling-and-more-updates-for-outlook-for-ios-and-android/

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-01-02T17:59:33+00:00

    Agreed about the workaround with setting up the Exchange Account a second time to get contacts in both places, but the Android People APP (even in Marshmallow) truncates the contacts notes field at somewhere around 1024 characters. More bizarrely, if you then try to edit the Android contact, then all the notes data is suddenly visible, albeit reformatted!

    I seem to remember that Android has had the issue with the contact notes field for years, yet nothing has been fixed.

    There was an earlier comment about the need to keep corporate data 'ring fenced', but one can simply delete all the Exchange data anyway on a mobile device from the MS Outlook WebApp.

    I think Google as well as MS need to get something more consistent and easier to use - especially for those users without corporate IT resources.

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