Can't edit contact details in Outlook Live

Anonymous
2016-08-09T23:09:11+00:00

Since Microsoft "upgraded" Outlook Live a month or so ago, I've had problems editing details, such as email addresses and phone numbers, for people in my Contacts list. For instance, one contact's first name, last name, personal email, cell phone and two home phone numbers are editable: if I wanted to, I could put my cursor in the box and delete or type over them. But for some reason, the business number, which is no longer valid since the person is no longer employed, can't be deleted. The box is grayed out, and when I try to highlight the number with my mouse in order to delete it, the mouse doesn't work. This is true for other contacts in my list as well. Has anyone else had this baffling and frustrating problem?

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Contacts

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.

0 comments No comments

77 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2017-12-27T13:19:02+00:00

    Totally agree with everything you say.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-12-27T13:18:03+00:00

    I see what you mean, and maybe that is the source of the bug - but the bug is still there and it is disgraceful that microsoft is not

    doing anything about it. And they then have the nerve to try and sell us their premium version.

    I agree with you that it is time to move to gmail - as many of my friends are doing. I have been too lazy to do it so far, and

    I think Microsoft depend on people being lazy. Unacceptable attitude imho for a large company.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-12-26T18:39:34+00:00

    I've had exactly the same problem too - for some time. For me, one of the email fields - for some of the contacts - would be grayed out and could not be changed. The easiest way to solve it was to delete that contact and then re-enter it - and this is obviously too slow when you have lots of contacts to deal with.

    Today, I noticed also that these same contacts were not syncing with Windows 10 Mail. I could see them online at outlook.com, but could not view them in the Windows 10 People app, or easily use their details when writing emails.

    But... I think I've worked out the problem, and how to solve it. :)

    I previously used Outlook (the desktop application, part of the MS Office suite) to categorise my contacts. (Not lists, categories.) When I looked closer at the contacts on outlook.com, all of these categories had been put into separate contact folders, many of them inside an 'Other Contacts' folder. You can view these other folders of contacts by clicking on the ^ icon next to 'Your Contacts' in the left hand column.

    To solve the problem, you need to move the contacts from these folders into the main contacts folder. Amazingly I could not find any way to drag and drop the contacts or folder around. So what I did in the end was:

    1. Moved these contacts folders out of 'Other Contacts'.
    2. Exported contacts from each folder to a CSV file.
    3. Click on Contacts and import the CSV file to add the contacts into the main contacts folder.
    4. Delete the old folder (and its contents) to get rid of the old contacts that don't work properly.

    Everything now seems to work as it should - online at outlook.com and using Windows 10 Mail and People!

    The only question I have now is why MS provided a folder function, but no easy way to move contacts into and out of folders.

    Hope this helps you as well.

    I just saw the phrase "Update to Premium" at the bottom of the folders column.

    MICROSOFT want us to pay for a system that works.

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  greed - hotmail used to be free and we are trapped with all our contacts in hotmail and all our friends know our hotmail address.

    It must be time to migrate to gmail.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-12-26T18:32:07+00:00

    This is not a solution - we used to call it a workaround.  A temporary way that the millions of users could do something that Microsoft cannot fix, with all their billions.

    Anyway this proposal for me to transfer data in CSV files is incomprehensible to me as a humble user.

    MICROSOFT:

    PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR USERS COMPLAINTS AND FIX THE ISSUES YOU HAVE FORCED UPON THEM.  IS THAT TOO DIFFICULT FOR YOU ?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2017-12-05T00:10:33+00:00

    thanks. I will look into that.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments