How to bulk-change "File as" in EXISTING Outlook contacts?

Dear @Julieta Bowyer, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.  

Could you please let me know how you would like to bulk-change the "File as" field in your Outlook contacts? I have found a sample where the string is changed to the first name followed by a space and then the last name. You can try this as a reference. 

In Outlook, press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window. 

Select Insert, and then click Module. 

Paste the code. 

Private Sub ReFileContacts() 
 Dim items As items, item As ContactItem, folder As folder 
 Dim contactItems As Outlook.items 
 Dim itemContact As Outlook.ContactItem 
 
 Set folder = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts) 
 Set items = folder.items 
 Count = items.Count 
 If Count = 0 Then 
 MsgBox "Nothing to do!" 
 Exit Sub 
 End If 
 
 'Filter on the message class to obtain only contact items in the folder 
 Set contactItems = items.Restrict("[MessageClass]='IPM.Contact'") 
 
 For Each itemContact In contactItems 
 itemContact.FileAs = itemContact.FirstName + " " + itemContact.LastName 
 itemContact.Save 
 Next 
 
 MsgBox "Your contacts have been re-filed." 
End Sub

Then click Run. 

Reference: Programmatically Change the Display Format for All Contacts | Microsoft Learn 

What format would you like to set the "File as" field to? Please reply to this email so I can assist you better. 

Looking forward to your response! 

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To bulk-change the "File as" format in existing Outlook contacts, you will need to use a macro since Outlook does not provide a built-in feature for this specific task. Here’s a basic outline of how you can do it:

1. Open Outlook and press ALT + F11 to open the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor.
2. Insert a new module by right-clicking on any of the items in the Project Explorer, selecting Insert, and then Module.
3. Copy and paste the following code into the module:

      Sub ChangeFileAsFormat()
          Dim olNS As Outlook.Namespace
          Dim ContactsFolder As Outlook.Folder
          Dim ContactItems As Outlook.Items
          Dim Itm As Object
      
          Set olNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
          Set ContactsFolder = olNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
          Set ContactItems = ContactsFolder.Items
      
          For Each Itm In ContactItems
              If TypeOf Itm Is Outlook.ContactItem Then
                  Itm.FileAs = Itm.FirstName & " " & Itm.LastName
                  Itm.Save
              End If
          Next Itm
      End Sub
   

4. Run the macro by pressing F5 or selecting Run from the menu.

This code will change the "File as" format to "First Last" for all existing contacts in your default Contacts folder. Make sure to adjust the code as necessary to fit your specific requirements.

References:

• Programmatically Change the Display Format for All Contacts