What's your email address domain, for example, is it outlook.com or hotmail.com, or something else?
Where do you see this display name being wrong, is it https://account.live.com > Your info, or www.outlook.com, or in a certain app?
My Outlook display name is wrong and I cannot change it
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postLarouche
20
Reputation points
Hello. I just noticed today that my Outlook display name is wrong but I cannot change it. It says that I need to communicate with my school or organization to do so, but I ain't part of any. It just a personal email account I have for years (it wasn't even a microsoft account my I setup that account a while back). So I really don't know who to contact to address this issue... Please help. Thanks!
Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Settings
Answer accepted by question author
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EmilyS726 227K Reputation points Independent Advisor2026-04-23T16:52:15.74+00:00 -
postLarouche 20 Reputation points
2026-04-23T17:39:47.2733333+00:00 None of these. It's my personal dot com. And instead of displaying [First] [Last] when someone is receiving my email, it displays [first] [email address] instead. And I have this info on my account page:
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EmilyS726 227K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-04-23T17:41:41.6933333+00:00 I see.. if it is a custom domain address, even though you use it for personal purpose, in Microsoft's perspective, it can be a work/school account.
Can you get into https://admin.microsoft.com instead? IF so, click on Users > Active Users, click on your user and you should be able to edit from there.
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postLarouche 20 Reputation points
2026-04-23T18:30:36.9+00:00 OMG, it totally did it! I could have never find that myself. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. Thank you!!
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EmilyS726 227K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-04-23T18:32:29.7533333+00:00 You are welcome.
So yeah, your account is a work/school account by Microsoft's definition. In the future if you need support for this account again, you need to reference that.
If all is good, can you please consider marking the answer for this thread, or let me know if you need anything else from me.
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postLarouche 20 Reputation points
2026-04-23T21:07:37.0233333+00:00 I don't have the answer option on your comment, only on your first one...?
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EmilyS726 227K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-04-23T21:08:54.45+00:00 yeah, you cannot mark comment, but will have to mark the whole answer branch (this conversation). It is an odd set up here.. Appreciate it!!
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Q&A Assist2026-04-23T16:02:44.7733333+00:00 AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn moreFor a personal Outlook.com/Microsoft account, the display name that appears to recipients is controlled by the Microsoft account profile, not by an organization.
Update the Microsoft account display name as follows:
- Sign in to the Microsoft account associated with the Outlook.com email.
- Go to the account profile page for managing name and address.
- Select Edit name.
- Correct the first and last name fields and select Save.
Notes:
- It can take up to 24 hours for the updated name to appear everywhere (including Outlook on the web and in email recipients’ inboxes).
- This display name is what people see when emails are sent or when participating in Outlook.com groups.
If the account is actually a work/school account (even if used personally), some organizations do not allow users to change their own names; in that case, only the organization’s admin can change it.
References: