How to display contacts with first name first

Question

How to display contacts with first name first

84315488 20

How to display contacts with first name first instead of last name first

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

For Outlook on the web or Outlook.com:

Select People on the navigation bar.
With All contacts selected, click the current sort option, such as By first name.
Under Sort by, choose the option needed.
The contact list updates immediately.

For classic Outlook:

Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
Open the Address Books tab.
Select the address book to change, then click Change.
Under Show names by, choose File As (Smith, John).

For existing contacts in classic Outlook, changing the default filing format only affects new contacts. Existing contacts must be updated individually or by using a VBA macro that changes each contact’s FileAs property.

The Global Address List (GAL) format cannot be changed; it is managed by IT.

Answer 2

Vikki-T 9,585 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi 84315488,

To make sure I understand correctly, are you trying to display contacts as “John Smith” instead of “Smith, John” on the People/Contacts page or does the reversed order appear when selecting recipients in the "To" field while composing an email?

At this point, I recommend that you review and try the steps provided in the AI generated answer on your thread. That reply typically include the most relevant checks for this scenario.

If this is happening on the People page in Outlook.com, select Settings, then choose Display contacts by > First name. Please note that Display contacts by controls how each name appears, while Sort by only controls the order of the contact list.

If the setting is already set to First name but the names still appear in reverse order, please let me know whether this affects all contacts or only certain ones, and whether you are using Outlook.com in a browser or the Outlook desktop app.

You can also refer to Create, view, and edit contacts and contact lists in Outlook.com for the official instructions. Thank you so much for your understanding.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

84315488 20 Reputation points

2026-08-19T14:04:56.9366667+00:00

For clarity, I have a contact with First Name "John" and Last Name "Smith". They appear in Contacts as "Smith John". Seems like a simple thing to switch to "John Smith" or even "Smith, John", but I don't see how to do that. I tried the "Sort by" solution, but I think I really need a "Display as" solution
Vikki-T 9,585 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-20T08:41:46.89+00:00

Hi 84315488,

Thank you for clarifying. You are correct that Sort by only changes the order of contacts in the list, not how each contact’s name is displayed.

In Outlook.com, please open People, select Settings and then set Display contacts by to First name. This should display the contact as “John Smith” instead of “Smith John.”

If you do not see the Display contacts by option, please let me know whether you are accessing Outlook.com through a browser or using the Outlook desktop app, as the available settings may differ.
Vikki-T 9,585 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-21T14:27:47.5266667+00:00

Hi 84315488,

Is there any update from you?

If yes, please feel free to let us know.