Add addresses automatically to Outlook Contacts

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Add addresses automatically to Contacts

Home > User Issues > Contacts > Add addresses automatically

Many people who "upgrade" from Outlook Express want the option to automatically add addresses you reply to to your contacts folder.

We don't generally recommend doing this because it can fill your Contacts folder with a lot of useless addresses you'll never use again. Remember that you are responsible for making sure that the addresses you add automatically are kept up to date. I personally think that adding addresses automatically is a bad idea, unless you're very restrictive with the rules that trigger the addition. You can always add any address by right-clicking on it and choosing Add to Contacts.

In Outlook 2003 and 2007, addresses you reply to are added to your autocomplete cache. This list is not permanent and addresses you want to keep should be added to your Contacts folder, either manually with a right click on the address or using one of the automated tools below.

You have a choice of both standalone tools and custom actions that work with Inbox Assistant or Rules Wizard. (Custom actions do not work in Outlook 2002.)

Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 have this as an option, but just in Internet Mail Only mode. For other versions of Outlook, you must use one of the add-ins below.

Outlook 2007 offers a feature in Junk email options (Tools, Options, Junk email options button) that adds people you reply to to your Safe senders list. This does not add them to your contacts but will allow all future messages from the address to by pass the junk mail filter.

Outlook 2002 and up | Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 IMO | Tools | Notes | More Information

Outlook 2002 and up

Outlook does not include any built-in function to add addresses automatically. It also has a bug with some Rules Wizard custom actions, but you can use ExLife or the CaBook custom action or code like that posted at To automatically add recipients from outgoing messages to Contacts in Outlook 2002.

Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 IMO

If you are using Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only mode, you can set Outlook to automatically add new addresses to Contacts when you reply to those people. See:

OL2000 (IMO) How to Automatically Add People to Contacts

Tools in the Spotlight

Add Contacts	Add Contacts automatically adds e-mail addresses to the contact folder when you reply a message and/or send a new message. You can assign categories to the newly created contacts and you can choose any folder as the contact destination, either in your personal mailbox or in public folders on Microsoft Exchange server. When adding a contact, Add Contacts checks the folder for possible duplicates.
Add Email Address	Add-in for Outlook 2000 or later to automatically create Outlook contacts for people you send messages to, receive messages from, or reply to. Can add categories as it creates contacts. Does not trigger Outlook address security prompts. If you decide to purchase a Sperry Software utility, enter WD9BHK53 during checkout.

More Tools

AdContact	Rules Wizard custom action to add the sender of an item to the Contacts folder. C++ source code included. Free sample from Microsoft.
AddToPAB	Adds the sender of a message to your Personal Address Book. Requires Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode. Source code is included.
Bells & Whistles for Outlook	Bells & Whistles for Outlook helps users to quickly handle and track emails, by automatically creating personalized email reply greetings, subject tracking IDs, reply counters, text templates, easy mail merge sessions and many more. Version 3 includes many new features, such as the ability to use the Bells & Whistles options based on email rules and profiles, advanced automatic reply greetings, attachment archiving, an email resend function for already sent messages, full HTML support for email templates, email signatures option, more than 30 predefined email templates, a live update mechanism and many more. There are more than 15 new features available in Bells & Whistles v3. Bells & Whistles works with Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2007.
ReplyButler	ReplyButler is a productivity tool that automatically pre-writes the greeting phrases (with the correct name) for you. Furthermore it has a powerful text module storage which is a great timesaver for everybody who answers customer e-mails. You can even share your text module libraries in your team! ReplyButler also helps you organize your e-mails by automatically moving your answered e-mails into the right folders. And if you forget an attachment, ReplyButler will remind you. Works with Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007.

Notes

Remember that you are responsible for making sure that the addresses you add automatically are kept up to date.

Both ExLife and CaBook turn on RTF formatting for all added recipients in Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode; if you don't turn it off, recipients that don't use Outlook or Exchange will get ugly attachments.

I personally think that adding addresses automatically is a bad idea, unless you're very restrictive with the rules that trigger the addition. You can always add any address by right-clicking on it and choosing Add to Personal Address Book or Add to Contacts.

More Information

Microsoft Outlook Contacts Issues

Automatically add recipients to Contacts in Outlook using VBA

Updated Jul 01 2009