Outlook's use of multiple address books is a source of confusion for many users. Many wonder why Outlook has an address book that doesn't contain addresses at its root and a Contacts folder that has addresses, but is displayed as a subfolder of the address book.

The Outlook Address Book is an Outlook service used for addressing electronic messages. It doesn't actually hold any addresses itself, but points to your Address lists. It displays only contacts which contain electronic addresses, i.e., email addresses or fax numbers, when you click the To: button while composing email messages or sending faxes. When you have more than one Contacts folder enabled as an address book, they'll all be listed in the Outlook address book.

Each Address list found in Outlook contains addresses from a different source and most users have one or two address lists available: Outlook's Contacts folder and, for users with an Exchange mailbox, the Global Address List. In addition, some users will have the Personal Address Book and some organizations offer an LDAP directory.

Users who only have Internet accounts set up will have the Outlook Address Book service, which is used only when addressing email, and the Contacts folder, which is used for general contact storage and mail merges. Contacts which contain email addresses or fax numbers are displayed in the Outlook Address Book. Typically, Exchange users will have just the Global Address List (GAL) and the Outlook Address book service for addressing email, along with the Contacts folder.

Contacts are used to store personal information, including email addresses and phone numbers, in Outlook. Nearly every Outlook user will create contacts for individuals. Many will also create distribution lists. You'll use a distribution list for groups or clubs, when you need to send the same message to a group of people on a regular basis. (See "Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Distribution Lists" http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/dl.htm to learn more about distribution lists.)

The Global Address List is only used by Exchange server accounts. It contains all mail-enabled objects, which includes Public folders and distribution lists stored in the GAL, as well as user's email addresses. Along with storing names of the Exchange users and mail-enabled objects, administrators can create contacts for people who don't have Exchange mailboxes and these will be displayed in the GAL. Anyone who uses an Exchange mailbox in offline mode will have access to the GAL via the Offline Address book.

In addition to the GAL, Exchange server accounts will show an All Addresses List containing subgroups in the Address book. This is essentially a categorized version of the GAL and the Exchange administrator can create an address list based on any number of criteria and display the list only to a specific group of users. This makes it easier for workgroups to find the addresses they use most frequently in an organization with thousands of addresses in the GAL.

The Personal Address Book (PAB) is MAPI service that goes way back to the days before Outlook when we used Windows Messaging and the Exchange Client. This address book service can store individual addresses or distribution lists. The PAB is available in Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 but it's depreciated and included only for legacy support, meaning it may not work with future versions of Outlook and anyone still using it should import the PAB into their contacts folder. The PAB won't work with Outlook 98 or 2000 in Internet Only Mode.

The Active Directory is a database that is based on LDAP standards. If you use Exchange server, the GAL contains the entries stored in the Active Directory. You can also connect to the Active Directory using the LDAP service. You would use Active Directory (or LDAP) if you use POP3 or IMAP mail accounts and needed to access a corporate address book. Any email client which supports LDAP can use the Active Directory as an address book.

The Windows Address Book (WAB) is used by Outlook Express. Outlook can't read the WAB, but you can share your default address list (the one you see when you open the Outlook Address book) with the WAB. See "To share Contacts between Outlook and Outlook Express" (http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/oeshare.htm) to learn how to share your Contacts with the Windows Address Book.

• How do I change which address book displays first when I click the To button?

Open the Address Book (Ctrl+Shift+B) and choose Tools, Options. Select the address book that you use the most from the Show this address list first: dropdown.

• How can I control which address book Outlook looks in first when I use autoresolution?

To control the order Outlook searches contacts when resolving names, adjust the order of the addresses books in the bottom field of the Address Book's Tools, Options dialog. This list may include all address lists in your profile and you can Add or Remove lists as needed. For example, Exchange server users may want to remove the Global Address List and add sublists from the All Address List.

The other option in this dialog, Keep personal addresses in: selection, allows you choose the location Outlook saves new contacts to. Unless you have a PAB installed, you'll have Contacts selected in this dropdown. If you use multiple contacts folder, all folders enabled as Outlook address books should be listed in the dropdown and you can choose any of the folders listed.

• I want to change the order names are displayed, from 'First name Last name' to 'Last name, First name'.

This setting is stored in Outlook's Tools, Email Accounts. Choose View or change existing Address books, then the Outlook Address book service. Your choices are 'First Last' or the 'File As' format.

So where do you change the File As format? Using Outlook's Tools, Options, Preferences, Contacts options. From this dialog you can change the default File As order for new contacts, but it won't change how existing contacts are filed. For that, you need to use VBA code or make the change to each contact. For a VBA code sample, see http://www.slovaktech.com/code_samples.htm#FileAs.

• I have Contacts in the Contacts folder but they are not accessible when I click on the To button.

Make sure the Contact folder is enabled as an email address book. Right click the Contacts folder, choose Properties then Outlook Address Book. Verify the box to Show the folder as email address book is checked.

Make sure the Contact folder is enabled as an email address book. Right click the Contacts folder, choose Properties then Outlook Address Book. Verify the box to Show the folder as email address book is checked.

From the mailbag: I'm just learning Exchange server so please be kind. The problem is with my email address. My domain name is test.domain.com and this makes my email address me@test.domain.com. I'd rather have my email address as me@domain.com. How do I do make it my email address?

You could add this address (or any other addresses you want delivered to your Inbox) to your Active Directory account using the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, then set it as the default SMTP address. However, this method changes only the address associated with one user and requires you to change it on every user account.

To apply a new address format to every mailbox on the server, you need to edit the Recipient Policies in the Exchange System Manager. The policies that control the address generation are found under the Recipients object.

Open the Recipient policies Property sheet and Add a new SMTP address to the Default policy using @domain.com as the format and set it as the primary address.

Other formats you can use include %g.%s@domain.com for Firstname.Lastname@domain.com or %1g%7s@domain.com to control the length of the alias: DPoremsk@domain.com. You can, of course, use other numbers. Just don't delete any of the address formats created by Exchange.

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