How to display contacts as first name last name in Address book of Outlook?

When we open the Address book with clicking the Address Book button on the Home tab in Outlook, the contact names may be shown as File As (Smith, John). However, some users may want to display contacts as first name last name in the Address book, how to deal with it in Outlook? This article will introduce the detailed steps to make it come true.

To display contacts as first name last name in the Address book of Outlook, you can do as following:

Step 1: Open the Account Settings dialog box with:

1. Clicking the File > Info > Account Settings > Account Settings in Outlook 2010 and 2013;
2. Clicking the Tools > Account Settings in Outlook 2007.

Step 2: In the Account Settings dialog box, go to the Address Books tab, click to highlight the address book you will change, and then click the Change button. See screen shot below:

Step 3: In the coming Microsoft Outlook Address Book dialog box, check the First last (John Smith) in the Show Names by section, and click the Close button.

Step 3: Close the Account Settings dialog box, and restart your Microsoft Outlook.

Notes:

(1) This method will show all new created contacts’ names as first name last name in Address book.

(2) Some existing contacts may still display as File As (Smith, John) in the Address book. If so, double click to open the contact, then click the File as box and select the items similar as (John Smith) from the drop down list, at last click the Save & Close button.

(3) You’d better change the default file as order for contacts in Outlook.