How to Organize Your Email Address Book in Alphabetical Order

By Kathryn Hatashita-Lee

i BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images

Access your email’s sorting tools to alphabetize your contacts. Microsoft Outlook formats your contacts as a list of column entries sorted by last name or full name. Hotmail provides a Display Order list for a last name first or full name sequence. The Sort Order list alphabetizes your contact’s first name or last name. Google Gmail offers a Sort By section with a choice of first name or last name order. Your alphabetized list will help you search your contacts’ data more quickly for future reference.

Outlook

Step 1

Click “People” at the bottom of the Outlook screen, and then select the “View” tab on the command ribbon.

Step 2

Tap the “Change View” arrow in the Current View group, and then click “List.”

Step 3

Click the “File As” column heading to sort your contacts by last name. If the list displays in reverse alphabetical order, click the “File As” heading again to alphabetize the list. To sort your contacts by the full name beginning with the first name, click the “Full Name” column header.

Hotmail on Outlook.com

Step 1

Step 2

Click the Gear button next to your name on the menu bar. Click to add a black bullet next to the preferred name order option in the Display Order section: “First Last” or “Last, First.”

Step 3

Click to add a bullet next to the preferred option in the Sort Order section: “First name” or “Last name.” Click outside the menu to hide the Gear menu.

Google Gmail

Step 1

Open your Google Gmail account and then click the “Gmail” down-arrow.

Step 2

Click “Contacts.”

Step 3

Click the “More” button and then select “First name” or “Last name” in the Sort By section to sort your contacts list.

References

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