Contacts List

[RichardT09]

At present my list is alphabetical based on the first name.Can it be changed to last name?I've tried using the UP/DOWN arrows and clicked last name but there's no change.

Thanks

Richard

[gg30340]

Make sure that you have entered the contact's name and last name in particular if they have been "auto added"  into the correct named boxes and not entered as one name. 

[RichardT09]

Thanks for the advice.It would appear that 581 of my 731 email addresses have been auto-saved and presumably the rest have been added by hand.All are showing  on my list as clear first and last names with the exception of a few original email addresses--these are generally company emails.Do I need to ensure that all have a first and last name?Any other advice please.

[gg30340]

If you only have a first name it will always be listed alphabetically by the first name as there is no last name to reference off and like wise if you only have a last name it will always be listed alphabetically by the last name because there is no first name to reference so ideally you should enter both first and last name. 

Personally if it is a company name I enter it in the last name box because I use the "sort by last name" filter so I can find the "people" contacts by their last name but you may prefer to use the "sort by first name" filter so you should enter the company name in the first name box. 

[RichardT09 · Accepted solution]

Thanks once again.Having checked in detail an hour or so ago I am now in the process of transferring last names.Watch for a successful result in x days time.

Richard

[RichardT09]

Thanks to Distinguished Sage I now have a list of contacts all in last name alphabetical order.Next Question---how do I get those in my contact groups into the same last name alphabetical order?

Thanks

Richard

[gg30340]

I think the only way to do that is to add them to the Group in alphabetical order so unless OCD is the driving factor I would just leave it as it is.

After all it is a Group and does it matter if they listed alphabetically in the Group as the members of the Group will no doubt be BCC when you send it to them so they will be none the wiser.

Should you wish to remove a Contact from that Group and assuming you are no longer wanting that Contact's email address, if you delete it from the Main Contacts list it will delete it from the Group.

[RichardT09]

Thanks for the advice DS.I had inherited two large but similar group databases.It would have been handy to have compared them alphabetically side by side to rule out anomalies ie deaths etc before merging them.

Richard

[gg30340]

I don't know if this will work but you could try Exporting the Group and save the file then use Excel to sort the contacts contained in the Group alphabetically then save the file then Import it to your Contacts. 

[RichardT09]

I decided to print out one of the group contacts which were on gmail and which was in last name alphabetical order.Then compare with the bt group contacts--slow but sure.However two more problems cropped  up.

How do you now check that a contact is in a contact group without scrolling through the group? A click on the name used to tell which groups he was in.                                                                                                                                                                  PLUS

I entered a new member into my group A-D and then tried to add a new member into the same group--the A-D option had disappeared from the group dropdown list.The same happened entering the second of two members in my E-H list.Still without both options two hours later

Thanks for bearing with me.

Richard