Tip 1034: Sorting Contact Group members by name

This seems to be the week everyone wants to sort the names in a Contact Group (distribution list) in a specific order, usually last name, first name format and it's not working.

Contacts inserted into a Contact Group use the Email Display as format.

By default, the Email display as field uses "Full Name (alias@domain.com)" format. But if you change the entry in the Email Display as field, that is how the contact will display in the Contact Group.

Once you change the Email Display name field of your contacts and press the Update Now button in the Contact Group, the names in the contact group will reflect the changes.

If you need to change the display name on a large number of contacts so they are all uniform, I have a macro at Bulk Change Email Display Name Format.

Published October 22, 2012. Last updated on October 21, 2012.

Related posts:

When you want to remove members from a distribution group, click the Remove Members button, don't use the Delete key or buttonHow to remove Members from a Contact Group Tip 933: Display the Total Number of Members in a Contact Group Tip 1030: When sorting items in a folder doesn't work as expected Tip 947: How to find 'lost' Contact Groups