Contacts

Contacts can be kept in address books. In email accounts, address books are used for accessing email address contacts.

Address Books

Address books are often used to access email addresses which have been used before. An address book is almost like the traditional address book for phone numbers. However, email address books have the ability to create a new email message that can be edited to send to a person or more than one person. The key components of an entry for an email contact are the following.

• Name

• Email address

Additional information may be added, too, depending on the layout of the address book. Most often, there is a separate format for the name for sorting purposes. The field for the last name comes before the field for the first name.

An example of an address book is shown below.

It is a Thunderbird Address Book example from the Internet.

Sending emails using Address Books

Emails can be sent easily using address books. In an address book, an email address can be represented by a name, usually the name is a person’s name. By clicking on a name in an address book, a profile normally appears for the given name. The name’s email address can be clicked on to compose an email to the specified email address.

Managing Address Book entries and editing names

Any portion of an entry in an address book can be modified. As email addresses of contacts change, email addresses of contacts have to be changed, too. Other contact information may need to be edited at times as well. Often, notes can be added and edited for a contact. It is a good idea to delete or modify contacts that have changed and become invalid or have been updated with a new email address. Also, personal information of other people should not be included in an address book contact entry. Personal information is more prone data theft over the Internet. It is important to limit email contacts in address books to trusted contacts. These include friends, relatives, co-workers and purposeful contacts.

Importing and exporting address books

In email clients, contact lists or address books can be imported from a file or exported to a file. This is useful when an existing address book needs to be preserved when uninstalling or repairing the email client. Importing and exporting address books from email clients is like importing and exporting web browser bookmarks. Address books of a different email client can even be imported, too. You can even import and export address books in a webmail environment, too.

Address Book Basics of Various Email Services

Gmail In Gmail, the address book is known as Gmail Contacts. Email contacts can be added to the contacts list. Both email addresses and phone numbers can be added for entities one wants to add to the contacts. Additional information like job title & company can be included, too. Below, is a link to more information on Gmail Contacts. How to find your Gmail Contacts List (2025 Guide) To users, it is known as Contacts. This feature makes the process of sending emails more efficient.

Outlook In Outlook, the address book is known as the Outlook Address Book. To users, it is known as People. This feature makes the process of sending emails more efficient. Below is a link to more information on Outlook’s address book. Open and use the address book in Outlook

Yahoo Mail Yahoo Mail has a similar address book to Gmail’s address book and Outlook’s address book. Its address book is known as Contacts. Sending emails can be done more efficiently by utilizing the Contacts feature. Like any address book, the layout has to be noted in order to use it effectively. It should be noted that Yahoo Mail offers a simpler and less feature-rich option. However, Yahoo Mail’s Contacts feature is good in general. It is also easy to use, too. This is an asset to their address book. Below, is a link to more information on Yahoo Mail’s address book. Add, edit, or delete contacts in Yahoo Mail Yahoo Mail by default, automatically updates your contact information based on what is provided by the information in your correspondences. This feature can be disabled if desired. Like in other address books, Yahoo Mail contacts can be sorted, too.

Other email services have similar features, too. The layout may be different. However, the basics are the same.

Here are some links on how to import and export address books between email platforms like Thunderbird, Outlook, Yahoo and Gmail.

Exporting Contacts From Thunderbird

Export contacts from Outlook – Office Support

Import contacts to Outlook.com – Outlook – office support

Import and export contacts in Yahoo Mail | Yahoo Help …

How to Export Your Gmail Contacts – Lifewire