How to edit address book in new Outlook for Mac

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How to edit address book in new Outlook for Mac

Helena Franwood 20

I need to delete some email addresses from my Address Book in new Outlook for Mac.

I can't find how to view and edit the contacts in the Address Book. I have many contacts in the address book that are not in my Contacts list, and therefore I can't view them under the "Contacts" tab to be able to remove them. It used to be possible to delete contacts from the Address Book by clicking a small "X" next to the email address in the drop-down when composing an email but this has now disappeared.

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Answer 1

Gabriel-N 19,590 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @Helena Franwood

From my understanding, if you’re using a business account, the addresses in the drop-down are no longer a traditional “Address Book”, they come from your contacts, your organization directory, and recent/suggested recipients. That’s why some entries don’t appear under Contacts and can’t be edited directly.

Also, the “X to remove” option in new Outlook for Mac is no longer consistently available, and there isn’t a central place to view or edit those suggested addresses.

At this point, I would recommend checking with your admin to confirm whether these suggestions are coming from the company directory, and temporarily switching to legacy Outlook to see if you can clean them up from there.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, and we are not Microsoft Support. Moderators here don’t have backend access and can’t directly intervene or perform escalations, we can only share guidance based on current behavior and best practices.

Hope this helps a bit, and looking forward to your reply.

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Helena Franwood 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T10:33:41.2533333+00:00

Thanks Gabriel,

I am confident these aren't coming from the company directory (they are external email addresses) so they will indeed be recent/suggested recipients that I would like to delete. Unfortunately when I revert to legacy Outlook those email addresses disappear from the drop-down when I compose a new message, so I don't think I'll be able to easily clean them up.

Any other suggestions would be welcomed!
Gabriel-N 19,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T11:18:25.1433333+00:00

Thank you for your feedback @Helena Franwood
One thing you can try is using Outlook on the web to see if the behavior is consistent and try clearing the suggestions from there. Please note that this would clear all suggested entries.

If you manage to clear them from the web but the behavior still persists in Outlook for Mac, you might also consider removing and re-adding your account in Outlook to see if that makes any difference. https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/Outlook/sign-out-of-an-email-account-in-outlook-for-mac
Helena Franwood 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T14:14:26.21+00:00

Hiya, I tried Outlook for web too but no luck. I guess I'll keep an eye out for any future fixes
Gabriel-N 19,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T14:22:03.92+00:00

Hi @Helena Franwood

Have you tried to clear from setting like this?
Helena Franwood 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T15:40:19.86+00:00

Trying that now, thanks!
Gabriel-N 19,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-23T11:10:10.81+00:00

Hi @Helena Franwood if you have any update, please feel free to let me know.
Helena Franwood 20 Reputation points

2026-06-23T12:26:49.77+00:00

Thanks Gabriel, that seems to have worked!
Gabriel-N 19,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-23T12:38:18.2333333+00:00

Thank you for confirming @Helena Franwood I'm glad to hear your issue has been resolved. That must be a big relief.

If you don’t mind, please consider marking my answer as accepted so it can help others facing similar challenges. Your feedback also helps build a more supportive community.

Thank you for your understanding.