How to Share Your Outlook Contact List with Another User?

Ritu Roy | How to's Outlook Software Technology | 6 minutes read | Modified on: 08-08-2025

Sharing your Outlook contact list with another user is a common request, but it’s not always as simple as it seems. Whether you’re using Outlook for Microsoft 365 or the desktop version, the process requires a few important steps to ensure everything goes smoothly. In this guide, we’ll provide you with step-by-step instructions to help you share your contact list with ease. You’ll learn how to share your contacts list with another user successfully.

Motives for Sharing Your Contact List in Outlook with Another User

Sharing an Outlook contact list can significantly enhance collaboration and communication within and outside your organization. Here are several compelling reasons to consider sharing your contacts:

• Keeping all team members aligned with the same updated contact list helps maintain seamless communication and reduces the risk of missed updates or incorrect contact details.
• Sharing contact lists enables new hires to quickly connect with colleagues, clients, or stakeholders, reducing onboarding time and boosting productivity from day one.
• Teams working across departments or functions can coordinate more efficiently, avoiding duplicate efforts and ensuring everyone connects with the right people.
• By sharing relevant contact information with external vendors or partners, you streamline communication and ensure they can reach the appropriate internal contacts without delays.
• Shared contact lists act as a backup, protecting important contact data even when employees transition out of the organization.
• Having shared access to contact details and availability helps in scheduling meetings faster and more efficiently.
• A centralized, shared contact list minimizes the risk of having outdated or duplicate entries and promotes unified communication across teams or regions.

Getting Your Contact List Ready to Share

Before you share your Outlook contact list, it’s important to ensure it’s well-organized and up-to-date. A clean and structured list will make it easier for recipients to use the contacts effectively. Follow these key steps:

1. Group contacts into logical categories such as clients, internal teams, or vendors to help recipients quickly find who they need.
2. Apply consistent naming formats (e.g., “Client – John Smith” or “Vendor – ABC Supplies”) so recipients can easily filter and identify specific contacts.
3. Double-check that each contact includes correct and complete information, full name, email address, phone number, job title, etc., for clarity and consistency.
4. Eliminate any duplicate contacts to prevent confusion and avoid the risk of sending messages to outdated or incorrect entries.
5. Make sure all contact details are current, including job roles, phone numbers, email addresses, and company information.
6. Clean your list by removing contacts that are no longer relevant to your team, project, or organization.

Techniques to Share a Contact List in Outlook

Outlook offers several ways to share a contact list, especially when using the classic Outlook interface. These methods are straightforward and ideal for sharing contacts with team members, managers, or external clients.

Method 1: How to Share an Email Group or Contact List in Classic Outlook

This method is best for sending a group of contacts quickly to another Outlook user. It works particularly well if you’re sharing a distribution list or team contact group.

1. Launch Outlook and go to the People or Contacts view.
2. Find the contact group or distribution list you’d like to share from your contact list.
3. With the group selected, click the Forward button in the toolbar.
4. Select As Outlook Contact to send the group as an .MSG file. This format ensures recipients using Outlook can open, save, and use the contact group directly.

Method 2: Drag and Drop a Contact Group into a New Email

This is a quick and simple way to share a contact group with other Outlook users, ideal for internal updates or sharing with a colleague.

1. Click on New Email to open a blank message window.
2. From the Contacts pane, drag the desired contact group and drop it into the body of the email or into the attachment area.
3. The contact group is attached as an .MSG file, which can be easily opened and added by other Outlook users.

Tip: This method is best suited for quick internal sharing, especially for keeping your team updated with the latest group contacts.

Method 3: Share a Contact Folder via Exchange or Microsoft 365

If you’re using Outlook with Exchange Server or Microsoft 365, you can share an entire contact folder with specific users and control their access level. This is especially useful for ongoing collaboration with teammates or departments.

1. Launch Outlook and switch to the Contacts or People view.
2. Choose the folder you’d like to share, right-click on it, and select Properties from the menu.
3. In the folder properties window, switch to the Permissions tab.
4. Click the Add button to choose the users (internal only) you want to share the folder with.

You can assign different permission levels, such as:

• Reviewer (View only)
• Editor (View and edit contacts)
• Owner (Full access)

Note: This method only works with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 accounts and does not work with personal Outlook.com accounts.

Method 4: Share with Everyone in Your Organization

If you want to make a contact folder accessible to everyone in your organization, Outlook allows you to adjust the default permission settings.

Right-click the contact folder you want to share, go to Properties, and navigate to the Permissions tab.

In the list of users, click on Default, then assign a permission level:

Reviewer – Users can view contacts only.

Editor – Users can view and edit the contacts.

Once set, anyone within your organization will have the permissions you assigned; no need to add users individually.

Note: This only applies to users within your organization using the same Exchange or Microsoft 365 environment.

Method 5: Saving a Contact Group from an Email Attachment

If someone shares a contact group with you via email (usually as an .MSG file), it’s easy to save it directly into your Outlook contacts.

1. Locate the email containing the contact group and double-click the attachment to open it.
2. Once opened, click Save & Close or choose Add to Contacts to store the group in your Outlook address book.

Tip: This method is great for quickly importing a contact group shared by a colleague or manager.

Method 6: Adding a Shared Contact Group from an Email Attachment

If you receive a shared contact group via email and want to add it to your contacts:

1. Switch to the People (Contacts) view in Outlook.
2. Find the shared contact group or folder, right-click on it, and select Add to My Contacts.
   This will add the shared group to your personal contacts for easy access.

Method 7: Accessing a Shared Contacts Folder

To access a shared contacts folder via Exchange or Microsoft 365, you need to add the shared mailbox to your Outlook profile.

1. In Outlook, click File and then select Account Settings.
2. Choose your email account and hit the Change button.
3. Click More Settings, then go to the Advanced tab.
4. Under Mailboxes, click Add, then enter the name or email address of the person who shared their contacts.
5. Click OK and restart Outlook if necessary. The shared contacts folder will now appear in your Contacts view.

Constraints of Manual Techniques for Sharing Outlook Contacts

While manual sharing methods can be useful, they come with some limitations you should be aware of:

• Microsoft 365 administrators may restrict folder sharing due to security policies, limiting your ability to share contacts widely.
• External users often cannot access shared contact folders unless they have the proper permissions and compatible applications.
• If contacts aren’t sent correctly, the contact list may appear as plain text, making it difficult to import or use.
• Recipients might be unable to save, edit, or manage shared contacts without appropriate permissions set by the sender or admin.

Professional Method to Share Outlook Contact List with Another User

If you need to share Outlook contacts with users outside of Outlook or across different platforms, manual sharing methods may fall short due to compatibility or permission issues.

In such cases, using a dedicated tool like CubexSoft PST Contacts Converter can simplify the process. This software allows you to export Outlook contacts to CSV files, which are easily accessible on desktop computers, mobile devices, and other applications without compatibility problems. To get started, simply download the utility from the official site and enjoy hassle-free contact sharing beyond Outlook.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we’ve explored various proven methods to share your Outlook contact list with another user, from traditional manual techniques to advanced alternative solutions.

If you’re sharing contacts within Outlook or Microsoft 365 environments, manual methods work well and are quick to implement. However, when you need to share your contacts outside of Outlook or across different platforms, tools like CubexSoft PST Converter provide a seamless, secure, and versatile solution.

This software supports unlimited Outlook files, prevents data loss, and offers multiple export options to fit any use case. Choose the approach that best fits your needs and enhance your contact sharing experience today!