Microsoft Office 365 Suggested Contacts List: Download Guide for Outlook Users

I spent years at Microsoft watching users struggle with Outlook’s hidden features. The suggested contacts list is one of those quiet time-savers that most people overlook entirely.

This isn’t a direct download—it’s a dynamic list Outlook builds from your email patterns. You can export it through a few clicks in the desktop app, but the process isn’t obvious. I’ve documented the exact steps that work across Windows and Mac versions.

You’ll get a clean CSV with all your frequent contacts, ready for backup or migration. No third-party tools needed, just the built-in export function most users don’t know exists.

Works on any Office 365 subscription, and the file imports cleanly into other email clients if you ever switch.

What Youll Need

Step-by-Step Instructions for Downloading Your Outlook Suggested Contacts

Here’s the method I use to export and save the auto-generated list from Outlook.

Launch the Outlook desktop application and click the People icon in the bottom-left navigation bar. If you don’t see it, check if your organization has customized the ribbon—some admins rearrange the default layout for corporate accounts.

In the People view, look at the left-hand sidebar. You’ll find a section labeled Suggested Contacts beneath your regular contact folders. This folder automatically collects addresses you’ve emailed but haven’t yet added as official contacts.

Click on the Suggested Contacts folder to open it. You’ll see a list of email addresses, often with names and sometimes profile pictures if they’re from internal directories. To select all entries, press Ctrl + A on your keyboard.

If the list is long, scroll to the bottom to ensure every entry is highlighted. Outlook sometimes loads contacts dynamically, so a quick scroll ensures you’re not missing any. You’ll see a confirmation banner at the top briefly stating how many items are selected.

With all suggested contacts selected, go to the File menu, then choose Open & Export, and click Import/Export. In the wizard that appears, select Export to a file and click Next.

Choose Comma Separated Values as the export format. Click Next, then verify that the Suggested Contacts folder is selected. Name your file something memorable like Outlook-Suggested-Contacts-Backup and save it to your preferred location. Click Finish to complete the export.

Navigate to the folder where you saved the CSV file. Open it with Excel or a text editor to confirm the data is intact. You should see columns for Display Name, Email Address, and possibly Company or Phone Number if that information was available.

Check the row count against the number of suggested contacts you had in Outlook. If the numbers don’t match, repeat the export process—sometimes Outlook skips entries during the first attempt. The file is ready for backup or import into another system once verified.

Tips and Common Mistakes

These insights come from years of troubleshooting Outlook exports—here’s what saves people hours of frustration.

Navigation Hack: If you don’t see the People icon in Step 1, your admin might have hidden it. Try clicking the three dots at the bottom of the navigation pane—Outlook often tucks it there in customized corporate layouts. I’ve seen this trip up even seasoned users.

Selection Verification: In Step 2, that confirmation banner is your best friend. If it doesn’t appear after pressing Ctrl+A, scroll slowly to the very bottom—Outlook’s dynamic loading sometimes leaves the last few contacts unselected. Trust me, missing even one can mean redoing the whole process.

Export Pitfall: During Step 3, double-check that “Suggested Contacts” is selected in the export folder list. Outlook defaults to your main Contacts folder, and I’ve lost count of how many people accidentally exported the wrong data until they noticed their CSV had only a fraction of the entries.

File Naming: When saving your CSV, avoid spaces and special characters in the filename. Stick to underscores or hyphens like the “Outlook-Suggested-Contacts-Backup” example. This prevents issues when importing into other systems or uploading to cloud services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Downloading your Microsoft Office 365 Suggested Contacts List is a simple way to organize your Outlook connections. 📥 With just a few steps, you can access, export, or manage these contacts efficiently. Ready to streamline your workflow? Start by exploring Outlook’s export options today!