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Use a wizard to add and track multiple Outlook contacts in Dynamics 365 for Outlook

  • Article

You can track your Office Outlook contacts in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook. When you track a contact, a copy of that contact’s record is saved in Dynamics 365 for Outlook and synchronized with the Outlook record. After your contacts are tracked, you’ll see any Customer Engagement email, task, or appointment activities associated with those contacts. If you sync Outlook on your mobile device, you can also access your contact records on that device.

Tracking contacts in Dynamics 365 for Outlook is a manual process. You can track up to 20 contacts at one time by choosing the Track button or the Set Parent button in Dynamics 365 for Outlook. If you want to add more than 20 contacts at one time, or if you want to add all your Outlook contacts to Customer Engagement, you can use the Add Contacts wizard. The wizard can also help you set a number of options. For example, you can specify if future communications with the tracked contacts should be synchronized with Dynamics 365 for Outlook.

Important

To track contacts in Dynamics 365 for Outlook, your Outlook email address must match your Customer Engagement email address. You can’t synchronize to or from multiple email addresses.

Step 1: Get ready

Before you add your Outlook contacts:

  • For best results, make sure your Outlook contact data is as complete and accurate as possible. Fill in any missing info and verify that people’s names are spelled correctly.

  • Because you will have the opportunity to “map” the company names in your Outlook contact list to an account name in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, make sure the accounts have the same spelling in both applications.

Step 2: Run the wizard

  1. Choose File > Dynamics 365 apps > Import Contacts > Add Contacts.

  2. Choose Next.

  3. Confirm the folder where your Outlook contacts are stored, and then choose Next.

    Note

    • The wizard determines the folder, usually called Contacts. You can select or clear subfolders in the Contacts folder.
      • If you allow someone else to manage your email (called a “delegate”), you can’t add contacts from that person’s contacts folder.

  4. Select how to group your contacts. The groups are:

    • Company Name. Group the contacts by the matching account name in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement. The wizard lists the number of contacts associated with each account. Choose the link to verify the list of names for each account.

    • Email Domain. Group the contacts by email domain. The email domain is the part of the address after the @ symbol. For example, in the email address someone@contoso.com, "contoso.com" is the domain. Choose the link to verify the list of names in each domain.

    • Categories. Group the contacts by the category you use to organize contacts in Outlook, if applicable. Choose the link to verify the list of names for each category.

      If you don’t want to add all the groups, clear the check boxes to the left of any groups you don’t want.

    Note

    The Number of Contacts column displays a color to indicate how many of the contacts are already linked to Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement:

    • Green. All of the contacts are already in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.
      • Yellow. More than 50% of the contacts are already in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.
      • Red. At least one contact is already in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.

    Tip

    You may find that the groupings have many variations if the company names don’t match exactly. If so, it may be best to cancel the wizard, correct the company names in Outlook, and then run the wizard again.

  5. Verify that Use Company Name to be the Account is selected (recommended). Otherwise, if you want to associate an account name with each contact later in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, clear this check box.

  6. Select Track all communications for added contacts to track the messages, appointments, and tasks associated with these Outlook contacts in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.

  7. To manually select the accounts to associate the contacts with, choose Advanced. In the Set Account column, choose the row for the contact. From the drop-down list, select one of the following:

    • Leave the field blank (Not Set) to associate the contacts with an account later in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.

    • Select Use Company Name to associate the contacts with a Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement account using the company name.

    • Select Pick Existing Account, select an account or contact, and then choose OK.

  8. In the Include Communication column, clear the check box for any grouping for which you don’t want to track email messages, appointments, or tasks in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement.

  9. Choose Add Contacts.

  10. Review the Summary page and view any errors, if applicable. Then choose Close.

See also

Overview of tracking records in Dynamics 365 for Outlook
Frequently asked questions about synchronizing records between Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps and Microsoft Outlook