Outlook is displaying wrong name in email

Question

Outlook is displaying wrong name in email

Karl Metzler 0

Outlook is displaying wrong name in email. Profile is set up with correct name but when I go to send email my email account is showing a different name than Karl. Tried to look up the information with no success. Also has an LinkedIn account associated with the same wrong name as well.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Welcome Karl Metzler,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum. I understand that Outlook is showing a different name when you send email, even though your profile has the correct name, and the same incorrect name appears in the associated LinkedIn information.

Are you using a personal Outlook.com/Hotmail account or a work/school Microsoft 365 account? Does the wrong name appear only in the To field suggestion, or does it also appear as the sender name in messages received by other people?

Please make sure you already tried the Q&A Assist steps. In addition, please try the following:

Sign in to the Microsoft account associated with the affected email address and confirm that the primary alias is your intended email address.

Go to account.microsoft.com and open the alias settings.
If another address is set as primary, set the correct address as the primary alias.

Check the sender name configured in classic Outlook for Windows, if you use that app.

Open File, then Account Settings, then Account Settings
Select the affected email account and select Change
Update the Your name field
Select Next, then Close
If the account type is Microsoft Exchange, the display name must be updated by the Exchange administrator

Send a test message to a recipient who has not previously saved your email address.

Ask the recipient whether the sender name displays
If the new recipient sees the correct name, the incorrect name is likely coming from a saved contact or recipient suggestion on their side

Check whether the wrong name is linked to another Microsoft account alias.

In the Microsoft account alias settings, review all aliases
Remove or correct an alias that is associated with the wrong name, if it is no longer needed

Test in Outlook on the web in a private or InPrivate browser window.

Sign in to outlook.live.com using the affected account
Create a new message and enter your own address manually
If the wrong name still appears, capture the exact location where it appears: recipient suggestion, sender name, profile card, or Sent Items.

Looking forward to your update.

Answer 2

Correct or delete the Outlook People contact containing your email address and the wrong name, because that contact can supply both the compose-time name and the associated LinkedIn profile even though your account profile already says “Karl.”

1. Correct the contact associated with your address

In Outlook.com or Outlook on the web:

Select People in the left navigation.
Search for your full email address, not the displayed name.
Open every result containing that address.
If a contact shows the other person’s name:
- Select Edit contact, change the name to Karl, and select Save; or
- Select Delete if it is an erroneous or duplicate contact.
Also check for duplicate contacts under both “Karl” and the incorrect name.

Outlook can display LinkedIn information when a saved contact has a public LinkedIn profile using the same email address, so the incorrect LinkedIn card is an important indication that this contact association should be checked.^1^ The exact web editing and deletion controls are documented here.^2^

Start a new message afterward and type the complete email address again.

2. Remove the old recipient suggestion

If the corrected contact is saved but the wrong name still appears while composing, it may remain in Outlook’s recipient-suggestion data. Those suggestions can come from personal contacts, organizational contacts, and names previously used in messages.^3^

When the incorrect suggestion appears under To, select the X beside it if available.
If it keeps returning, clear the account-level suggestion data:

Personal Outlook.com/Hotmail account

Open the Microsoft account Privacy page.
Under Empower your productivity, select People suggestions.
Turn the option Off.

Work or school account

Open Settings & Privacy for the work or school account.
Select Privacy.
Under Data options, expand Manage contact suggestions and discovery.
Under Discovered contacts, select Clear data.

Clearing discovered contacts does not delete personal contacts or the organization’s directory.^3^

3. Correct the LinkedIn association separately

If the wrong LinkedIn profile remains after correcting the contact:

If your Microsoft and LinkedIn accounts are connected: disconnect them from the Microsoft account:
1. Microsoft account → Privacy → Overview.
2. Open Other privacy settings → Apps and services.
3. Select Apps and services that can access your data.
4. Remove the LinkedIn permissions.
Alternatively, in LinkedIn select Me → Settings & Privacy → Account → Partners and services → Microsoft → Remove.^4^
If the unfamiliar LinkedIn profile actually has your email address attached to it: contact LinkedIn Support to separate that email from the incorrect profile. Microsoft’s guidance identifies LinkedIn Support as the correction path for a work or school address linked to an unrecognized LinkedIn profile.^5^

Disconnecting LinkedIn suggestions can take up to 24 hours to take effect, and people previously emailed may continue to appear as suggestions.^6^

If the wrong name is visible to recipients in messages—not merely in the To suggestion or profile card—compare the same account in Outlook.com and another browser. If it appears everywhere and this is a work or school mailbox, the organization’s administrator must inspect the directory/profile source rather than the already-correct local Outlook profile.

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