Sending, receiving, and organizing email in Outlook.com
This is usually a display-name or suggestion-cache issue, not a sign that the email was actually sent from someone else.
If the message opens and shows it was sent from the correct address, but the Sent list shows David Graham, the most likely causes are:
- A saved contact or self-contact for the address has the wrong display name.
- A cached suggested-recipient entry is overriding the name shown in the list.
- In Outlook, names shown in message lists can come from stored contact/suggestion data rather than the actual sender identity.
What to check:
- Open People/Contacts and search for the email address.
- If a contact exists with the name David Graham, edit or delete it.
- Start a new message and type the address.
- If the wrong name appears in the suggestion list, remove that suggestion by selecting the X next to it.
- Check the sent message itself.
- If the opened message shows the correct sending address, the issue is likely only how Outlook is displaying the cached name.
- If this happens only in one app or device, clear that app’s cached suggestion data or sign out and back in.
If the wrong name appears only when sending to the same address that the message is sent from, Outlook can also show special sender labeling behavior for self-sent messages, although that normally appears as Note to Self rather than another person’s name.