First/last name always wrong when Mail>Contacts

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Level 1

11 points

First/last name always wrong when Mail>Contacts

I have had this problem forever and can't find a solution in the forum - thought I would see if there is one out there!

I have tried sorting my Contacts in different ways to see if I can solve the problem but the First Name/Last Name seem always to be reversed when I add a Contact from Mail to Contacts. The work around is annoying and time-consuming. I am wondering why these two apps aren't integrated more fully? Why make it possible to add directly when it causes you to add incorrectly? After all someone could be called Norman David - this is not the same person as David Norman!

I have made sure that the Preference setting and the Menu>Card settings match. What else can I do?

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), FCPX 10.0.9, Compressor 4.0.7

Posted on Dec 24, 2013 11:38 AM

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Answer 1

Tancamb Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 24, 2013 12:30 PM in response to Tancamb

If anyone else has this problem and no one answers with a solution, please send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

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Answer 2

dPod

Level 1

35 points

Jan 22, 2014 12:10 PM in response to Tancamb

I've been searching for a solution to this problem at least half a decade.

Every time I choose “Add to Contacts” from Mail, it puts the first name in the last name field and vice versa. The only “solution” is to sort Contacts by first name and display first name first, but that is not a reasonable way to sort hundreds of personal and business contacts.

Several major OS upgrades have come and gone without a fix for this incredibly irritating bug. Being able to quickly add a contact from Mail is a very basic function. How hard could it be to make Mail understand that Contacts is set up to sort by last name and show last name before first? In fact, that should be the default preference.

I have to cut and paste to put the names in the proper fields every single time I add a contact. A Google search reveals that tons of people have been frustrated by this problem for years. And you have to love the answers from people who don't understand the problem who just tell you to switch the General preference setting. Thanks, but that's not the issue. It's Mail and/or Contacts that is mixing it up. I've tried deleting the preference file and changing the “Show Last Name Before First” setting in the Card menu as well.

Mac OS is a wonderfully refined operating system. It's mind boggling that they can't get this important detail right.

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