Filed under: Software, Mac 101
Mac 101: Address Book A-Z
New to the Mac? Welcome back to our Mac 101 series, which explores the basics of Mac OS X, provides tips and tricks, and dives into key features of Apple's bundled applications.
Address Book is the contact management software bundled with every new Mac. It's easy to use and well integrated with Mail and iCal. Let's explore some of its capabilities.
Creating a new record
There are three ways to do this. The first is to select "New Card" from the "File" menu. The second is to click the "+" icon below the "Name" column. Finally, you can press Command - N on your keyboard.
Next, fill in the fields. Some have drop-down titles. For example, you can label a phone number as "work", "home" or "mobile". Finally, you can add a note to the notes field.
Adding a photo is fun. Just click the photo box next to a contact's name and a new window appears. From there, you can browse to a photo on your computer or take a snapshot with your iSight camera. You can even apply some filters to the photo by clicking the Filters button on the right hand side of the window. That photo will appear on that person's record, on email messages retreived with Apple's Mail and on a synchronized iPhone or iPod.
Edit an existing record
To edit an existing record, first select it in the "Name" column. Next, click the "Edit" button at the bottom of the window. You'll see all of the fields take on their drop-down titles, indicating edit mode. Once you're done, simply click the "Edit" button again and your changes are saved.
Preferences
There are some interesting options to fiddle with in Address Book's preferences. For example, you can choose to sort by first or last name, format address for several countries or let people know when your own card changes automatically.
There are several synchronization options available as well, including MobileMe, Exchange, Yahoo! and Google. If you share contact information via vCards, you'll find several format options. Sharing is also possible across Macs.
The fun stuff
Now that you know the basics, let's have some fun. What if you want to store non-standard information like a person's Twitter handle? First, enter edit mode. Next, click the green "+" icon next to an empty field. Select the drop down menu and click "Custom". A new window will appear. Name your custom field "Twitter" and you're all set!
You can also have fun with Smart Groups. These are dynamically populated groupings of contacts as defined by your criteria. For example, I created a group of Christmas card recipients.
First, I added the word "Christmas" to each record's Note field. Next, I selected "New Smart Group" from the "File" menu. A new window appears. I gave it the name Christmas Cards and set the criteria to be "Note contains Christmas." All set!
Best of all, I can also use Address Book to print tidy Avery labels.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
William McIntosh said 7:53AM on 10-24-2008
Is there a way too send address book templates? For contacts to fill details themselves
kind regards.
Reply
Jerry said 3:15PM on 10-23-2008
I have contacts with more than one e-mail address, is there a way to set a default address?
Reply
Simon said 3:19AM on 10-24-2008
@Jerry
You can set the default email address for people with multiples, but you do it within Mail.
Simon said 7:19AM on 10-25-2008
Mail -> Window -> Address Panel
Select name and then highlight the primary email address.
Hope this helps.
Jerry said 9:28AM on 10-25-2008
Thanks!
Stephen said 1:21PM on 11-03-2008
You may find it easier to set a primary email address only one time rather than doing it every time you send an email to a particular contact. To accomplish this go into your address book, select the contact that you wish to assign its primary email address (so the info is in the right panel) Next go up to edit -> edit distribution list. You may then highlight the email address which bolds it. This is how you set the primary email so when you are using your mail.app it uses your selection! Hope this does it.
Eric said 3:22PM on 10-23-2008
Back to the Christmas card function. Any suggestions for the following scenario. I have an Address Book entry for both members of a couple. Say, John Doe and Jane Doe - and I want to include them in my Christmas Card smart list - but I want the address label to read Mr and Mrs John Doe, or Jane and John Doe, or Doe Family.
Solve this one - and you'll be my hero.
Reply
Eric said 3:23PM on 10-23-2008
Just to be clear - I have *two separate* entries for each member of the couple.
SjG said 12:53PM on 10-24-2008
I've had this same issue for years (starting with the Palm Desktop, and continuing into Contacts.app), and never seen a very good solution. If you find one, post it here!
Keith Smith said 4:48PM on 10-24-2008
Isn't there a Spouse field?
I haven't tried it yet, but couldn't something be cooked up that if you flag Mister as Christmas and he has a spouse named Mrs then make the name
(First) (if Spouse add "& " + (Spouse)) (Last)
...? Or is that beyond Address Book? Then, in Mrs' record, don't flag it "Christmas" to avoid duplication.
...Like I say, haven't tried it.
Andrew said 12:01PM on 10-26-2008
This used to work in Tiger, but it seems to have been removed/broken in Leopard (as I discovered when testing it today).
In Tiger, if you add the "Related Names" field and choose "Spouse" (or son/daughter/father/mother), then add the full name of the spouse to each card involved in the relationship, Address Book will automatically do what you want.
Example 1:
John Doe (spouse Jane Doe)
Jane Doe (spouse John Doe)
Result when you print an address label for both of the cards = John & Jane Doe (automatically combined)
Example 2:
John Doe (spouse Jane Dee)
Jane Dee (spouse John Doe)
Result= John Doe & Jane Dee (still puts them together automatically)
Example 3:
John Doe (spouse: Jane Doe, son: Jim Doe, daughter: Jill Doe)
Jane Doe (spouse: John Doe, son: Jim Doe, daughter: Jill Doe)
Jim Doe (same ...)
Jill Doe (same ...)
Result: John, Jane, Jim & Jill Doe (automatically combined)
I have no idea why this no longer works in Leopard, but I used in last Christmas in Tiger with no problems (without even thinking about it actually)
Andrew said 12:25PM on 10-26-2008
Ok, so it's not just my imagination. It DID used to work as I remember. Here it is described in a 2005 Mac OS X Hints page:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051221232010333
I can't find any information on the Apple KB or elsewhere about whether or why it was removed in Leopard.
Andrew said 12:32PM on 10-26-2008
Here is an Apple KB article describing the situation.
From what I have read, it is a bit buggy.
"When using Address Book in Mac OS X 10.4 or later to print mailing labels or envelopes, the names that print above the address will include the prefix, suffix, first, middle, and last names on the card you have selected, along with any related names on the card that are labeled as spouse, partner, child, father, mother, parent, brother, or sister. These related names will appear on the label or envelope if no card exists for the related name, or if another card exists for the related name which contains the same address as the card you are printing"
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25160?viewlocale=en_US
robin said 3:36PM on 10-23-2008
here's another one I can't solve. Custom doesn't seem to exist for the sub-dropdown menu in instant messaging. How do you guys add a skype name?
Reply
Le Big Mac said 3:48PM on 10-23-2008
Why would you bother adding a note to the field on each card?
Instead, create a group manually of those folks getting cards--it's a lot quicker to drag/drop than type.
If you wanted to use "smart" for a christmas list, I might use preexisting groups, say you have groups of "friends" "fmaily" and "work". Create a smart list using friends and family.
Reply
Hank said 3:58PM on 10-23-2008
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you sync the Address Book to your iPhone through MobileMe (and this may be true with direct syncing). The "partner/spouse" field does not carry over to the iPhone. The Note section is truncated to about the first 2,500 characters (but the whole note will appear on MobileMe). And the most frustrating limitation to me is that on the iPhone the search function is limited to the Name field (even though the manual says you can search on any field). In Address Book on the Mac you can search on anything in the Contact. So if you're going out of town, say to Chicago, you can't find all your Contacts who live in Chicago by searching for "Chicago" on the iPhone. You'll have to create a Smart Group in the Mac's Address Book before you leave.
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Rick said 4:04PM on 10-23-2008
I have full keyboard access enabled and while I can tab through the entry fields, how do I access the *toggle settings* for field labels with the keyboard? When I tab through, it skips past these entirely. Just to make it clear and by way of example, I'm talking about the labels such as "work," "home," "mobile," "mail," etc. for Phone. Full keyboard access does not allow one to modify those fields and I see no other way to do this. Pressing space only adds spaces to the entry field. Any ideas how to do this?
Reply
Chris said 9:34PM on 10-23-2008
My wife has been using Mac Mail but not the Address Book so she has lots of email addresses that pop up in the To: field in Mail when she types the first couple letters.
How can I copy those email addresses into Address Book? Where does Mail keep those addresses? She wants to populate her Address Book to sync with a new iPhone but it sure would be easier if all the email addresses didn't have to be retyped, just the names and phone numbers.
Thanks
Reply
Simon said 3:22AM on 10-24-2008
Within Mail -> Window -> Previous Recipients -> Highlight the addresses you want to copy to Address Book and click on "Add to Address Book"
Chris said 9:08PM on 10-24-2008
That is so simple and such a great timesaver. Thanks!