How to make Outlook show contact names as Firstname Lastname?

I use Outlook 2010 on Windows 7. Out the box, it shows contact names as "Lastname, Firstname" eg. "Dylan, Bob".

I would rather it show "Firstname Lastname" eg. "Bob Dylan"

Recently when someone emailed me, I read the subject of the email in reverse, just like I read the names! Anything to make outlook show names in First Last order would be very helpful.

Answer

It's not possible to do this with Outlook emails. This is because the "from" name is taken from the header of the email and, therefore, set by the sender. So if I send you an email which says it's from "Smith, Bob" then you'll always see it as "Smith, Bob" whether you like it or not.

(Microsoft could implement functionality that looks to see if the email address is also a contact in your address book and then change that "from" to the layout displayed in the address book - but they don't)

Regarding contacts, use the instructions here to get at the preference setting for determining the format of the name. The instructions are for setting it the other way around, but it should be clear how to change it to the way you want.

Bear in mind that you need to be viewing the "File As" field within your Outlook contacts list which will reflect this layout preference.