How Prevent Re-Formatting of Contact Notes Field When Syncing

Status
Not open for further replies.
makinmyway

makinmyway

Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2013 64 bit
Email Account
POP3
My PST contacts are synced with my iPhone via iCloud and iTunes. However at some point (in the sending of data to or from the phone) the formatting (fonts and embedded links) are changed to Calibri and expanded in the case of the links (rather than with smaller display names for the hyperlinks). Why?

Basically these are the employment history portions of LinkedIn pages of the contacts I have cut and pasted into their Contact notes field but they are getting messed up in format in the syncing process. Can this be helped?
 
Got it. That makes sense (sadly) so thank you for explaining to me how this doesn't work. I appreciate your help and expert insight, Diane.
 
Diane Poremsky said:
The bodies in outlook use RTF formatting, iCloud uses HTML and the conversion between the two always mucks them up. There is no solution at this time. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Re this issue, I also read the thread entitled "Outlook Contacts 2010 problem with Notes section configuration." I’m syncing my notes (People >>> Notes) with Outlook 2016, outlook.com (Exchange Server), Android phone, and iPad. Specific to the hyperlink problems, are there any recent solutions?
 
There shouldn't be as many problems syncing now that outlook.com is on Exchange. OWA & iphone will display links in "name < url>" format but they should display as expected in outlook desktop.

(It looks like there is a bug - edits in OWA and iphone show up in the 'people card' view but not in an open contact form.)
 
After a bit more testing with web, ios native app - urls are fine if you don't edit anywhere but outlook. (I edited notes only - i'm assuming editing anything would affect it).
Links appear like this online and in apps; if you edit anywhere but the desktop, the links appear like this in outlook too. It's not unexpected because it is plain text format...

edited-contact.png


Text formatting will likely be lost too, because the device/owa is saving a plain text notes field - when i tried testing this (as an after thought to the hyperlink problem), i discovered sync issues. Changes made in desktop sync everywhere immediately, changes made elsewhere sync immediately to almost everywhere - the People Cards show the changes, in plain text format but the actual outlook contact isn't updated immediately.
 
Since I'm getting duplicates and triplicates of the <mailto:blahblah@blah.com>, I'm going to implement a workaround. In Outlook 2016 Desktop >>> in People >>> in the Notes Field >>> I'm going to (1) use full URLs, and (2) enter email addresses as non-hyperlinked bracketed by ' '. For example: 'diane.rockstar@slip.comrocks' This way, everything should appear correctly regardless of the platform I'm viewing it in (Outlook 2016 Desktop, outlook.com web based, Android phone, iPad).
 
Yes, don't use mailtos - each mailto splits into mailto<mailto>, and the <mailto> splits again, and again...

i'd also recommend not using pretty hyperlinks - might as well just enter them in 'Name: URL' - although name <url> format isn't ugly and shouldn't reproduce.
 
In People >>> in the Notes field >>> I now have my links and URLs to the point at which they are behaving (displaying properly; not reproducing). Thanks for your help in resolving this issue.

Now, on to the next issue. As a reminder, I'm syncing People via:
  • Outlook 2016 Desktop PC
  • outlook.live.com/owa
  • Android Phone
  • iPad
Somewhere in the sync process, the formatting in the Notes field is being changed. E.g., text that I input in Outlook 2016 Desktop PC (in People >>> Notes field) formatted as Normal... somehow, somewhere, during the sync process... is later reformatted to include text formatted as Heading 1 and numerous blank rows disappear (making some paragraphs abut the following paragraph, i.e., a blank row no longer exists between the two paragraphs).

So, I'm curious to learn... where in the sync process is this occurring?

How might I resolve this issue?
 
Are you using formatting at all? (Don't.) To the best of my knowledge, this is one of the devices, I think Android.

If it is easily reproducible (ie, it always happens when you add notes), turn off sync on one of the devices and see if the you can repro. If you use the native apps, it's easy to stop syncing items on the iphone without removing the account, so i'd test syncing only the android first. (It might be easy on the android too, but i haven't looked at an android in a while.)
 
Diane, you're right. In order for content in the People Notes Field to not be reformatted after the sync process has completed, all formatting must first be removed.

I chose to use Outlook 2016 Desktop PC to remove all of the formatting from my Notes content. Once I did this, and then allowed People to sync through my entire loop (Outlook 2016 Desktop PC, outlook.live.com/owa, Android Phone, iPad), the content in my Notes fields did not get reformatted.

However, so far, in Outlook 2016 Desktop PC I've seen two exceptions: (1) I can use a mix of font sizes, and (2) I can use Bold text. Neither one of these has resulted in the content being reformatted by the sync process. Although, you never know, in the coming days this may change. If anything changes, I'll report back here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
< What tools do you use to create the signature for email? | Outlook 2016 Calendar time discrepancies >
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
R How to prevent corrupted Notes format in Calendar and Contacts Using Outlook 0
O How to prevent image resize when pasting Using Outlook 2
P Prevent Outlook 2016 from using DASL filter Using Outlook 4
D Prevent popup of "Do you want to save changes?" when closing after opening an appointment to view Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
O How to prevent CC from showing when creating a new mail? Using Outlook 1
A Prevent connection to Public Folders on Exchange? Exchange Server Administration 3
L OL 2016 contact: is there a way to prevent an admin from mistakenly deleting a contact? Using Outlook 1
D Multiple mailboxes, 1 certificate. How to prevent message "Invalid Certificate" Using Outlook 0
S How to prevent addins Using Outlook 0
Diane Poremsky Prevent Users From Choosing Stationery Using Outlook 0
evdbogaard How to prevent extra line feeds in replies Using Outlook 3
oliv- Prevent copying shared contacts Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 5
oj43085 Prevent Outlook from blocking image from a single source Using Outlook 4
I How to prevent exchange email account from sending emails in Outlook Using Outlook 4
D Prevent Outlook from resolving incomplete contact when clicking send Using Outlook 2
K Prevent meeting requests being sent from a shared calendar in a group mailbox Using Outlook 1
N Prevent reminder dismisal in shared calendar Using Outlook 1
C Security Question - How to prevent users exporting .iaf files Using Outlook 5
B Item_Write = False don't prevent custom form from closing Using Outlook 1
T WAB editing: To help prevent malicious code from running.......... Using Outlook 18
N Allow Another User to Send on Behalf of But Prevent Access to Inbox Using Outlook 4
R Exchange 2010 archive-prevent users moving items direct to archive Exchange Server Administration 1
M Links prevent sending email Using Outlook 3
K How to prevent that Outlook is sending before my add-in is finished? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 5
K Prevent sending Excel files as attachements Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
C Prevent Outlook from sending an email with a blank Subject Line Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 3
G To Prevent Malicious Code from running, one or more objects in thi BCM (Business Contact Manager) 2
S To help prevent malicious code from running, one or more objects in this form were not loaded. For m Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
A Script to either modify "from" address or prevent a reply being se Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
J prevent user from installing wrong version of add-in Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
Z Prevent Changes to Custom Form Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
M A plug in (or method) to keep email message formatting after it expires Using Outlook 1
C View doesn't refresh (fields or formatting) Using Outlook 1
V Can one change the formatting of email title blocks? Using Outlook 0
N Help creating a VBA macro with conditional formatting to change the font color of all external emails to red Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 5
K Outlook tasks formatting Using Outlook 4
E Conditional formatting - when current account <> received account ? Using Outlook 3
V Outlook Forms: Formatting a Label with 2 different styles Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
P BCM conditional formatting BCM (Business Contact Manager) 5
S Conditional Formatting for messages in a Conversation thread Using Outlook 1
S Conditional Formatting in calendar part of To-Do Bar Using Outlook 1
S Conditional formatting problem with "is not empty" and categories Using Outlook 2
N How to remove signature formatting from Text in Word (accidentally taken from Outlook) Using Outlook 0
K Conditional Formatting based on Department of person received from? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 4
M Using conditional formatting on a shared calendar with categories Using Outlook 6
L Email to task without changin formatting Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 16
K Paste from Windows Clipboard then change font without losing formatting Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
C Change default colors for conditional formatting Using Outlook 2
Diane Poremsky Use Word Macro to Apply Formatting to Email Using Outlook 0
G outlook 13 copy & paste without losing formatting Using Outlook 1

Similar threads

Back
Top