Messages on Mac Not Working: Name Shows Up Red

If you're experiencing issues with messages on your Mac not working as expected, with the recipient's name showing up in red, this article aims to provide guidance and potential solutions to help resolve the problem.

The issue at hand is that when selecting a mail item from the autocomplete list in Outlook, the proper name does not appear in the To: field. Instead, the name shows up in red, which can be misleading and inconvenient for users. Furthermore, if you send an email with this incorrect name, it may not reach the intended recipient's mailbox.

To troubleshoot this issue, several steps were taken:

1. Deleting autocompletion entries (single and everything) to eliminate any potential conflicts.

2. Checking the user profile on the O365 admin panel/Exchange for any evident problems, but none were found.

3. Verifying that local contacts are not overriding global contacts, which was also not the case.

Despite these efforts, the problem persists across multiple computers, indicating a more complex issue at play.

To further understand the problem, here's what happens when attempting to use the autocomplete list:

* When typing the destination email/name on the To: field, the correct name and email appear in the autocompletion list.

* However, upon selecting the suggested item from the list, the red name appears in the To: field instead of the expected correct name.

Double-clicking the incorrect name reveals that both the name and email are actually correct. It's only when attempting to send the email or view the contact details that the wrong name (in this case, a former employee) is displayed.

Given the widespread nature of the problem across multiple computers using Office 365 with Outlook installed on Windows 7 PCs, it's essential to identify a reliable solution.

If you're experiencing similar issues and would like to resolve them, please provide more details about your setup and any additional troubleshooting steps you've taken.

Messages on mac not working name shows up red