Microsoft 365 - Change your display name
The following document explains how change your display name in Office 365.
In this article:
- What is a display name?
- Change display name for your NetID (@wisc.edu) account
- Change display name for a Service Account
- How will my display name be used?
What is a display name?
Your display name in Office 365 is the name that will appear in the "From" field when you send emails. It is also displayed in the Office 365 Global Address List (GAL).
For @wisc.edu accounts, your default display name will be your first and last name as shown in the campus directory (also known as the White Pages or LDAP). For Office 365 service accounts, the display name was manually set by your domain administrator at the time your account was created.
Change display name (Preferred Name) for your @wisc.edu account
If you use a desktop or mobile client that is configured via POP/IMAP, you may also have the ability to set your display name using that client. Setting your display name from your client will only change your "From" address on messages that you send from that client and will not impact the way your name is displayed in the Global Address List.
Change display name for a Service Account (@dept.wisc.edu)
Only domain administrators are able to update a Service Account's display name. This is done by accessing the account in the Wisc Account Admin site and updating the first and last name of the Service Account. Instructions for doing so can be found in here. The name of the Service Account can be found and edited under the Account Profile tab.
How will display name be used?
Your display name appears in the Office 365 Global Address List (GAL). It also appears on the To/CC lines when you receive email and on the From line when you send email.
For desktop/mobile clients that are configured via Exchange/ActiveSync, the "From" field will show display name and primary email address.
If your desktop/mobile client(s) are configured via POP/IMAP, you may have the option to set a display name via your client. In this case, the display name you set within your client will only be shown in the "From" field when you send from that client. It will not appear in the Global Address List.
Search Usage
When others search for you (for mail delivery or calendar invitation), the values you have entered above will be used. Some things you should know:
- A minimum of one character is required to perform a search.
- All searches are performed at beginning of the string. Searching for 'Bucky', 'Badger', 'Buckingham', will work. Searching for 'Wisconsin' will not work.
- Your email address (User ID) will also be searched.