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How to sort contacts by last name on Android phone?
After a software update maybe a month or two ago, contacts are displayed differently on my Android phone. The most annoying difference is that they are now sorted by first name.
Under Settings > Display options, I have Sort by set to "Last name", and Name format set to "Last name first". Despite that, it shows the first name first and sorts by first name. I tried all four combinations of the above settings, but no difference.
Is there some hidden way to get contacts sorted in the way I specify?
Is anyone else seeing this? I don't understand how such a major and obvious bug is possible if it's widespread over a month after release.
The phone says it's a "Pixel 8" and that the Android version is "16". It also says "Your device is up to date" and shows that it was last updated on 5 October 2025.
the ro.build.version.release isn't relevant. What is is the contact application's sourcePackage and versionCode, because many different AOSP distributions preinstall different contact storage frontends, and I don't know whether you're utilising Google's default com.google.android.contacts.
I dug around some more and found Settings > About phone > Build number, which shows BP3A.251005.004.B2, although it doesn't seem that's what you are referring to. How do I get these "sourcePackage" and "versionCode" things you mention?
Just out of curiosity, do you have the name fields in your contacts filled properly? The behaviour you describe fits if both the given name and the last name were put in either the first name or last name field.
I just spot checked a few that are for actual people (not companies), and they are all filled in correctly. Also, this used to be fine until an automatic software "upgrade".
you can get the application versions by long pressing the application icon, selecting "App-Info" (or maybe an I-icon), then scrolling down to the bottom.
I did that for the "Contacts" app. It says version 4.68.27.828741917.
1 answer
If I've correctly surmised that you're utilising GMS's default com.google.android.contacts, I may be able to confirm that this is a mere bug, for when I visit com.google.android.apps.contacts.preference.ContactsPreferenceActivity on versionName=4.67.24.827678429 (versionCode=3248985), and select the same options:
| Name Format | Sort Order |
|---|---|
...they're ordered for me:
Unfortunately, Google Buganizer doesn't accept bug reports for applications that do not correspond to an existent component, unless you've discovered a security vulnerability, and you've not, nor does a component exist for Google Contacts.
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