My contact list is not shown when selecting To: or BCC: for sending emails on Outlook

@Flaviu Walton said

My contact list is not shown when selecting To:

Is this the same issue you are seeing?

Outlook Web and New Outlook for Windows - "To", "CC", and "BCC" buttons don't show existing Contacts.
See the Answer by "Hornblower409 May 9, 2026" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5885577/microsoft-has-been-roaming-around-in-my-win-11-pc

Hello Flaviu Walton,

I understand that your contact list was previously available when selecting To or Bcc in Outlook.com, but now the contact list appears greyed out when composing a new email.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors can share troubleshooting suggestions, but cannot check your mailbox or account from the backend.

The Q&A Assist answer already covers the basic contact availability checks. Have you had a chance to try those suggestions? Since your thread is tagged for Outlook.com on the web, I would like to add a few web-specific points that may help narrow this down.

1, Try searching for a contact instead of opening the full list

When selecting To, Cc, or Bcc, try typing the first few letters of a known contact’s name or email address in the recipient search box. In some Outlook recipient picker views, contacts may not appear as a full list until a search term is entered. The recipient picker and suggested recipients are designed to show matching contacts based on what is typed in the To, Cc, or Bcc fields.

2, Test Outlook.com in another browser or an InPrivate/Incognito window

Because the contact list was working a few days ago, this may be related to the current browser session, cached site data, or an extension affecting the Outlook.com page. Please test by opening Outlook.com in an InPrivate/Incognito window, or by using another browser.

If it works there, clear the browser cache and cookies for Outlook.com, then sign in again and test the contact picker.

3, If the issue continues, contact Outlook.com support from within Outlook.com

If the contact list is still greyed out after testing another browser or InPrivate/Incognito mode, you can contact Outlook.com support directly:

1. Go to Outlook.com and sign in.  
2. Click the Help icon (question mark) in the top right corner.  
3. In the Help pane that opens, type a brief description of your issue (e.g., "cannot receive emails"), then press Enter.   
4. Scroll down the page until you see "Still need help?", click Yes.   
5. Select "Chat with a support agent in your web browser."  
6. Review the description of your issue and confirm your email address (ensure it's an email you can access).  
7. Click Confirm to create the service request and then Start chat to connect with an agent.  

For reference, contacts and contact lists in Outlook.com are managed from the People page, and contact lists can be created, viewed, and edited there: Create, view, and edit contacts and contact lists in Outlook.com.

I hope this helps.

In Outlook, the ability to pick contacts when clicking To, Cc, or Bcc depends on having at least one address book or contacts list available and selectable.

To restore the option so it is not grayed out, use these checks:

1. Open the People/Contacts view
   • In Outlook, select People.
   • By default, personal contacts are shown.
2. Confirm that contacts and address books exist
   • In classic Outlook: on the ribbon in People, select Address Book in the Find group.
   • Use the Address Book drop-down to see all available address books and contact lists.
   • Ensure there is at least one contacts folder or address list with entries.
3. Use the address book when composing a message
   • Open a new email.
   • Select To, Cc, or Bcc.
   • In the dialog that opens, use the Address Book drop-down to choose the desired contacts list.
   • Select a contact or distribution list, then choose To ->, Cc ->, or Bcc ->, and then OK to return to the message.

If the Address Book or contacts list is still grayed out when composing a message, verify in People that contacts are actually present. If no contacts are listed in any address book, add or restore contacts first; only then will the To/Cc/Bcc picker become active.

References:

• Open and use all contacts