Outlook.com Contacts broken - cannot edit, cannot add photo

Question

Sometimes a contact shows with an 'Add to contacts' option - even though I have just added the fresh contact. This is where the edit button used to be. The contact also displays differently. This behaviour is inconsistent - some contacts seem to show up in the old style.

What is going on?

There is a new (?) Edit button in the in the navigation panel which seems to offer the same feature. However, I am unable now to add a photo for the contact. I am allowed to select the photo from a folder. But the photo does not appear in the Change Photo dialog and the Apply button remains greyed out.

What is going on?

There is a "New Contacts" toggle button which claims to offer new features. I can find no online documentation about this.

What is going on?

The People/Contacts feature, which I have relied on for several years is just messed up. It's as if an upgrade was shipped before he development was completed or tested. This is completely unusable.

Would you please advise on when this will be working again?

Answer 1

Hi, James Collett

Thank you for your update. I'd like to let you know that the "Outlook Web" is still considered a different version and it may have some features that are not working properly, so I advise you use Outlook classic or Outlook new that had installed in your computer as an application and see if you still had the same problem. No matter what version of Outlook are you using, your contact list will be synchronized.

Also, If you have noticed that this contact feature was working before. You can try again later as there may be something wrong in network temporarily. I have already submit this issue to Microsoft support team and thank your for your cooperation.

You can also report this issue in Outlook web

I hope the issue you have encountered can be fixed as soon as possible and feel free to let me know if you have any update.

Answer 2

This does not address the problem I have.

I am not using any particular "version" of Outlook. I use the online, web-based Outlook service - at www.outlook.com, whcih redirects to https://outlook.live.com/ - because I make use of the contacts list, because it syncs with and feeds smart phone contacts.

It is useful to add a photo for a contact. This used to work. Now it does not.

I suspect there is an issue on the back end. Please advise.

Answer 3

Hi, James Collett

Welcome to Microsoft community.

I realize that you've encountered a problem with contact feature in Outlook and I understand how you feel. I’d like to know what version of Outlook are you using? Web, New, or Classic? You can learn more in here: What version of Outlook do I have? - Microsoft Support

Based on the information you have provided; I highly recommend that you can try to use Outlook New or Outlook Classic and try again to see if you still encounter the same problem. New Outlook is a free mail app and it’s similar to Outlook Web but with more features while Outlook Classic is included in your Microsoft 365 subscription plan and it has the most compatibility.

You can try the suggestions I provide above and see if your problem is solved. If you need any further suggestion, you can contact me and I will be here to help, thank you for your cooperation.

Best Regards,

SchaleP-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist