All my outlook contacts are gone

Question

Yesterday all my outlook contacts disappeared. no one can locate them.

Answer 1

Dear Kristen K

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand you are having problem with all contacts disappearing in Classic Outlook for Windows. I am happy to assist you. Please confirm what type of account is in Outlook (Outlook.com/Hotmail, Gmail, Exchange/Work, POP/IMAP)? 

Meanwhile, please try these steps if you have not tried the Q&A steps:

• Re‑enable Contacts as an Address Book 
  • Go to People/Contacts in Outlook. 
  • Right‑click Contacts (and any custom contact folders) > Properties > Outlook Address Book tab. 
  • Check Show this folder as an e‑mail Address Book > OK. 
  • Restart Outlook. 
• Create a fresh contacts folder and enable it 
  • In People/Contacts: Right‑click Contacts > New Folder (name it, e.g., “Contacts‑New”). 
  • Right‑click the new folder > Properties > Outlook Address Book tab > check Show this folder… 
  • Open a new email > To… and confirm the folder appears in the Address Book list. 
• Start Outlook in Safe Mode (rules out add‑ins hiding People) 
  • Press Windows + R, type outlook.exe /safe, press Enter. 
  • If contacts appear here, disable add‑ins (File > Options > Add‑ins > COM Add‑ins > Go). 
• Create a new Outlook profile 
  • Close Outlook.
  • Open Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add. 
  • Create a new profile, add your account, then check People/Contacts. 

Note: 

• If you use Outlook.com/Exchange, sign in on the web and confirm contacts exist in People. 
• If you previously used a .pst (POP/IMAP), open it via File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File to see if contacts are stored there. 

Please let me know your account type and what you see after step 1. Thank you for your time and have a great day ! 

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Answer 2

Use these checks in order in classic Outlook for Windows:

1. Check if contacts are in a different Contacts folder
   • In the Folder Pane, expand all folders under the mailbox.
   • Look for another folder named Contacts (or a localized equivalent).
   • If there are two Contacts folders:
     • The “wrong” one usually has a standard folder icon.
     • The “active” one has a contact-card icon.
   • If the old contacts are in the folder with the standard folder icon, drag all contacts from that folder into the Contacts folder with the contact-card icon. This makes them available again to Outlook and other apps.
2. Check Deleted Items and Recoverable Items (if they were deleted)
   • Go to the Deleted Items folder and search for a missing contact.
   • If not found there:
     1. On the Folder tab, select Recover Deleted Items (or similar, depending on version).
     2. In the Recoverable Items window, look for the contacts (they appear with an envelope icon).
     3. Select the contact(s) and choose Restore Selected Items → OK.
   • Restored contacts go to Deleted Items; from there, move them back into the Contacts folder.
3. If Outlook was reinstalled or Windows was rebuilt
   • Locate any old Outlook Data Files (.pst) on the machine or backups:
     • Typical locations:
       • C:\Users<YourUsername>\Documents\Outlook Files\
       • C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
   • Copy any .pst file found to a safe location (for example, Documents).
   • In Outlook: File → Open & Export → Open Outlook Data File, select the .pst, and open it.
   • A new folder tree appears; check its Contacts folder. If the missing contacts are there, they can be used directly or imported into the current profile via File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Import from another program or file → Outlook Data File (.pst).

If contacts are not in another Contacts folder, not in Deleted Items/Recoverable Items, and not in any available .pst backup, they are likely permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

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References:

• Contacts folder empty and contacts are in a different folder in Outlook for Microsoft 365
• Restore or recover a deleted contact in Outlook
• How do I recover my old email messages, my contacts and everything else I had in Outlook? - Microsoft Q&A