Lost contacts in outlook

Question

I use Outlook on Windows 11 on my PC but now all my contacts have gone. How can I bring them back? They are still on my ipad and iphone

Answer 1

Hi Jacs,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

From your description, it looks like your contacts are missing in Outlook on Windows 11, while they are still visible on your iPad and iPhone. That can be confusing and concerning, especially if contacts appear to be intact on other devices.

I see there is already a Q&A Assist reply in the thread covering common checks and recovery steps. If you have had a chance to try those suggestions and the issue remains, I would like to add some additional context. We have noticed similar recent reports of contacts not appearing correctly in the new Outlook for Windows, for example: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5837171/contacts-in-outlook-365

In this community, contributors can help share observations and guide next steps, but there is no access to backend synchronization data. To help the Outlook team investigate patterns like this, submitting in‑app feedback is strongly recommended, as it allows diagnostic data to be collected directly from your Outlook app.

Please submit feedback directly from the new Outlook using these steps:

• Open Outlook on your Windows PC.
• Select Help from the top menu.
• Choose Feedback.
• Submit the issue with a short description, and include screenshots if possible.

This feedback goes directly to the Outlook product team and helps with investigation of sync‑related issues that may not be visible from account settings alone.

I hope this helps clarify the situation and ensures your report reaches the right team for review.

Answer 2

If contacts are missing in Outlook on Windows but still visible on iPad/iPhone, they are usually either:

• In the Deleted/Recoverable folders for the same account, or
• Still only stored in a data file or service that is not currently connected in the new Outlook profile.

To restore deleted contacts in new Outlook for Windows:

1. Open new Outlook on Windows.
2. In the left navigation pane, select People.
3. In People, select the Deleted folder.
4. Look for the missing contacts:
   • If found, select the contact, right‑click, and choose Restore (or hover and use the Restore icon in the Insiders build).
5. If not found in Deleted:
   • Still in People, open the Deleted folder.
   • At the top of the list, select Recover deleted to open the Recoverable folder.
   • Select the contacts to recover and choose Restore.

Restored contacts are returned to their original folder when possible. If the original folder no longer exists, they are placed in the default Contacts folder.

If contacts are not in Deleted/Recoverable in Outlook on Windows, but appear on iPad/iPhone, verify that the same account is added in Outlook on Windows and that it is using the same contact source (for example, the same Microsoft 365/Outlook.com account). Once the same account is connected, contacts stored in that account should sync down automatically.

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References:

• Restore or recover a deleted contact in Outlook