Outlook Mobile App "Contacts" not syncing

Question

Recently switched phone from Samsung A50 to A36. Installed mobile app to the A36 and set-up my Microsoft *.com account.

Emails and calendar are syncing but NOT the "contacts". Instead I see a list of emails and phone numbers. It should be noted that I have no issue with the A50.

Deleted the mobile app and reinstalled. It's solve the problem for a few minutes (all my contacts are listed by "first name" as per my web desktop app) but doesn't last and revert to email list when I wake-up my phone after screen timeout. Reset of email account didn't do anything.

So far I a) turned OFF new Contacts feature on my outlook desktop web, b) on my mobile app, ensured that MS Exchange ActiveSync in ON for Contacts, c) the mobile app permission for Contacts are set to Allow, d) the mobile app settings for "Contacts" sync contacts is ON, e) removed my sync Samsung contact account on A36 and f)cleared Outlook mobile app cache.

Any suggestion?

Answer 1

I have exactly the same issue on my OnePlus 10T.

I have already followed the same steps mentioned by the original poster, including reinstalling the app, checking permissions, enabling contact sync, reviewing battery settings, clearing cache, and verifying the account configuration, but the problem is still there.

This seems to have started very recently. In my case, I first noticed something was wrong because all my contact photos suddenly disappeared. After that, it became clear that the contacts were no longer being listed properly, and instead the app started showing fragmented contact information rather than the normal contact view.

At this point, this does not look like an isolated configuration issue. It looks like a real bug affecting Outlook on Android.

Microsoft needs to acknowledge this problem publicly and provide an estimated date for when a fix will be released.

Answer 2

Hi Alice-N,

Thanks for your quick response.

Effectively in Manage accounts/ActiveSync account/Sync Account the Contacts and Calendar are ON but are not updating even when I use Sync now. Only the email and task are syncing.

Noticed that when you uninstall the Outlook mobile app, the ActiveSync account is still in the Manage account list. I then remove the ActiveSync account (thinking that it can be corrupted), and my email account from the list and restarted the phone. After the restart I ensured that there was no ActiveSync and email account in the Manage account list

a) reinstalled Outlook mobile app

b) In the mobile app, added permission to Contacts and Calendar

c) in my email account settings, ensured that Sync Contacts and Calendar were ON

d) Installed ActiveSync for my email and added Contact and Calendar = ON

e) Performed Sync now in the ActiveSync account and noticed that Contacts and Calendar are not syncing

f) Curiously in Accounts & Backup/Manage account/email account/Sync account I can see Contacts and Calendar = On and when I Sync now they are updating but do not update my contact list.

g) proceeded to close the Outlook mobile app and when restarted and looking at my contacts I received the following message: "You have no contact" and within a second the screen reverted to my list of emails and phone numbers as a contact list.

Summary: ActiveSync is being partially blocked and is definitively not syncing the contacts and calendar.

PS: I installed Outlook mobile app version [PII: Removed] on a [PII: Removed].

Hope this provides some clarity. Thanks for your help on this frustrating matter.

Answer 3

Hi Yves Bélanger

I understand how frustrating it is to switch to a new phone and have mail/calendar working but contacts keep reverting to an email/number list after the screen times out. In Android Settings > Accounts/Manage accounts, does your Microsoft/Outlook account show Contacts = On and does it show a recent “last synced” time after you turn on Auto sync data? 

I look forward to hearing from you. Have a lovely day!