My contacts in my outlook disappeared HOW DO I GET THEM BACK ?

Question

I had a number of contacts listed in my outlook address book and for some reason they disappeared I was able to contact a REAL LIFE Microsoft support person when with the grace of God I get on the phone ( I don't know How) IMPOSSIBLE NOW! For Whatever reason I am not able to pull up all my contacts with included there email address? On my Android phone when I go to my email I think I am on Yahoo because it shows all my contacts and there emails which I can not retrieve using outlook

I know in the past while using outlook I was able to see my contacts, where did they go? have no idea Its very upsetting especially having to record contacts and there email address all over again. What can I do why can I can not find HOW for someone to help me from Microsoft I am paying for a full subscription for 365 ? Thank you whoever you are Happy Easter

Answer 1

Hello, are you able to see your contacts when you sign in to Outlook on the web using the same account?

In classic Outlook, go to File, then Account Settings, then Account Settings, select your account and click Change, then choose More Settings, go to the Advanced tab and confirm Cached Exchange Mode is enabled, after that close Outlook and reopen it and allow it time to fully sync, this will force Outlook to download all mailbox data again including your contacts if they still exist in your account.

Answer 2

In classic Outlook for Windows, contacts can usually be recovered the same way as deleted email, or they may still be present but not showing in the expected address book. Use these steps in order:

1. Check the Contacts folder and Address Book view

• In Outlook, go to the bottom-left navigation and select People (or press Ctrl+3).
• Confirm that the main Contacts folder is present and not empty.
• When composing a new email, click To… and check the Address Book drop-down at the top of the dialog to ensure Contacts (or the correct contacts folder) is selected.

2. Recover contacts from Deleted Items (classic Outlook)

• In Outlook, go to Mail view.
• In the folder list, open Deleted Items.
• Look for any deleted contacts (they may appear with a contact icon or as items among emails).
• Right-click each contact and choose Move → Other Folder… → select Contacts.

3. Recover contacts that are no longer in Deleted Items (classic Outlook) If the contacts were permanently deleted or removed from Deleted Items, use the Recoverable Items feature:

• Go to Mail view.
• Select the Deleted Items folder.
• On the ribbon, choose Home → Recover Deleted Items from Server (wording may vary slightly).
• In the Recover Deleted Items window, locate the missing contacts. All items (including contacts) may show with the same envelope-style icon.
• Select the contact(s), click Restore Selected Items, then click OK.
• The recovered contacts are moved back to Deleted Items. Open Deleted Items, find them, and move them back to Contacts.

Tips when searching Recoverable Items:

• Sort by the Deleted On column to group items deleted at the same time (for example, if a whole contacts subfolder was deleted).
• Use Ctrl+click to select multiple non-adjacent contacts, or Shift+click to select a range.
• If using Outlook at work or school, the time window for recovery is controlled by the admin; after that window, items may be permanently unrecoverable.

4. If contacts are not in Recoverable Items

• If neither Deleted Items nor Recover Deleted Items from Server shows the contacts, they may have been permanently removed and cannot be recovered from Outlook.
• If Outlook was previously using a local data file (.pst) that is not currently attached, the contacts might still exist in that file. In that case, locate and open the old Outlook data file:
  • In File Explorer, look under:
    • C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Outlook Files\
    • or C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
  • Look for .pst files.
  • In Outlook, go to File → Open & Export → Open Outlook Data File, select the .pst, and open it. Contacts stored there will appear under that data file’s Contacts folder and can be moved into the current Contacts.

If the contacts only exist in another service (such as Yahoo) and were never actually stored in the Outlook account’s Contacts folder, they will not appear in Outlook until that account is added and its contacts are synced or exported/imported from Yahoo into Outlook.

---

References:

• 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