Why are my contact lists showing empty? all of a sudden!

Question

Why are my contact lists indicating x numbers but Empty when I click on!

Answer 1

Is this what you are seeing?

If so, it is a known bug.

See the Answer by "Hornblower409 May 28, 2026"
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5903667/i-am-not-able-to-send-a-group-email

Answer 2

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

This can happen if Outlook.com is not loading the People/Contacts page correctly, or if the contact list is showing the count but the list contents are not syncing/displaying.

Please try this first:

1. Go to https://outlook.live.com/people/ and check if the lists are still empty there.
2. Then try signing out, clearing your browser cache, or opening Outlook.com in a private/InPrivate window.
3. Also check if the contacts appear in another browser or on another device.

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If issue still persists, to help narrow down the issue:

1. Are you using Outlook.com in a browser, or the Outlook app?
2. Do your individual contacts still show, and only the contact lists are empty?
3. Did this start after any recent change, such as importing contacts, deleting contacts, or changing accounts?