Contacts visible only in new outlook

Question

I have 20,000 contacts in new Outlook that I want to delete. FOr some reason they do not show in classic outlook so I am stuck with no tool to bulk delete them. What can I do?

Answer 1

Hi Jose,

Good day, and thank you for reaching out.

From what you've described, the contacts are visible in new Outlook but not in classic Outlook. Unfortunately, there does not currently appear to be a built-in option in new Outlook to bulk delete a very large number of contacts. Therefore, your approach of switching back to classic Outlook is understandable, as classic Outlook generally provides more contact management options than the new Outlook experience.

However, since the contacts are not currently appearing in classic Outlook, you may wish to try the following:

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1/ Verify that the same account is being used in both Outlook versions

One possible reason for this behavior is that classic Outlook may be connected to a different account, profile, or mailbox than the one being used in new Outlook. If the accounts do not match exactly, contacts that appear in one Outlook experience may not appear in the other.

To check this:

• Select your profile icon in both New Outlook and Classic Outlook (top right corner) to see if the accounts.
• Confirm that the same email account is present and set as the primary account.
• If multiple accounts are configured, make sure you are viewing the correct mailbox.

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2/ Check Outlook on the web

Please sign in to Outlook on the web and navigate to People > Contacts. If the contacts are visible there, this will help confirm that they are still associated with your account rather than having been removed or stored elsewhere.

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3/ Refresh the Outlook data

In some cases, classic Outlook may not have fully synchronized the latest contact information. You may try:

• Close classic Outlook completely.
• Reopen classic Outlook.
• Select Send/Receive > Update Folder.

• Wait for synchronization to complete.
• Check whether the contacts become visible.

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4/ Create a new Outlook profile

Sometimes classic Outlook may be using an outdated or corrupted Outlook profile, which can prevent certain mailbox data, including contacts, from displaying correctly. Creating a new profile forces Outlook to establish a fresh connection to your mailbox and re-download the latest information.

For guidance to create a new Outlook profile in Outlook classic, please see: Create an Outlook profile | Microsoft Support.

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5/ Contact your IT administrator

If the issue persists after applying these steps, the best next step would be to have your IT administrator open a support ticket with Microsoft via the admin center. A technical support engineer can then initiate a remote session, review backend settings, and run diagnostics. If needed, they can escalate the case to specialized engineering teams who are well-equipped to perform advanced troubleshooting and provide targeted solutions.

As moderators, our primary goal is to provide helpful guidance and support through general troubleshooting steps. While we don’t have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend issues, we truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations. We genuinely hope the information we share helps point you in the right direction, and we're always here to assist as much as we can within our scope.

For guidance on how to request support in the admin center, please share this with your admin: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to leave a comment in this thread if you need further assistance.

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