Lost Hotmail Contact Lists

Question

Lost Hotmail Contact Lists

Carolyn Tyndall 0

All of my Hotmail contact lists have disappeared. How do I fix this?

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Answer 1

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Answer 2

Winnie-B 9,930 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Carolyn Tyndall

I understand how concerning it can be when your contact lists suddenly disappear.

Before we can determine the cause, could you please confirm:

Are the individual contacts still present, and only the contact lists are missing?
Did the lists disappear recently, or have they been missing for a longer period?
Can you see the lists when you sign in at People/Contacts in Outlook.com?

In the meantime, please check the following:

Sign in to Outlook.com and open "People".
In the left pane, select "Deleted" and see whether the missing contacts or contact lists are available for recovery.
If you find them, select the items and choose "Restore".

Microsoft's guide for recovering deleted contacts can be found here: Restore or recover a deleted contact in Outlook

If the contacts are still present but only the lists are missing, please let me know the answers to the questions above so we can narrow down the issue further and provide the next steps.

Carolyn Tyndall 0 Reputation points

2026-07-21T01:35:17.1833333+00:00

Individual contacts are there. Contact lists disappeared recently. They are not in Outlook.com and are not in Deleted list.
Winnie-B 9,930 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-21T07:12:01.75+00:00
Hi Carolyn Tyndall

Thank you for the additional information.

Based on that information, this does not appear to be a case where the contacts themselves were deleted. As a next step, please check whether the contact lists are visible from a different access method:

Sign in to Outlook.com from another web browser or an InPrivate/Incognito window.

Open People and check whether the contact lists appear there.

If possible, also check from the Outlook mobile app or another device using the same Microsoft account.

If the lists are missing everywhere, please let me know approximately when you first noticed they disappeared and whether you recently made any changes to the account (for example, connecting a new email application, importing/exporting contacts, or changing account settings).
Winnie-B 9,930 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-23T05:00:58.4733333+00:00

Good day Carolyn Tyndall, I hope you're well. May I know if you've got any chance to check my reply? If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to reach back.
Carolyn Tyndall 0 Reputation points

2026-07-23T11:28:34.5533333+00:00

I am able to see contact list in Chrome on iPhone. However, I downloaded Chrome to computer and still cannot view contact lists. Message says sync is taking longer than expected, but it’s been several days. I can create emails using lists, but I cannot view nor edit nor add to lists
Winnie-B 9,930 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-26T03:22:29.8833333+00:00
Hi Carolyn Tyndall

Thank you for the clarification.

This may require account-specific investigation by Microsoft Support, since forum members cannot access or review account synchronization details.

You can contact Outlook.com support through:

Go to Contact Us - Microsoft Support

Select the product or service you're having issue with.

Click Get Home Support

Type a brief description of your issue in the search box.

Click Get Help and select Contact Support below.

Go to the Products and services tab and choose the appropriate product.

On the Category tab, choose the appropriate category or an alternative option.

Go to Confirm.

Look for and select "Chat with a support agent in your web browser" (during business hours) if available. Explain your situation clearly.

Please kindly note that this is a public user-to-user forum, I do not have access to customer's account personal data or server-side diagnostic tools.