Missing Contacts

Question

My Outlook Contacts store appears to have lost a subset of contact records. The issue is reproducible across Outlook on the web, Outlook for Windows, iPhone Contacts, and CSV export. The records are absent from Deleted Items and are no longer found by name or phone number search. Additionally, Outlook on the web reports 388 contacts, but the exported CSV contains 408 contact rows. Can you explain that discrepancy? How can I check whether my Contacts folder or mailbox experienced a synchronization or data issue? Additional information:

• The missing contacts are not in Deleted Items or Recover Deleted Items.
• The issue first appeared on the morning of July 31.
• One specific contact definitely existed that morning because Messages showed the contact photo and custom text tone. Later the same day, Messages no longer recognized the number and prompted me to create a new contact.
• Searching Outlook by both the contact's name and phone number returns no results.

Answer 1

Hi Kyra Tyler

Please reply with:

• Whether the second export was done using All contacts.
• Whether the missing contacts appear anywhere in the CSV.
• Whether you see more than one Contacts folder/category in People.
• Whether those contacts were originally created in Outlook.com, imported from CSV, synced from iPhone/iCloud, or synced from another provider.

Please try these steps:

1) Check every contact folder and category in People 

Go to Outlook.com People, then check Contacts, any folders/categories shown on the left, and any contact lists.

Make sure you are not viewing only one category, folder, or filtered contact list.

2) Export contacts again from the correct folder 

In Outlook.com People, select Manage contacts > Export contacts. If you see a folder dropdown, choose All contacts or the folder that should contain the missing contacts, then export again.

3) Use the new CSV to check the count discrepancy 

Open the CSV in Excel and compare the exported rows against the People page.

Check whether the extra rows are:

• Actual contact records
• Contact-list entries
• Duplicates
• Blank rows
• Metadata or incomplete rows

4) Check Deleted and Recoverable contacts again 

In Outlook.com or New Outlook, go to People > Deleted.

• If the contacts are listed there, restore them.
• If they are not listed, select Recover deleted at the top of the Deleted folder and check whether the contacts can still be restored.

5) Check for a contact-folder sync issue 

If you see more than one Contacts folder, especially one in another language or an unexpected folder, export the contacts from the folder that is not syncing, then import them again.

6) Check whether the missing contacts were imported contacts 

If the missing contacts originally came from another source, such as iPhone, iCloud, Gmail, or a CSV import, check that original source directly before recreating them.

7) Test by creating one new contact in Outlook.com People 

Create one temporary test contact in Outlook.com People, then check whether it appears in Outlook for Windows and on the iPhone after sync.

• If the new test contact syncs, the current sync path is working.
• If the old missing contacts still do not appear, the issue is likely with those missing contact records rather than the device sync setup.

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

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