Lost all of my contract in Outlook 365

Question

I lost all of my contacts in Microsoft Outlook 365. I can access emails, but not any of my contacts

Answer 1

Hi Richard Massoth,

I understand how concerning it is to find that all your contacts are missing while your email remains accessible.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors cannot access your account or restore contacts directly.

The recovery checks in the Q&A Assist answer are appropriate for new Outlook. Have you had a chance to try them?

I would also like to add one check that can help identify where the contacts are stored. Sign in to the web version of the same email account and open People:

• For an Outlook.com, Hotmail, or Live account, check Outlook.com People.
• For Gmail or iCloud, check the contacts page provided by that service.

If the contacts remain missing after these checks and the Microsoft account has an active Microsoft 365 subscription, select Help > Support in new Outlook. Choose the affected account, accept the privacy statement, describe the situation, and submit the request. Support availability depends on account eligibility. Contact support and provide feedback in new Outlook for Windows | Microsoft Support 

I hope this helps identify where the contacts are stored and the appropriate next step.

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Answer 2

Try these checks in order:

1. In new Outlook, open People from the navigation pane.
2. Check Deleted:
   • Find the missing contact.
   • Right-click it and select Restore.
3. If the contact is not in Deleted, in People > Deleted select Recover deleted.
   • Select the contact.
   • Select Restore.
   • Recovered contacts are restored to their original folder when possible. If the original folder no longer exists, they are restored to the default Contacts folder.
4. If the Contacts folder appears empty but another folder with the same name contains the contacts, move them to the correct default Contacts folder:
   • In Outlook Desktop, drag the contacts from the folder that has the folder icon to the new Contacts folder that has the contact card icon.

If the contacts were deleted a while ago, retention for deleted items can affect whether they are still recoverable.

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• Restore or recover a deleted contact in Outlook
• Contacts folder empty and contacts are in a different folder in Outlook for Microsoft 365