Email contacts will not populate in Outlook.com webmail

Question

I have been experiencing this issue on and off for the past week or more. There are times when the contact will populate in the email when I type the first couple of letters. Today, nothing will populate.

I have looked at all of the options to resolve this, but the directions do not correspond to my Outlook.com webmail settings.

This is frustrating. If you are able to provide troubleshooting information, please ensure it is for Outlook.com webmail.

I have Windows 11.

Answer 1

@Jan Kovarik said

There are times when the contact will populate in the email when I type the first couple of letters. Today, nothing will populate.

Just to be sure we are talking about the same thing:

• You open a browser to Outlook Web https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/
• You click on the "To" line and start typing the first letters of a Contact's name or email.
• Nothing shows in the suggestions drop down?
• 

If you click on the "To" button

• Do you see and can select from your Contacts?
• 

Answer 2

For Outlook.com webmail, these are the supported checks and workarounds:

1. In a new message, select To. This should show contacts, including contact lists. After selecting a contact or list once, it should show up when typing in the future.
2. Open People and check whether the contacts or contact lists are present. If using contact lists, verify the members are visible in the list.
3. If a contact was removed from suggestions by clicking the X next to the name, send one message by typing the full email address manually. Outlook.com can relearn it and add it back to the auto-complete list.
4. If mail or contacts seem inconsistent, check Outlook.com for filtering issues that can hide items from normal views:
   • Check the Other tab.
   • Check Junk Email settings and the Junk Email folder.
   • Check Filter > Sort > Date.
   • Check whether email forwarding or rules are affecting what appears.
5. If the issue continues in Outlook.com webmail, use Outlook.com support from within the signed-in web experience:
   • Sign in to Outlook.com.
   • Select the ? at the top of the Outlook.com window.
   • Use the Help pane, or go to Still need help? and select Yes.
6. If this is an account migration issue where contacts went missing after a Hotmail to Outlook.com move, submit feedback in Outlook.com:
   • Sign in to Outlook.com.
   • Select ? in the upper-right.
   • Select Feedback > Give Feedback.
   • Describe the problem, select Next, then Skip and send message.

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References:

• outlook.com web contact list not showing in address boxes - Microsoft Q&A
• when trying to send an email to a specific person, their email address is not populating. why? - Microsoft Q&A
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook.com
• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook