Outlook Contact Lists Missing

Question

I am using Outlook through a web browser. All of my individual contacts are still available, but my contact lists are missing.

When I try to access my contact lists, I receive the error message “Something went wrong” and am prompted to refresh the page. However, refreshing does not resolve the issue.

I need to remove some contacts from an existing contact list, but I am currently unable to do so. I have also tried removing the contacts through the three-dot menu in Contacts, but that results in the same error.

Additionally, when I try to create a new contact list, I receive an error and the list cannot be created.

Could you please help me determine what is causing this issue and how I can restore access to my contact lists and manage them normally?

Answer 1

I defer to the Answer by Hendrix-V. He is much better at these kinds of problems than me.

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@LB said

contact lists ... “Something went wrong

I just tested using Outlook Web with both a Personal and Work email account. All OK for me. And I am not seeing any recent reports of the problems you are hitting.

1 -- Setup to do a Add Contact to List, press F12 (Browser Dev Tools), click the Network tab, execute your add to list. Do you see any failed (500 or 503) responses?

2 -- Same in a different browser? Private/Incognito browser session?

3 -- Do you have access to an Outlook Client App? If so, same problem there?

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nrx63209r7b
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.outlook&hl=en
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-outlook/id951937596
Mac: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-outlook/id985367838

Answer 2

Hi LB,

Since your individual contacts are still available and the issue affects viewing, editing, and creating contact lists, this may be related to how contact lists are being processed in Outlook on the web rather than the contacts themselves.

As an additional check, try the following:

1. Sign in to Outlook on the web using a different browser or an InPrivate/Incognito window.
2. Open People and check whether contact lists appear there.
3. If the lists open normally in the alternate session, clear the browser cache and cookies specifically for Outlook and sign in again.

If the same behavior occurs across multiple browsers and private sessions, gathering the browser's developer console errors (F12 > Console) when opening People can help identify whether a specific web request is failing. This information can be useful if further investigation is needed.

I hope this helps narrow down the cause. Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

Answer 3

This behavior matches a service-side issue in Outlook on the web rather than a problem with the contacts themselves.

Based on the described symptoms:

• individual contacts are still present
• contact lists are missing or fail with “Something went wrong”
• removing contacts from lists fails
• creating a new contact list also fails

That points to the web contacts experience failing, not to the underlying contacts being deleted.

What can be confirmed from Outlook on the web:

1. Open People.
2. Select All contact lists or Your contact lists.
3. If a list opens normally, contacts can be removed by selecting the list, choosing Edit, selecting the x next to the name or email address, and then selecting Save.
4. A contact can also be removed from a list by selecting the contact, choosing Add to list, selecting the X next to the list name, and closing the pane.

In this case, those normal management actions are already failing with the same error, so the practical next step is support escalation.

If this is an organizational Microsoft 365 account:

• Ask the Microsoft 365 administrator to open a support ticket from Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support.
• This type of Outlook on the web Contacts/People issue can require backend review.

If this is an Outlook.com account:

• Use Outlook.com support from the Help menu or the Outlook.com support entry points.
• If self-help does not resolve it, use the Still need help? option to contact support.

If access to the lists returns, the supported ways to remove people are:

1. People > All contact lists > select the list > Edit > select x next to the person > Save.
2. People > select the contact > Add to list > select X next to the list name.

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• Create, view, and edit contacts and contact lists in Outlook.com
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• Outlook suddenly lost my contact lists and won't let me create any new ones - Microsoft Q&A