Lost contacts on Outlook account

Charles White 0 Reputation points
2026-11-11T18:34:34.2766667+00:00

I have lost my contacts on my Outlook account. I've tried deleted items approach, and it failed.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Contacts
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  1. Vikki-T 14,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-11-12T09:02:51.5+00:00

    Hi Charles White.

    I understand that you have already tried the available recovery steps and now need assistance from a support technician.

    Please note that this is a public user-to-user support forum, so community members cannot access your Outlook.com account or connect you directly with a Microsoft technician. Please contact Microsoft Support, select Outlook, and follow the prompts to reach the available support option for your region. Explain that the contacts are missing and that recovery from both Deleted and Recover deleted was unsuccessful.

    For your privacy, please do not post your email address, password, recovery details, or other account information in the public thread. If you have difficulty with any step while contacting Support, let me know where you get stuck and I can help guide you through the process. Thank you so much for your understanding.     

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. Charles White 0 Reputation points
    2026-11-11T18:52:54.37+00:00

    Please connect me with a technician.

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  3. AI answer

    2026-11-11T18:35:42.59+00:00

    Since restoring from Deleted failed, use the separate Recoverable folder in Outlook.com’s People page.

    Recover contacts from the Recoverable folder

    1. Sign in to Outlook.com using the account that originally held the contacts.
    2. Select People in the left navigation.
    3. Select Deleted.
    4. At the top of the contact list, select Recover deleted.
    5. Select the missing contacts, then select Restore.

    Recovered contacts return to their original folders when possible; otherwise, Outlook places them in the default Contacts folder.^1^

    Because this is different from restoring contacts displayed directly in Deleted, it remains worth trying despite the deleted-items approach having failed.

    If Recover deleted contains nothing

    Check these possible contact sources:

    • Another contact service: If the contacts originally came from Google, Yahoo, iCloud, a phone, or another provider, check that service’s native contacts app. Outlook.com no longer displays contacts previously synchronized from certain third-party social-media and external-email networks, but those contacts remain with the original service.^2^
    • A mobile device: If the contacts still exist on a phone, export or back them up there before changing account or synchronization settings.
    • An existing CSV backup: In Outlook.com, open People → Manage contacts → Import contacts, select the CSV file, and choose Import. Microsoft recommends UTF-8 encoding so names in all languages import correctly.^3^
    • Only missing on one device: Check People directly in Outlook.com. If the contacts appear online, they have not been lost from the account; the issue is with that device or app’s synchronization. An account configured as POP or IMAP synchronizes email, not contacts.^4^

    If the contacts are absent from Outlook.com, the Recoverable folder, every previously synchronized service, and all backups, the available self-service recovery paths have been exhausted. Contact Microsoft Support and select Outlook.com → Contacts and People; include approximately when the contacts disappeared and whether all contacts or only a particular group is missing.^5^

    References

    1. Web
    2. Contacts from social media connections no longer sync with your Microsoft account
    3. Web
    4. Troubleshoot Outlook mobile issues | Microsoft Support
    5. Find missing email contacts Hotmail/Outlook - Microsoft Q&A
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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