Restore or recover a deleted contact in Outlook (Web)

Applies To: Outlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook 2024 Outlook 2021 Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016 Outlook on the web Outlook.com New Outlook for Windows.

You can often recover deleted contacts just like you would recover deleted email from your Outlook mailbox.

Restore contacts that are still in your Deleted folder in Outlook on the web or Outlook.com

When you delete a contact or a contact list in Outlook on the web or Outlook.com, it's moved to the Deleted folder.

1. From the navigation pane, select  People.

2. In People, select Deleted.

   

3. Find and select the contact you want to restore. Right-click and select Restore.

Recover contacts that have been removed from your Deleted folder in Outlook on the web or Outlook.com

If you can't find a contact in the Deleted folder in Outlook on the web or Outlook.com, the next place to look is the Recoverable folder.

1. From the navigation pane, select  People.

2. In People, select the Deleted folder.

3. At the top of the list, select Recover deleted.

4. Select the contact you want to recover, and select Restore.

Where do recovered contacts go?    The contacts you select to recover will be restored to their original folders when possible. If an original folder no longer exists, the contacts are restored to your default Contacts folder.

Troubleshoot

If you don't see the contact in the Deleted folder in People, try refreshing the page. If you still can't find, it might be under the Deleted Items folder.

1. Select   Mail from the navigation pane and select Deleted Items from the folder list.

2. Find the item and right-click, and then select Restore.