How Do I Recover Lost Contacts in Outlook 2019?

Summary: Even if you delete contacts in Outlook 2019, you can easily recover them in most cases. In this post, we have provided effective methods to recover lost contacts in Outlook. In case you have lost contacts because of corrupt PST, you can repair the PST file by using ScanPST or a third-party PST repair tool.

To keep mailbox tidy and organized, many Outlook 2019 users remove unwanted emails, contacts, etc. on a regular basis. However, the users might accidentally delete contacts that are important.

So if you’re one such Outlook user and have removed some contacts by mistake, there is no need to worry. You can easily recover lost Outlook contacts, depending on how you have configured Outlook’s settings.

How do I Recover Lost Contacts in Microsoft Outlook 2019?

When you delete an item in Microsoft Outlook, such as an email or contact, it is not removed permanently. Instead, it is moved to the Deleted Items folder.

If you haven’t emptied the Deleted Items folder, you can recover the deleted contacts from this folder. To do that, follow these steps:

• Open Outlook and then open the Deleted Items folder in the left pane.
• Find the contacts by using the search box. If you want to recover all the contacts, then you can sort the items by Type. Doing this will group all the contacts together.

• Select the contacts that you wish to recover. Then right-click on any of the selected contacts.
• In the menu that opens, select Move and then select Other Folder.

• In the Move Items window, select the Contacts folder and click OK.

• Check Contacts. The deleted contacts should appear in the list of contacts.

How to Recover Lost Outlook Contacts When Deleted Items Folder is Empty?

You may not find the deleted contacts in the Deleted Items folder, if you have emptied the folder manually or enabled the option – “Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting”. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t recover lost contacts.

If you are using Outlook with Exchange Server, then the items deleted from the Deleted Items folder are transferred to Recoverable Items folder. These items are stored in Recoverable Items folder for 14 days, by default. So, you can recover the deleted contacts from the Recoverable Items folder.

To recover lost contacts from the Recoverable Items folder, follow these steps:

• Launch Outlook and open the Deleted Items folder in your mailbox.
• Open the Home tab and click the Recover Deleted Items from Server button.

Note: If you aren’t using an Exchange email account, the button would be greyed out and inaccessible.

• In the Recover Deleted Items window and select the contacts you want to recover.
• Select the Restore Selected Items option and click OK.

How to Recover Contacts in Outlook 2019 When PST is Corrupt?

If you have lost contacts because of corruption in Outlook data file (PST), then you can repair the file by using Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST). This tool is located in Outlook’s installation directory. Once the file is repaired, you can recover lost Outlook contacts and other mailbox items.

To repair your Outlook data file with Inbox Repair Tool, follow these steps:

• Close Outlook 2019.
• Locate ScanPST in Outlook’s installation folder and launch it.

• Click the Browse button and provide the path to the corrupt Outlook data file on your system.
• After adding the PST file, click the Start button to initiate the scan process. The tool will perform certain tests on the file and report detected errors.
• Click the Repair button to initiate the file repair process.
• Click OK once repairing is completed.

If the corruption level is high, then you need to use an advanced Outlook recovery tool. Stellar Repair for Outlook is one such program that you can use to repair severely corrupt Outlook data file and recover contacts in a few simple steps.

Conclusion

If you have lost important contacts in Outlook 2019, you can easily recover lost contacts in Outlook by accessing the Deleted Items folder or Recoverable Items folder. If you have lost mailbox data due to corruption, you can use Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST) or Stellar Repair for Outlook to repair the file and access the contacts.