We rely quite heavily on stored contact information that we have on our phones and on our computers.
So when a contact is missing and we need to reach him, that can be a problem.
Our tutorial below will show you how to find and restore a contact missing from Microsoft Outlook.
How to Find Lost Outlook Contacts
- Open Outlook.
- Select "Deleted" in the left column.
- Select Arrange By, then select Type.
- Click and drag the deleted contact to the Contacts folder.
Our guide continues below with more information on how to find lost contacts in Microsoft Outlook, including images of these steps.
The contact list you save in an Outlook 2010 file can be a very valuable commodity, especially if you're in sales or marketing.
Many of these contacts could be customers, buyers, or influencers in your industry, and being able to connect with them could mean increased product awareness or a commission on a sale.
However, sometimes you just can't find the person in your Outlook email address book, and the window of opportunity you have to convey important information can slip through your fingers.
But there are a few places you can turn to if you want to know how to find lost contacts in Outlook 2010, so don't panic until you've explored those places for contact information you know should be available.
Want to email someone a photo of your screen? Our guide to taking screenshots on an Acer laptop can show you how.
How to Recover Deleted Contact in Outlook 2010 (Picture Guide)
The most common situation when determining how to find lost contacts in Outlook 2010 is that the contact was accidentally deleted.
Perhaps you were clearing your address book and accidentally highlighted the wrong person, or perhaps someone used your computer and made a simple mistake.
However, unfortunately, if you have emptied the Deleted Items folder after losing a contact, it may not be recoverable.
But if this folder has not been cleared, you can still find the lost contact in the Outlook 2010 Deleted Items folder.
Step 1: Click the "Deleted Items" folder in the column on the left side of the window to display all the contents of the folder.
If this folder has a small number of items, you should have no problem finding the missing contact. However, if there are many items in this folder, you may need to filter.
Step 2: Click Arrange By above the list of items, then click Type.
This will sort all folder items based on item type and all deleted contacts will be at the top of the list.
Step 3. Click the deleted contact, then drag it to the Contacts folder in the lower left corner of the window.
. When you return to the Contacts folder, you will see that the contact has been restored.
Finding a lost Outlook contact that was incorrectly tagged
If you know the contact exists but can't find it in the Deleted Items folder, it may have been entered incorrectly. Start thinking about what you know about the person and the amount of information you typically include in your contacts.
Did they get married and change their last name?
Do you list the city or state for your contacts, and if so, do you know the information for that contact?
Do you know the sequence of letters in their name or email address that you entered correctly?
This option can be a bit tricky as it will depend on your creativity to find the contact. You can use the search bar in the Contacts folder to find people based on any information you may have included about them. Some good ones to try:
countries
cities
states
the first few letters of the first or last name
the part of their email address after the @ symbol
area code of their phone number
While it's entirely possible that you misspelled their last name, what are the chances that you misspelled every piece of information you included about them when you created the contact? For example, I used part of an email address to find a contact in the image below.
The last thing you can do is switch to the suggested contacts on the left side of the window and search among them instead.
These are the email addresses of people you've communicated with in the past but never added as contacts in Outlook. You can also use the same search ideas suggested above to navigate this list.
If your job is to communicate with customers or clients on a regular basis, then adding all of these suggested contacts to your mailing list can be a good way to quickly connect with people you haven't spoken to in a while.
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