Restore Deleted Contacts in Office 365: What You Need to Know

Updated On - October 23, 2024 by Nasir Khan | Reading Time: 4 minutes

In this blog, we explain free manual solutions to restore deleted contacts in Office 365. Millions of people use Microsoft Office 365, a web-based service hosted in the cloud. With Office 365, customers can access their important files and emails from anywhere in the world using various helpful tools and services. Since it offers features that users seek a business collaboration suite find indispensable, demand for Microsoft’s O365 suite has risen.

Since its introduction, Office 365 has been a popular choice since it offers consumers everything they might want in a cloud-based office productivity suite. It’s not simply an email service; it also has space for storing things like calendars and contact lists. This facilitates both the sending and receiving of emails for the users. However, it is not Office 365’s fault if any of this data disappears accidentally or intentionally.

People often erase their email accounts or contact lists when they decide they are no longer needed. It’s also possible that some crucial data will be lost in the process. Users typically delete data in one of two ways: either leaving a copy in the Trash in case they change their minds or erasing everything in the Trash without a second thought.

Restoring deleted contacts in Office 365 is a common request from users. Such questions from users flood numerous online discussion groups. Let’s dive deep into the topic of recovering deleted contacts in Office 365.

Verified Solutions to Recover deleted Contacts in Office 365

Whether or not deleted contacts can be recovered depends on whether or not the Deleted Items folder still exists. Both of these use cases are discussed here because we believe they are important to our readers. Users can also utilize Microsoft Outlook to retrieve lost contact information. In order to restore deleted contacts in Office 365, your Office 365 account must be set up with Microsoft Outlook.

Case 1: Recovering Office 365 contacts from the delete folder

You delete something from your Office 365 account; it will be sent to the Deleted Items folder. When you delete a contact, it won’t disappear immediately; rather, it will be moved to the Trash.

Step-by-step process to Recover Contacts from the Deleted Items Folder.

• Open Outlook and select the delete items folder from the left pane.

• Look for the file/contact you need to retrieve in the Deleted Items section. All of your contacts can be organized however you like.

• Right-click the contact you want to move, then choose Move > Other Folder.

• In your Office 365 account, choose the Contacts folder, and then confirm with OK.

• It’s important to remember that you can also put your restored contacts in a different folder.

Case 2: Recovering Contacts That are not in the delete folder.

If the contacts you deleted are not in the Deleted Items folder, look for them in the Recoverable Items folder. When you delete something from the Trash, empty the Trash, or delete something permanently with Shift+Delete, the item or contact may be moved to the Recoverable Items folder.

You can get your contacts back from the Recoverable Items folder by following the instructions below.

Recover deleted contacts in Office 365 using Recover Deleted Items from Server” option

• Launch Microsoft Outlook and navigate to the trash bin.

• To retrieve erased files from the server, go to the “Home” menu and click the “Recover Deleted Items from Server” option.

Please be aware that this feature requires an active internet connection and the use of an Exchange account within Microsoft Outlook.

• With the help of the Subject column, you may locate a specific contact in the Recover Deleted Items wizard. Contacts without a value in the From field can be sorted using the corresponding column.
• To retrieve a specific contact, pick it here, then go to Backup & Restore > Restore Selected Items > OK.

• Those contacts that were retrieved will be placed in the Trash.

In case you’re using the Outlook web application, follow the below-mentioned process.

Case 3: Recover Deleted Contacts in Office 365 (OWA) from Delete Folder

• Open Outlook and navigate to the People page.
• Now visit the delete folder, navigate the contact you want to restore, and click on the Restore button.
• You’ll find the restored contact on its original path.

Recover Contacts from Recoverable Folder

Once the deleted items exceed the retention period, all your deleted items get moved into the recoverable folder from where you can recover them.

• View your deleted contacts by visiting the People page and clicking the Deleted tab.
• Select Recover deleted option at the very top.
• Select the Contacts you want, then click the Recover button.

These are the manual process to recover deleted contacts from Office 365 using Outlook web and desktop applications. But as a famous proverb, Precaution is better than cure,” I’ll suggest you always have Office 365 contacts backup in your local disk.

How to backup Office 365 mailboxes regularly?

Office 365 is a cloud-based solution, and the most reliable way to backup Office 365 mailboxes into a hard disk is by using a specialized third-party tool. Regain Office 365 backup tool is a recommended solution by Microsoft MVPs and businesspersons. Due to its advanced backup options such as PST, PDF, HTML, MBOX, and EML, MSG users can access their office 365 data even in offline mode and anywhere. Apart from this, there are several other features embedded in the tool that you can check by using its free version. So what, are you waiting for? Get the Regain Office 365 backup tool for free now.

Free Download100% Secure Buy NowPrice: $89

Steps to Backup Office 365 mailboxes to PST file

• Step1: Install and Open the software in your system.
• Step2: Now provide the Office 365 credentials to recover deleted contacts.
• Step3: Now choose the folders you want to backup and click Next from the ribbon bar.
• Step4: Here select a file format to backup Office 365 mailboxes.
• Step5: Choose the location to store the resultant backup file in the local drive.
• Now the software will start to back up Office 365 mailboxes and display a live log report to you.

 Conclusion

Undoubtedly businesspersons and organizations are moving towards Office 365 to increase productivity and collaborate with colleagues and clients. However, losing contacts in Outlook can be frustrating, but it’s essential to remember that there are options available to recover deleted contacts in Office 365. The first option is to check the “Recover Deleted Items” folder, and the second is to restore from a backup. If both options fail, you can use a third-party recovery tool. Whichever option you choose, it’s essential to act quickly to avoid permanent data loss. However, it is recommended for users to have an Office 365 backup tool in their bucket to eliminate any unwanted data loss scenario. Regain’s Office 365 backup tool can be a perfect partner for your Office 365 account to save you from data loss scenarios.