Outlook.com contact sync issue on Android

Since yesterday, my outlook.com account has been having issues syncing my contacts to my Pixel 2 phone.

Not sure why it is having an issue but resetting the account OR removing it and adding it back in does not seem to work. What happens is that a small subset starts to sync over and then they all disappear and the “Sync Contact” setting in the Outlook app is set back to OFF. WTF!!!

Outlook.com contact sync has always seemed inconsistent and I have never made edits or changes to contacts on my phone. is a one-way sync to hard for Microsoft?

What I don’t get is that I have never had issues with my work Office365 contacts being in sync (on any phone or device.)

Why is Outlook.com so problematic? Why can’t they use the same ActiveSync technology?

Should I move my contacts to google? I’m seriously considering it.

Conversation 11 comments

  • staganyi

    Premium Member
    26 April, 2019 - 10:01 am

    <p>I've always had random outlook.com contacts sync issues with my pixel 1 phone. Drives me nuts. Also thinking about moving contacts &amp; calendar to google because of this (email works fine).</p>

  • yoshi

    Premium Member
    27 April, 2019 - 10:58 pm

    <p>It’s the same issue with iOS as well. Contacts are completely unreliable. Mail and calendar are fine, but contacts are better off on iCloud or Google.</p>

  • JWadle

    Premium Member
    06 November, 2019 - 1:44 pm

    <p>I wish someone could explain why Outlook for Android doesn't provide direct access to the email account's contacts (e.g. outlook.com People), but rather only allows access to Android contacts which must be synced to the email account contacts. I had used Nine for Android with my outlook.com account for the past several years and it provides direct access to outlook.com contacts. I switched to Outlook for Android recently because it seemed to be steadily improving, but this contacts business drives me crazy.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      07 November, 2019 - 5:03 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#486839">In reply to JWadle:</a></em></blockquote><p>I only have Outlook.com contacts in Outlook, synced to Android, so that I can use the telephone app to call my contacts.</p><p>But they removed the Contacts tab in Outlook for Android, you can only search for contacts now, which is annoying.</p>

      • staganyi

        Premium Member
        07 November, 2019 - 9:17 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#487010">In reply to wright_is:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree, that is the stupidest thing ever.</p>

    • darkgrayknight

      Premium Member
      16 November, 2020 - 2:41 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#486839">In reply to JWadle:</a></em></blockquote><p>It would be great if Outlook for Android included its own People app that replaces Contacts. I dislike Google's contacts app and use Samsung's currently, but I'm about ready to try writing my own contact app that works like People did in Windows Phone. That was so much better.</p>

  • codymesh

    06 November, 2019 - 4:28 pm

    <p>you can try ditching the Outlook app and instead add the outlook.com account as an EAS account (Outlook.com actually does use Exchange ActiveSync) in the gmail app – <a href="https://support.office.com/en-us/article/set-up-email-in-android-email-app-71147974-7aca-491b-978a-ab15e360434c&quot; target="_blank">here's step-by-step instructions from Microsoft</a>. This is what we used to do before the current Outlook app was a thing, and it's still an option. If have 2fa turned on you might need to set up an app password, not sure if that has changed</p><p><br></p><p>another thing you can try<em>: </em>go to account.microsoft.com, and try to sign out from the phone from there</p>

  • JWadle

    Premium Member
    14 November, 2020 - 2:45 pm

    <p>I've switched to the 9Folders Android app for email, calendar and contacts with my outlook.com account. This eliminates the Android Contacts and Calendar apps entirely. 9Folders also provides Android widgets for direct access to outlook.com email, calendar and contacts.</p><p><br></p><p>This is one of the best apps I've ever used. Highly recommended.</p>

  • yaddamaster

    14 November, 2020 - 9:25 pm

    <p>I used to have non-stop problems. Nothing in the last year or so.</p><p><br></p><p>Go into the Outlook app, click your Home button, click the gearsettings button on the bottom, click the account, and then make sure that "Sync contacts" is turned on.</p>

  • markn

    12 January, 2023 - 1:24 am

    things to do Making sure your device is connected to a reputable Wi-Fi network is the first step in fixing Outlook App Not Syncing. By examining the connection, you might find out if other programs have issues connecting to the network. Try these if your connection is generally having issues. In addition to your wireless router, restart your smartphone or tablet. For a few minutes, activate Airplane mode. To sync your emails once again, disable it, join a network, and try again. Network settings should be left alone.

  • Jenny

    11 August, 2023 - 6:47 am

    Hi users, If you want solutions for syncing your Outlook contacts on your smartphone, you can use the Softaken Outlook to VCF converter software. That makes it simple to sync your Outlook contacts with the contact app on your smartphone. You may say by to the headache of manually transferring contacts with just a few clicks. You are led through the sync process by the software’s user-friendly interface, which removes hassles and helps you save time. On Windows and Outlook both platforms, the Software ensures that the contact information is current and correct. The software gives you the ability to simply keep a consistent contact database, whether you’re a professional organization or an individual user. This software, your go-to choice for effective sync contacts from MS Outlook to a smartphone, used the simplicity of unified contacts.

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