contacts & tasks missing after remote session

Hello Lori,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing the details of your experience with us I understand how frustrating it must be to lose your contacts and tasks after a remote session especially when you’ve already opened multiple cases and haven’t found a clear solution. It’s completely reasonable to feel concerned when important information like contacts and tasks goes missing and I truly appreciate your patience while trying to resolve this.

This issue often occurs when Outlook data files or account settings are modified during troubleshooting. Your contacts and tasks are typically stored in your primary mailbox or PST/OST files so they may still be recoverable. The best next step is to confirm which account type you’re using, such as Exchange, Microsoft 365 or POP/IMAP and check if the missing items are in the Deleted Items folder or recoverable through Outlook’s “Recover Deleted Items” feature. If they were linked to a local PST file restoring from a backup or reattaching the PST may resolve the problem.

Could you let me know if you’re using Outlook with a Microsoft 365 account or a different email provider and whether you have any recent backups of your data files

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo

Hi Lori,

Thank you for clarifying since you have a Microsoft 365 account but also use a Yahoo email, Outlook is likely set up with multiple accounts and contacts and tasks are usually tied to the Microsoft 365 mailbox rather than Yahoo. The first thing to do is check your account settings in Outlook by going to File select Account Settings select Account Settings and confirming that your Microsoft 365 account is still listed and set as the default.

Next review your Outlook data files in the same Account Settings window under the Data Files tab. If any PST or OST files were detached during the remote session reattach them by selecting Add. If the contacts or tasks were accidentally deleted you can try using the Recover Deleted Items feature by switching to your Microsoft 365 mailbox in Outlook going to Folder select Recover Deleted Items and restoring anything you find there.

It’s also a good idea to check Outlook on the web by signing in at outlook.office.com. If your contacts and tasks appear there the issue is local to your Outlook client. If they’re missing online too they may have been removed during troubleshooting. If you previously had a local PST file search your computer for .pst files and reattach them through File select Open & Export select Open Outlook Data File.

If none of these steps work and you don’t have a backup, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support again, referencing both case numbers and requesting escalation to the Data Recovery team. They can check server-side retention and help recover your data.

Best regards,

Marcelo

Hi Lori,

Thank you for the update I’m really glad to hear the steps helped resolve the issue with your missing contacts and tasks. I know how important that information is and I appreciate your patience throughout this process.

As for your original concern about folders not staying deleted or renamed that behavior is unusual and typically indicates a sync issue between Outlook and the Yahoo mail server. Since your Yahoo account is added to Outlook changes you make locally may not always match what the server accepts. Sometimes Outlook allows a folder to be renamed or deleted on your computer but if the Yahoo server rejects the change or doesn’t sync correctly the folder may reappear or revert. In other situations certain system folders are managed directly by the mail provider and can automatically return even if Outlook removes them. It’s also possible that Outlook’s local cache has become out of sync causing it to repeatedly fall back to whatever the server shows.

To narrow down the cause the best approach is to try renaming or deleting the same folder directly in Yahoo Mail at https://mail.yahoo.com. If the change works there but not in Outlook the issue is with Outlook’s syncing. If the change doesn’t work even on Yahoo’s website then Yahoo is preventing the modification.

You can also try repairing your Yahoo account in Outlook by going to File, then Account Settings, selecting your Yahoo account and choosing Repair. This refreshes the folder structure and often resolves issues where Outlook reverts changes. Another option is to temporarily turn off Cached Exchange Mode by opening Account Settings, selecting your Yahoo account, choosing Change and unchecking the option for cached mode. After restarting Outlook try renaming or deleting the folder again. If the change works this time the problem is with the cached data. In that case clearing and rebuilding the Outlook cache by deleting the OST file associated with your Yahoo account can often fix the problem since Outlook will generate a clean new copy afterward.

Best regards,

Marcelo