in Outlook adding a contact to Favorites does not result in a connection to the contact card.

If adding a contact to Favorites in Outlook does not result in a connection to the contact card, it may be due to a few factors. One common issue is that the public folder containing the contact list may not be properly synced or accessible. To resolve this, you can try the following methods:

1. Use Outlook on the web: Access the contact list through Outlook on the web by adding the public folder to Favorites and selecting the People icon to expand Public Folders.
2. Use Cached Exchange Mode: Ensure that Outlook is set to Cached Exchange Mode, which allows it to retrieve information from the local data file. You can download public folders in this mode and then access the contact list.
3. MFCMAPI Tool: If the contact list is too large, you might need to use the MFCMAPI tool to split the contact list into smaller parts, allowing you to access and manage it more effectively.

These steps may help establish a proper connection to the contact card when adding contacts to Favorites in Outlook.

Thanks for the details, TJ! Try to recreate the “Favorites” Contact Shortcuts Folder in the Mailbox.

A clean rebuild of the Favorites store often restores the link to contact cards.

Step 1 — Clear all Favorites (they're only shortcuts)

• Go to People view
• Right-click each Favorite
• Select Remove from Favorites

This does NOT delete the actual contact—only the shortcut.

Step 2 — Reset Outlook's favorite/contact cache

• Close Outlook completely
• Press Windows + R
• Run:
  %localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
• Find and delete these files (if present):
  1. PeopleGraph.dat
  2. Favorites.dat
  3. favorite-wab.dat
  4. RoamCache\Stream_Favorites*
  5. any file starting with People_ or Contact_ cache items
• These are local cache objects that frequently corrupt when:
  • syncing Shared/Public Folder contacts
  • huge contact lists
  • partial downloads in Cached Mode

Step 3 — Reset the People Pane

(This resets the internal link mapping.)

• Press Windows + R
• Run:
  outlook.exe /resetpeoplepanesettings

Step 4 — Restart Outlook

Outlook will rebuild the PinnedPeopleFavorites folder fresh.

Step 5 — Add the contact back to Favorites

Now try:

Right-click contact → Add to Favorites

You should now see:

• The photo/icon
• Email address
• Contact card opens correctly
• No blank placeholder

See if this helps. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly