windows live mail contacts missing after update

Hi,need some help.when i started up windows live mail there was an update available.after updating, my contacts were deleted and the contacts tab no longer functions.the same update is showing for another computer running windows 7 home premium 64bit but i will not update until i can figure out what has happened.The update shows up only when live mail is started and its for windows live essentials.has anyone else encountered this.I would like my contacts back.thanks.

hi found solution elsewhere.Just needed to sign into messanger account and have windows live remember the account.everything is back to normal.thanks anyway

Glad you solved your problem. I have the exact issue but would like additional details on your solution if you have the time.

I wish I could take back my earlier comment....The online service found a contact list and with a quick glance I thought it was all of them. A couple of hours later I tried to send an email and of course that person wasn't on my list. Ugh...That's when I realized the list was about a year old...about the time of my last "live mail" update. So I'm back to loooking for solutions again...

If it hasn't been too long since the (infernal) mandatory update...you can go to system restore, back up to a time before the update.
Your mail will work - ONE TIME. Contacts should be there, go to contact tab at bottom left.

1. Click Export on the ribbon (taskbar on top)

1. Select a file format in the drop-down menu.
2. If exporting multiple contacts, select .csv. (NOT .vcf.)

1. <LI class=step>Click Browse and select where to save your contacts. (new EMPTY folder, someplace you can find it again, like in "Documents")
   <LI class=step>Enter a file name and then click Save.
   <LI class=step>Click Next, and then select the check boxes next to the fields that you want to export (like phone, nickname, etc). Only selected fields are exported, so make sure to select everything you might want later.
2. Click Finish.

Once you're done, you'll have your contacts (& details like phone#, etc.) in that folder.


BAD NEWS - at least for me -the next time I opened email - I HAD to do the update again. Contacts gone but I was going to 'import' them back.
But, when I click on the contacts tab, it doesn't really open up. The email or calender disappears, but the taskbar/ribbon on top does not change and I can't access the contacts page. (I have typed in a few email addys, and no, they're not there on the contacts tab).

So, I'm still working on that part...BUT, at least I DO have access to the all the my old contact info in that new folder!


Hope this helps ya'll somewhat!

People are posting all over the internet about issues with contacts after the damn persistently reminded update we finally all give in to was run.

MS - contacted by phone and in many help forums and posts, takes no ownership of the issue but (Accurately?) points out here and there that your sign on strategy and profile settings affect what contacts relate to what and when. Sigh. Go figure.

I was happy with Outlook and outlook express, but of course I had to give both up when i got a PC with windows7. I went with Live Mail, successfully imported old contacts, and the world seemed fine and dandy. But my strategy (apparently slated for punishment some future day) was to NOT SIGN ON when the dialog box popped up asking for that... it seemed to involve applications and actvivities, like messsenger, i didnt want any part of.

So for a full year almost, my contacts were fine and grew with additions. Then I accepted the upgrade. When it was over, NO CONTACTS existed. Well I tried some restores and such, but when I finally added SIGNING ON, the contacts seemed to be all back.. Yippee?

I have hundreds of contacts and they "seemed all there", maybe they were. Buttoday I tried to write a friend I have sent dozens of emails to, and she was gone from the CONTACTS. Her name starts with P. I browsed all contacts, and it looks like all the P's (except 2 emails I sent this recent week) were gone!

I looked further, all the A's are gone also. The B's are all there. Whats the F?
I went to some old saved emails, found one from contact Axxxxxx, and selected add-contact.... instead of saying "already a contact", it indeed added it. So i have one A and all the B's. Makes no sense!!!!!! HELP MICROSOFT HELP PLEASE!!!!!!

jkdood said:

...I was happy with Outlook and outlook express
...I went with Live Mail, successfully imported old contacts
...my strategy was to NOT SIGN ON

1) Outlook Express had only one contact list. We were all lucky that they were never destroyed by an "update" but could have been lost in other ways like a hard drive failure, which is why we made periodic backups. The need for a backup also applies to WLM if you don't sign in to let Microsoft back them up.
2) If you did the initial import or made changes to them while signed in then only those are saved at contacts.live.com and would automatically repopulate the "signed-in" contact list whenever you sign-in to WLM.
3) If you are not signed-in you are actually using a completely different contact list (the "not-signed-in" list).

Looking on the plus side (thanks for your reply) I was able to use ZExplorer to go to Users/contacts.... and once signed in, use import and get these loaded. Then effectively synchronize by letting signed-n WLM get a copy. Then signput and they are all still there with or without signing in...

...sort of confirming your nice explanation and also explaining why they come and go, or only "some" are missing (lack of synchronization.

Thanks.