3 Ways to Recover Outlook Contacts from Backup (BAK / PST) File Securely
Losing your contact data is, without a doubt, frustrating especially when they contain important personal or business information. Whether your Outlook contacts went missing due to accidental deletion, profile issues, account misconfiguration, system crashes, fortunately, there are multiple ways you can retrieve them. In this elaborate guide, we will share how to recover Outlook contacts from backup file effortlessly. Along with that, we will also share how to restore them from the deleted items folder and how to retrieve them if they’re no longer in the folder. Moreover, we will also share the main causes why the Outlook contacts go missing. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get started and find out which method is the best fitting for you.
But first, we will know, what are the common scenario which may result in the requirement of recovering Outlook contacts.
- You are not able to see the major contacts due to a corrupted outlook PST file
- You want to recover a contact that is still available in your deleted item folder
- You want to recover a contact that is no longer in your deleted items folder
Reasons Why Your Outlook Contacts Disappeared
Before jumping straight to the solutions, let us first have a look at the major causes for Outlook contact loss.
- Users sometimes accidentally delete the Outlook contacts list from the Contacts folder.
- MS Outlook account misconfiguration or profile issues may also cause the contacts to disappear.
- Your Outlook contacts list may go missing after Outlook upgrade or migration.
- Virus or malware attacks affecting Outlook data files eventually results in Outlook contacts loss.
- Recurring PST file corruption due to malware issues, improper shutdown, or system crashes may also cause Outlook contacts to go missing.
Now that we are aware of the most common reasons why Outlook contacts are missing, let us move ahead and check out the solutions to tackle this issue. Check out the methods and pick out whichever best fits your requirements.
How to Restore Outlook Contacts List? – Top 3 Ways
- Recover Outlook Contacts from Backup with/without Inbuilt Tool
- Recover a Contact that is Still Available into your Deleted Item Folder
- Recover A Contact That Is No Longer In Your Deleted Items Folder
Further in this article, we will explain each of these three solutions along with an advanced alternative for the first manual approach.
Scenario 1: Recover Outlook Contacts from Backup with/without Inbuilt Tool
There is 2 scenarios: First, PST file is corrupted and user is unable to access contacts from it. So the user needs to retrieve contacts from PST file backup. Second is, the user has tried to fix the Outlook PST file using ScanPST.exe (Inbox Repair Tool) and have a BAK backup file in the system. And now, the user needs to recover Outlook contacts from backup BAK file. Here in this Scenario 1, we will how to restore Outlook 2007 / 2010 / 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 contacts from backup file easily.
Expert-Suggested Solution to Fix & Recover Data from PST / BAK file
MS Outlook stores all its mailbox data, which includes emails, tasks, notes journals, calendar, contacts, etc. in a personal space known as PST (Personal Storage Table) file. So if you are not able to access the Outlook contact list, then it can be due to a corrupted PST file.
For achieving this target, to recover Outlook contacts from backup, we need an extra powerful tool by SysTools Outlook PST Recovery Tool. It can retrieve data in healthy and accessible file. The tool not only repairs highly corrupted PST files but also recovers hard deleted data items easily. It has the capability of recovering your lost PST emails, contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, journal attachments, etc.
The software can restore Outlook contacts from a backup file in few simple steps. After recovering Outlook contacts data, it will let you save data in PST, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML or directly into the Office 365 account. You can easily retrieve contact information from a protected PST file without providing any credentials. Download the application and recover your lost contacts from Outlook data file easily now:
Tool Tip: Want to recover contacts from Mac Outlook, then you can try Mac Outlook Recovery Tool. The tool is capable to recover contacts from Outlook OLK14. OLK15 and OLM file without any hassle.
Steps to Restore Outlook Contacts from Backup (BAK / PST) File
- Step 1: Download, Install and run the software on Windows system.
- Step 2: After completion of installing open the software you will see this image, click on the Add File button to start the process.
- Step 3: To add PST / BAK file into the software, when the window pops up, you can select one of the given options like Select File or Search File option to load PST / BAK files into the application. This option help users to choose multiple PST / BAK file together, and you can recover Outlook contacts from backup file in bulk.
- Step 4: It also provides you the feature of “Advance scan mode” to recover Outlook BAK / PST files which are highly corrupted. This will also help you to recover deleted emails from Outlook PST file.
- Step 5: After the scanning process, the software provides you the feature to show the files in Normal view, HTML, MIME format, and many more. It also lets you see the Message header & embedded Attachments in your backup file (PST / BAK).
- Step 6: The application displays deleted contacts in Red Color in the preview panel. So that the user can easily identify the recovered deleted contacts from a PST / BAK file.
- Step 7: Select the Export Button to migrate all recover Outlook contacts from backup file into a PST file or to various other file formats like: PDF, MSG, EML, HTML, Office 365, etc.
Scenario 2: Recover a Contact that is Still Available into your Deleted Item Folder
Whenever someone delete an Outlook contact from the account, it is moved to the Deleted Items folder in your mailbox. The Deleted Items folder is the first place you want to look if you’re trying to find a deleted Outlook contact. Here’s how to restore Outlook contacts easily from Deleted Items Folder:
- Open MS Outlook on your system.
- Then, head to the “Deleted Items” folder.
- There, locate your contacts.
- Upon doing so, right-click on your contacts, select “Move” >> “Other Folder”.
- Choose the “Contacts Folder” to move the contacts.
However, if your emails aren’t present in the deleted items folder as well, check out the following manual approach to retrieve them.
Scenario 3: Recover A Contact That Is No Longer In Your Deleted Items Folder
If you can’t find a contact in the Deleted item folder, the next place to look for is a recoverable item folder. It is basically a hidden folder where all the hard deleted contacts are moved.
The above given 2 scenarios are for users who has deleted their Outlook contacts. The user who is having a normal PST file (relatively smaller in size) can recover Outlook contacts from backup file easily. They can import PST file back in their account.
Follow these steps to Import PST file in Outlook:
- Open Outlook > click on Select File option.
- Now choose Open and click on Export > Import/Export.
- Choose Import from another program or file > click on Next.
- Select the Outlook Data File (.pst) option > click on Next.
- Now browse your backup PST file from which you need to restore Outlook contacts from backup file. Then choose Next.
- Provide password of PST file (if there) and continue importing process. Click OK.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the best way to restore Outlook contacts list from a backup file?
Follow these 4 quick steps to securely recover your Outlook contacts from Outlook backup file:
- Download & open SysTools PST Repair Tool on Windows your system
- Add BAK / PST file and click Advanced Scan mode
- Preview your Outlook contacts in scanned file
- Save recovered contacts in a new PST file
Q. What is the difference between a PST and BAK file in Outlook?
A PST file is the main Outlook data storage file. A BAK file, on the other hand, is automatically created by the inbuilt Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool as a backup before repair. Both can be used to restore Outlook contacts.
Q. Can I recover Outlook contacts without a backup file?
Yes, you can. If your Outlook contacts are recently deleted, you can recover them from the Deleted Items folder or Recoverable Items folder. Without a PST/BAK backup, however, you won’t be able to recover permanently deleted contacts.
Summing up
This article comprises a complete solution to recover Outlook contacts from backup file (PST / BAK) using a convenient automated application. Along with that, we have also discussed about some manual solutions, which can be considered as a solution to restore contacts from Outlook data backup. In case if your PST is working fine and is small enough, you can go for Import PST option. Or if you have accidentally deleted your contact data and wants to restore from a previous backup (PST / BAK, large file / corrupted), choose the software. Now it is up to you to decide which method suits you better.