Windows 10 PC - Contacts lost from people

Hello George,

May we know if a contact appears if you attempt to search for it in the People app?

By default, all contacts from the accounts you've added will appear in your contact list. However, you may choose to only see contacts from certain accounts. People you know on other networks will be hidden, but if you know someone on multiple networks, they'll still be visible. Also, your favorites won't be hidden no matter what accounts you choose, and everyone will be available in search results.

We look forward for an update from you.

Regards

Thanks for the reply.

"May we know if a contact appears if you attempt to search for it in the People app?" - No it doesn't. When I open People it looks like its never been configured and says "We couldn't find any contacts". Entering any letter or full name for a known contact(s) ( who are all still on the web, phone and tablet correctly ) finds nothing.

If I look in people - settings - filter contacts, Microsoft account is ticked and its the only contact list this account uses. The account was one I originally used on a Microsoft phone and later a tablet. When I got the W10 PC ( about 1 year ago ) I used the same account for that. All the other devices are still working - so far!

If I start a new mail and enter the same contact letter/name in the "TO:" box, then the list of possible names/email address are still being suggested.

It does seem as if the People app has lost contact with the account. Everything else seems happy enough - so far. For example, if I open EDGE and go to a Microsoft site then I'm automatically logged in with the correct account, and Mail is working fine. But, If you look in the people App settings, under the "[+] Add an account" button, the account the PC is using is not listed!

PS - Both a SFC and a DSIM scan pass OK, no errors reported.

We suggest that you run the Troubleshooter for Windows apps and see if it helps with the issue.

Update us if you need further assistance.

Regards.

Thanks for the reply again.

Basically it did not help.

I downloaded and saved the troubleshooter.

I ran it and it asked for my Admin password which I entered.

It briefly said "running diagnostics" ( or similar, but that only flashed up and quickly went ) with a green bar briefly going across,  and then presented this screen:

Which of course I already have, as I sign in using those credentials and the email etc is working ok.

Clicking the [Open Account Settings] box takes me to the 'Email and App accounts' settings which lists my account.

EDIT

Since running that troubleshooter ( may be coincidence or not, I do not now ) it seems to be getting worse now.

If I open Mail it opens ok and shows my emails. But if I click 'New' and then enter a letter of the email address in the 'TO' field, a list of suggested names/email addresses correctly appears.

However, now when I click one of them the mail app crashes.

Crash Report

Faulting application name: HxTsr.exe, version: 16.0.8004.4201, time stamp: 0x58bbad3b
Faulting module name: Mso20Imm.dll, version: 16.0.7830.1012, time stamp: 0x58b6f65b
Exception code: 0x0138a59a
Fault offset: 0x000000000012e18e
Faulting process ID: 0x194
Faulting application start time: 0x01d29c13fad423f3
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_17.8004.42017.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\HxTsr.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_17.8004.42017.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\Mso20Imm.dll
Report ID: f25e9a02-0bc2-48c5-b808-19a1c4687682
Faulting package full name: microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_17.8004.42017.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Faulting package-relative application ID: ppleae38af2e007f4358a809ac99a64a67c1

If your PC is not working well because of a recently installed app, driver, or update, we suggest that you restore from a system restore point. This option takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. Restore points are generated when you install a new app, driver, or Windows update. Restoring won't affect your personal files, but it will remove apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was made.

You may follow the steps below on how to restore from a system restore point:

1. Right-click the Start button, then select Control Panel.
2. Search Control Panel for Recovery.
3. Select Recovery > Open System Restore > Next.
4. Choose the restore point related to the problematic app, driver, or update, and then select Next > Finish.

Note: If you're not seeing any restore points, it might be because system protection is not turned on. To check, go to the Control Panel, search for Recovery, and then select Recovery > Configure System Restore > Configure and make sure Turn on system protection is selected.

If you need further assistance, let us know.

Regards.

David, thanks for the reply again.

But rather than a restore point, is there anything less destructive that could be attempted first as a possible solution? The only two recent restore points I have are the 7-Mar-17 which is about the time the problem started, and the 26-Feb-17 which was the previous point when both apps were definitely working, and quite a few updates have gone on since then.

The reason I ask is, Yesterday, after the MAIL app failed as well, I spent quite a bit of time installing Thunderbird (as I needed email - would have preferred Windows Live Mail but thats another Microsoft story isn't it!) and importing my contacts into that, and of course I guess even if the restore works, all that will be lost and I'll have to do it again.

Microsoft should stop building these apps into an OS, or make it so that they actually work correctly after updates. Surely, the easiest way would be to uninstall these apps from the store (but as far as I can see you can't) and then restart and reinstall them from the store. I believe this can be achieved with a powershell command of some sort, but if they can be removed and re provided anyway by powershell, then why doesn't MS just make them like all the standard apps and do it for users via an uninstall and reinstall GUI from the store?

At the end of the day, I haven't done anything to the system other than use it as a user. Prior to the app problems I hadn't installed anything or altered any settings. Microsoft, it appears, broke the apps with a forced update. Well, thats what it seems like. Is W10 really that fragile?

So, as I don't want to lose my Thunderbird work from yesterday, is there anything other than a restore point to try, as I assume that will lose the Thunderbird installation and imported contacts.

Thanks

David,

I went ahead and tried a restore, it did not help.

I restored to the older point (26-Feb-17) when people and mail were definitely working fine, and when the system rebooted they were both still failing. I then undid the restore and things seem to be back as they were beforehand. i.e. Fortunately Thunderbird is still working OK but unfortunately Mail and People are not. People still is not 'seeing' the account or any contacts.

Whats next?

Thanks for the ideas and support so far anyway.

Hi George,

Darian Tab,

Thanks for the reply, but as I'd said in a post above, as in "PS - Both a SFC and a DSIM scan pass OK, no errors reported.", I've already tried that and both scan's say all is correct, no errors found.

I've also done a Defender and a Malwarebytes Antimalware scan ( just in case ) and both report clean as well.

Its really odd. I can receive mail via the MAIL app, if I use EDGE to go to an MS site it auto logs me in correctly, if I use the store it knows my account and appears to work, it just seems PEOPLE has lost contact with the actual account?

Thank heavens for reliable 3rd party apps like Thunderbird, as MS has decided to kill off WLM and the W10 in-built apps seem well 'flaky' to me.

Have you checked if these contacts still appear in your Outlook on the web? If is does, we suggest following these steps:

1. In Outlook.com, select Manage > Restore deleted contacts.
2. In the Recover deleted items window, check the box next to each contact you want to restore.
3. At the top of the window, select Recover, and select OK.

Let us know if you need further help.

Regards.