Missing contacts & calandars events after traveling

Hi catherine wolf

I understand you’re seeing missing recent phone contacts and calendar events after traveling (only older items from over a year ago are showing now). I’m happy to help. Could you confirm:

• When you sign in on a PC browser to Outlook.com, are the missing contacts + calendar events also missing there, or only missing on the phone?
• On the web, are the missing contacts present under People > Deleted (or Recover deleted)?
• On the web, are the missing calendar events present under Deleted Items?
• Which app is showing only old data: Outlook mobile, iPhone/Android native Contacts/Calendar, or both?

I would love to hear from you soon. Have a lovely day!

For Outlook.com contacts and calendar, the data is stored in the cloud and tied to the Microsoft account, not to the eSIM or physical location. When only old items appear, the most common causes are:

1. The device is signed into a different account than usual.
2. The app is only syncing a limited date range.
3. Contacts are not allowed to sync on the device.

Use these checks to recover them:

1. Verify the correct account on the web
   • Sign in to Outlook.com in a browser.
   • Check Calendar and People (Contacts).
   • If all recent events and contacts appear there, the data is safe and the issue is only with the device/app sync.
2. Check calendar sync and date range on the device
   • In the Outlook app, go to Calendar.
   • Open the menu (three lines) and under the email account make sure “Calendar” is selected.
   • If the email address is missing from the list, remove the account from Outlook on the device and add it back using Exchange/Outlook.com (not IMAP) so full calendar sync is enabled.
   • Be aware that on mobile devices, only events from about the past 2 weeks and all future events are shown for Outlook.com/Exchange accounts; older events stay in the cloud and can be viewed on the web or another app.
3. Re‑enable contact sync on the device
   • On iOS:
     • Open Settings > Outlook.
     • Turn on Contacts and Background App Refresh.
     • Open Outlook, go to Settings > tap the Outlook.com account > turn on Sync Contacts.
   • On Android:
     • Open Settings > Applications > Outlook.
     • Ensure Contacts permission is enabled.
     • Open Outlook, go to Settings > tap the Outlook.com account > tap Sync Contacts.
4. If contacts or events are missing even on Outlook.com
   • If contacts disappeared after a service change (for example, migration from an older Hotmail experience), submit feedback from Outlook.com so a Microsoft engineer can investigate and restore missing contacts:
     • Sign in to Outlook.com.
     • Select the ? icon > Feedback > Give Feedback.
     • Describe that recent contacts/events are missing and submit.

If the Outlook.com web view shows all data correctly, focus on re‑adding the Outlook.com account to the phone and ensuring Calendar and Contacts sync are enabled with the correct account.

References:

• Can't sync calendar and contacts with my phone or tablet
• Where are my email messages or calendar events in Mail and Calendar for Windows 10?
• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook
• How do I recover my old email messages, my contacts and everything else I had in Outlook? - Microsoft Q&A
• Outlook contacts not showing in "new" outlook - Microsoft Q&A
• calendar birthdays - Microsoft Q&A