Outlook email "groups" have suddenly disappeared; contacts still there but no groups.

Anonymous
2016-02-03T20:37:40+00:00

All of my outlook email "groups" have disappeared. My "contacts" are all still there, but the "groups" I created are missing.

I see a number of others are having similar issues but no one from outlook has provided an answer, they keep asking the same questions: 1. Tell us how you check your email, 2. Have you made in recent changes.

After the recipients respond, they never hear back from the moderators again.

I use my email "groups" nearly ever day. However, when I woke up this morning, I found all my "groups" had disappeared from my account.

I use Windows 8.1; I check mail thru outlook.com via Chrome.  It is the same with Internet explorer.   It is also the same using the outlook app on my Android tablet.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Contacts

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-17T01:31:57+00:00

    I have the same problem as well.  Everything was going right (had been forwarding documents or email to some of my groups) and BANG... they magically suddenly disappeared.  Have we found an answer to this problem yet?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-23T11:23:16+00:00

    I'm another whose "groups" have disappeared over the past few days. My contacts (people) are still there, but looking at the ones that I definitely had in 1 or more group, there is no group information associated with that contact. I use the contacts on my Windows phone, via web browser and via Outlook in Office 2016.

    What's all this "Preview" stuff? I did come across someone a few weeks ago who was apparently part-way through being "migrated" to the "Preview" model, and was also experiencing problems with contacts/people.

    How long does the infernal migration take, and what will I lose?

    Microsoft! Fix this! I'm a paying customer (Windows, Windows Phone, Office366) and have been known to recommend these products to others. Show me by fixing this that I can still recommend your products.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-02-23T11:52:12+00:00

    First I do not work for MS.

    MS is aware of the problem and working on it.  It May have something to do with the migration of all users to the Outlook Preview>and the newly released Outlook mail formats who do no support "groups".  They do support contact lists which is essentially the same thing.

    Microsoft has not announced an ETA for the fix

    CONTENT COURTESY OF MY PARTNER JMH3143

    There is in progress an update to Outlook.com that lets you make the most of the moments that matter to you—featuring a refined inbox, an upgraded calendar and more.

    The update being rolled out in Preview and now is being released to the public and is called Outlook Mail,  is the first of many innovations coming as Microsoft upgrades Outlook.com to a new Office 365-based infrastructure.

    *

    There is no returning to the old system

    **New ways to get more done in Outlook.com**

    Welcome to Outlook on the web

    **Outlook UserVoice**,  is an open forum for you to share feedback, recommend features, and vote for the ideas you like best.

    Joining the conversation in the updated web experience is easy—just click Feedback under the Gear icon and you can make your suggestion without leaving your inbox.

    If you’d like to see and vote on other ideas, you can always visit Outlook.UserVoice.com and sign-in with your Microsoft account.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-02-24T08:36:23+00:00

    thanks for the info - it does not sound good. A long time ago I opted for hotmail thinking they will always be around, dependable and I won't have to relearn and reorganize things all the time - looks like I was wrong, and will be giving gmail a long hard look.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-02-26T10:04:29+00:00

    Some searching just revealed that it is possible to "jump the queue" to the new Outlook Mail (Preview) system if the old one is causing grief (as it is with we who have lost our groups...)

     On the following page about the new system, http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/first-look-outlook-com-on-office-365/  I read...

    You can try either of these links though to get moved faster.

    http://mail.live.com/default.aspx?owaoptin=1

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/outlookpreview/default.aspx

    Now - do I dare take the risk?

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