outlook.com contacts will only sync one way with android and outlook app

Anonymous
2017-02-12T14:17:29+00:00

I have added my hotmail.com account as exchange in outlook app on android (nexus 6).

Contacts sync one way only.

Problem:

  1. Any new contact added via the android native contacts app to the "hotmail.com" account is deleted without warning on next sync.
  2. Edits made to hotmail.com contacts in native android contacts app are overwritten and lost on next sync.

I have had this problem for more than 1 year. I have now spent about 50 man hours trying to find a solution.  Because the phone is unusable without the ability to add or edit contacts, I have been using my partners old iphone 5c, which syncs contacts both ways flawlessly but means I cant use my smart watch.

My hotmail account was "upgraded" to exchange some months back, but the result before and after is the same (after removing and re-adding of course)

I have spent probably 5 hours with MS support teams.  

  1. First I tried the outlook android app  "in-app" support. They got me to reinstall outlook and my account, and checked various things were ok, then said there was nothing wrong with my setup, and it must be an issue with the account itself. They sent me to the MS account support eam.
  2. The MS account support team said my account was fine, and it was nothing to do with them, and sent me to the desktop outlook support team.
  3. The desktop account team sent me back to the account support team.
  4. The account support team told me to go back to the android outlook in-app support team. they told me to get an apple phone instead.

So it looks like the 100 or so people who have the same problem have no support, and no solution, other than to switch to iPhone.

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for Android | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-03-29T10:04:04+00:00

    So, it appears that the Android Contacts app must use an Exchange ActiveSync account to create new contacts in Outlook.com rather than an Outlook account.

    Unfortunately, I am using exchange account in android, and it doesn't sync.  There is another issue.  Microsoft checked and rechecked the exchange setup on my android phone, and said it was correct, and not the issue, unfortunately. There seems to be a growing number of people for which two way sync simply doesnt work, and it is probably an issue with the account itself (e.g. a contact formatted in a certain way) or similar.  Unfortunately, MS, nor anyone else, are able to find the issue.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-03-29T09:41:38+00:00

    Hi,

    Thanks to Santiago73 the issue is now resolved.

    On configuring Outlook I'm prompted to provide my email address\password which appears to create an Outlook account in Android. Email\Calendar sync works fine with this account but contacts created in the Android Contacts app are not created in Outlook.com.

    If I add an Exchange ActiveSync account in the Android accounts area and amend the Android Contacts app to automatically save new contacts using the Exchange ActiveSync account the contacts appear in Outlook.com as expected.

    So, it appears that the Android Contacts app must use an Exchange ActiveSync account to create new contacts in Outlook.com rather than an Outlook account.

    Many thanks,

    Sean

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-03-27T09:15:34+00:00

    Hi,

    This makes no difference.

    As detailed in the original post the main issues are:

    1. You cannot add a new contact using the Outlook Android app
    2. If you add a new contact using the Android Contacts app (and choose to add to Outlook.com) the contact does not sync to the cloud. The only sync process is from Outlook.com to the Android contacts which deletes any contacts you've added using the Android Contacts app.

    Many thanks,

    Sean

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-03-23T11:06:47+00:00

    Not in the mobile app, but in the Account Settings of Android --> Add Account, and there choose Exchange account type

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-03-10T15:45:05+00:00

     We are contemplating to move back to Google Apps.

    One solution is to switch your staff to iphones which sync flawlessly in both directions with outlook, hotmail, exchange and 365 accounts.

    Or purchase a 3rd party app to sync contacts (which is a big step backwards).

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