Contact only searchable after saving contact again in outlook

Good day @Raj Saksena,   

Hope things are running smoothly on your end. 

Following up on the support thread we've been working on. I hope the information I shared in my previous answer resolve the issue you were facing. If you are still facing the same issue or need assistance with anything else, kindly respond to this email, and I will be happy to help. 

We want to make sure everything is working as expected and that your experience remains uninterrupted. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout the troubleshooting process.  

I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

I think the searching contacts issue is working. However, now I am seeing the same contacts multiple times. Is there a way for me to determine where the duplicates are coming from and if I can somehow clean up the duplicates?

I am getting a Page Not Found error to the response sent to resolve the duplicate contact issue

Dear @Raj Saksena,     

Thank you again for taking the time to respond. I'm truly glad to hear that the contact search issue has been resolved. It's great news. 

• I also appreciate you letting me know that you encountered a "Page Not Found" error when accessing the response I shared regarding the duplicate contact issue. If possible, could you kindly let me know which specific link is showing the error? I’ve reviewed all the links included in my previous message and they appear to be working correctly on my end. I’d be happy to investigate further and correct any broken links to ensure you have access to the right resources. 
• Additionally, if you're open to sharing the solution that helped you resolve the contact search issue, I’d love to include it in a brief summary of this post. That way, other community members can easily find and benefit from the information.  

Regarding your question about cleaning up duplicated contacts in Outlook, I’d like to offer a few insights based on your description. 

Duplicate entries often appear after resolving contact search issues, and this can be caused by contacts being imported from multiple sources such as iCloud, Gmail, or Exchange. It may also happen when contacts have multiple email addresses or fax numbers, or when sync and import processes create redundant entries. 

To identify duplicates, switch to the People view in Classic Outlook. 

Click the View tab, then go to View Settings and select Sort. 

Sort by Full Name or Email Address to group similar contacts together. 

Look for contacts with identical names but different email addresses, or the same email address listed multiple times. Fax numbers or secondary emails can also result in multiple listings. 

You can refer to this article for more guidance: Manage contacts in Outlook - Microsoft Support 

To clean up duplicates manually, open each duplicate contact. 

Copy any missing information into one main contact. 

Delete the redundant entries once the information is consolidated. 

This article may be helpful: Manage duplicate contacts in Outlook - Microsoft Support 

For bulk cleanup, you can export your contacts to a CSV file. 

Please make sure to back up your contacts before making any bulk changes to avoid data loss. 

Go to File, then Open & Export, and choose Import/Export. 

Select Export to a file, then choose CSV. 

Open the CSV file in Excel. 

Move unused fields such as fax numbers or secondary emails into columns like “Notes” or “OtherPhone”. 

Save the updated file and re-import it by going to File, then Open & Export, and selecting Import from another program using the CSV format. 

For a more detailed explanation, you may find this article useful: Contacts in the Outlook Address Book are listed multiple times - Microsoft Support 

I hope the information provided has helped clarify the issue you were concerned about. Thank you again for your patience and understanding, it means a lot to us. 

Looking forward to your update so we can move forward together toward a resolution.  

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Dear @Raj Saksena,        

Thank you so much for your response and for taking the time to explain. I truly appreciate it, and I sincerely apologize for any miscommunication earlier.  

Based on what you've described, the duplicate records may be caused either by a conflict in your local Offline Address Book cache or by actual duplicate entries stored in your Exchange Online mailbox. 

To help identify the source of the issue, could you please open your contact list in Outlook Web or the New Outlook for desktop and check whether the duplicates still appear? 

1/ If the duplicates are only visible in Classic Outlook, it's likely a local cache issue. You can try refreshing your address book by following these steps: 
Close Outlook completely. 

• Navigate to the following directory on your computer: 
• C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook 
• Locate and delete the folder named Offline Address Books. 
• Open Classic Outlook 
• Go to Send/Receive tab 
• Select Send/Receive Groups > Download Address Book 
• Uncheck “Download changes since last Send/Receive” 
• Choose the correct address book (usually Global Address List) 
• Click OK to download a fresh copy from the server. 

This process will replace the outdated local cache and may resolve the duplication. 

2/If duplicates are still visible in Outlook Web or New Outlook, the issue likely originates from the mailbox itself on Exchange Online. In that case, please contact your organization's IT administrator to investigate further. 

3/You may share this guide with your IT administrator so they can review the steps below and assist you further. 

As the issue may stem from actual duplicate contact records stored in the user's Exchange Online mailbox, you can: 

• Use Exchange Admin Center (EAC) to access the user's mailbox. 
• Run a Content Search to identify and export contact data. 
• Review and clean up duplicates manually. 
• Re-import the cleaned contact list if necessary. 
• Check for any third-party sync tools (e.g., mobile devices, CRM systems) that may be contributing to duplication. 

While our initial response might not always resolve the issue right away, your input and any additional details you can share will really help us work together toward a solution. Your cooperation means a lot, and it helps us ensure that we can deliver the best possible support tailored to your situation.