HELP!! iCloud synched with my Outlook Contacts and deleted all of them!

I am a PC user with Windows 7 - 64 bit. WHen I opened iCloud and synced - because I got a new iPad2, it did the same thing. What I found was that it created a new contacts list within iCloud. I can't see the contacts in my Outlook as I once did in my home email account - but I see them in a seconadary area under iCloud. Seems they are still there - but in a different folder. I'd like to stop using iCoud - but can't see how to do so yet - until I can figure out how to move the contacts back to my Outlook folder.

You are not alone. I had the same problem, although the contacts were still on my iPhone. The answer in other forums was to synchronise the folders with itunes. But the last time I did that with some photos, itunes decided to synchronise an empty folder with one that had lots of photos by copying the empty folder across - deleting all my photos. I was not going to do that with hundreds of contacts! However, as per the previous answer, your outlook contacts are not deleted but moved into a new icloud folder you will find in your outlook folders. This user had not figured out how to move them back, but just select all contacts and then cut (or copy) and paste them into your original folder. However, the big questions are, why did iCloud move them in the first place and will they still synchronise when they are returned to thier correct location. Anyone know the answers to these questions?

plenty of other threads on this topic. do a quick search. in short, no, iCloud will sync with the iCloud data files only. the reason being you can not set the iCloud data file as the default Outlook file/PST. the two dont really work that well together (iCould and Outlook) and there are no fixes.

I too have all those added folders - most of them totally empty for each of my 3 e-mail accounts under the PC version of contacts which I can't delete and yes all contacts are in the iCloud version, which I now designated as the default Address book. So far o.k. and I can live with that.

However I had designated my "Data" partition for the Outlook 2010 (on Win 7 64-bit Ulimate) .pst files which were automatically backed up at startup and when idle to my back-up partition on another physical drive. I noted the removal of this data from .pst files only after re-booting so Contact info is lost on both. (same as to Calendar and Tasks info)

It appears iCloud pushes this data to my C: (O/S and Programs) partition of which I only make a monthly image. So now the automated backup of this data at start-up and when idle is no longer done. (Daily image of C: too cumbersome and monthly is to soon outdated).

Is there a way to designate my data partition for that iCloud info, as it was possible for my Outlook (.pst) data?

If not, sure hope the next update of iCloud provides such. After all this is personal "DATA" info not programme info.

pookerella wrote:

I go to look at my Outlook contacts and they are deleted. The only different thing I did was sync with iCloud. There is NOTHING at all under the "Contacts" tab, there are "other" folders called, "suggested contacts" which I have no idea whatsoever how to use or "un" suggest them. They did not "MERGE" as they were supposed to. They were all deleted and replaced with all these "suggestions" folders, but under the Contacts tab, it is EMPTY. No longer is all the info I had; can't edit them or do anything with them.

HELP!!!

Did you look in the iCloud Contacts folder yet?

As Csound1 states, Contacts should be in the iCloud Contacts folder. They were in my case, There was some info in one of Contact folders - format not identical!!. I had deleted all the "data" in the Suggestions folders for all 3 Accounts, so they are empty, but can't be deleted. On the other hand there is no "Contact" folder for my 3rd e-mail account.

I have since Uninstalled iCloud on my PC and as "advertised" that action moved back my Contact data to my Main e-mail account in it's .PST file. But presently I have 2 of 3 Contact folders (format not identical), 3 Suggestions folders I can't delete and there was an empty iCloud folder which I was able to delete.

May just go and re-install my July 1 image, to ensure all is back the way it should be, as far as the C: drive is concerned (i.e. remove all iCloud info in folders and registry. Buit unfortunately, the .pst folders on my data drive and my back-up drive I can't restore to their pre-iCloud stage, so I'm affraid those "suggestions" folders will remain unless that info is only in the registry and not the .pst folders. Hmm, just searched the registry for "iClound" - nothing found.