Fresh Install of Windows 11, saved previous image, how to retrieve Outlook Contacts

[lneva]

Operating system::    Win11
Outlook version:     Outlook 365
Email type or host:    IMAP

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I did a fresh install of Windows 11 but before doing that I made an image of the drive using "Backup and Restore".
However, I did not export the contacts or anything else from Outlook before doing the fresh Win11 install (my mistake). Is there a way to retrieve the Outlook Contacts? I have mounted the VHD from that image and have access to what looks like every file on the old C drive.

The email accounts used inside Outlook are all Gmail account, if that makes a difference, but it doesn't look like contacts are part of the Gmail account as they are not available when using a browser to access Gmail.
I'm not sure what other information you might need to help me out.

Thanks,
Les

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Do you know if contacts were in a folder named “(This computer only)" ? If yes, and you can get the Gmail ost file out - then they can be recovered using ost to PST software - you can use the trial version of ost to PST to look in the ost and see if the contacts are there. I generally recommend the stellar or kernel versions.

Convert an Exchange or IMAP .OST to a .PST | Slipstick Systems

How to convert an ost file to pst file in order to open it in an Outlook profile.

www.slipstick.com

ETA: if the contacts are there and the ost is small (under 5 GB) I can export it.

 

[Hornblower409]

Diane's answer is all that can help you at the moment. But for "next time" ...

I would suggest you follow the instructions in this article to keep your Contacts and Calendar separate from your GMail/IMAP account in a PST file. I do this with any new Outlook setups that involves IMAP accounts. It has saved my ass more than once.

Using IMAP Accounts in Outlook | Slipstick Systems

 

[Diane Poremsky]

BTW - if they were in the autocomplete list, you can get that back. Find the steam_autocomplete file and copy it to the new windows. Change the file name to the one created by the new profile.
Instructions here:

Moving Outlook's auto-complete address list to a new account | Slipstick Systems

How to migrate auto-complete addresses to the new accounts in Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013.

www.slipstick.com

 

[lneva]

Diane's answer is all that can help you at the moment. But for "next time" ...

I would suggest you follow the instructions in this article to keep your Contacts and Calendar separate from your GMail/IMAP account in a PST file. I do this with any new Outlook setups that involves IMAP accounts. It has saved my ass more than once.

Using IMAP Accounts in Outlook | Slipstick Systems

Thanks for the suggestion. As I mentioned I made the mistake of not doing that this time. I've done that many times in the past, just had a brain fluff this time.

 

[lneva]

BTW - if they were in the autocomplete list, you can get that back. Find the steam_autocomplete file and copy it to the new windows. Change the file name to the one created by the new profile.
Instructions here:

Moving Outlook's auto-complete address list to a new account | Slipstick Systems

How to migrate auto-complete addresses to the new accounts in Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013.

www.slipstick.com

It appears that they are in the autocomplete list found in the RoamCache directory. My question now - if I copy and rename this old.dat file will I lose anything that has occurred in outlook from the time it was reinstalled a few days ago to the present time? Does that make sense?

 

[Vince]

I did a fresh install of Windows 11 but before doing that I made an image of the drive using "Backup and Restore".
However, I did not export the contacts or anything else from Outlook before doing the fresh Win11 install (my mistake). Is there a way to retrieve the Outlook Contacts? I have mounted the VHD from that image and have access to what looks like every file on the old C drive.

The email accounts used inside Outlook are all Gmail account, if that makes a difference, but it doesn't look like contacts are part of the Gmail account as they are not available when using a browser to access Gmail.
I'm not sure what other information you might need to help me out.

Thanks,
Les

These steps you are looking for are the same steps as for an Outlook migration to a new computer.
Install MS-Office and Outlook (using 64-bit version now-days).

Basically, just restore your old "Outlook_Data" folder that had your .PST files in it ... likely in My Documents or your Windows user-folder.

From my notes:

Start and use Wizard to MANUALLY setup first/main/default email account. Only do your main one now.
Go ahead and place your old Outlook_Data folder. It contains the Folders.pst & archive.pst among others.
In Outlook-2021, select the main Outlook data-file (like Folders.pst).
- Apparently, it's no problem to rename the .PST this one time if you need to first. I like Folders.pst .
Eventually, get Folders.PST setup as your Default Data-File, and Delete the temporarily created one.

This above assumes you ARE NOT using iCloud for Windows.

--------------------
As for the Email Accounts themselves, there is no file that stores them. You just recreate them from your notes.

IMAP accounts just sync down to Outlook-2021. Whatever you see up there when logged in with web-mail will mirror down to local computer inside Outlook.

 

[lneva]

Do you know if contacts were in a folder named “(This computer only)" ? If yes, and you can get the Gmail ost file out - then they can be recovered using ost to PST software - you can use the trial version of ost to PST to look in the ost and see if the contacts are there. I generally recommend the stellar or kernel versions.

Convert an Exchange or IMAP .OST to a .PST | Slipstick Systems

How to convert an ost file to pst file in order to open it in an Outlook profile.

www.slipstick.com

ETA: if the contacts are there and the ost is small (under 5 GB) I can export it.

I couldn't locate a folder called "This Computer Only" nor could I find any .ost files, at least under the Users folder. I do have a .pst file that I generated from Outlook way back in 2022 but I'm concerned that many contacts may have changed their information.
BTW, I did what you suggested and copied the stream_autocomplete.dat file into the new Outlook directory and that worked quite well for bringing up a contact when typing in the "to" field of an email, so that has been helpful. However it doesn't repopulate the actual Contacts.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

It appears that they are in the autocomplete list found in the RoamCache directory. My question now - if I copy and rename this old.dat file will I lose anything that has occurred in outlook from the time it was reinstalled a few days ago to the present time? Does that make sense?

You'd lose any new entries in the autocomplete list. If they are people you regularily email, they are in the old autocomplete list anyway.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I couldn't locate a folder called "This Computer Only" nor could I find any .ost files, at least under the Users folder. I do have a .pst file that I generated from Outlook way back in 2022 but I'm concerned that many contacts may have changed their information.
BTW, I did what you suggested and copied the stream_autocomplete.dat file into the new Outlook directory and that worked quite well for bringing up a contact when typing in the "to" field of an email, so that has been helpful. However it doesn't repopulate the actual Contacts.

There would be a contacts folder - either in an IMAP data file or in a PST file.

The ost would be in the same Outlook folder as the autocomplete list - \Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

A PST would likely be in the documents \ Outlook files folder, but could be anywhere. If you upgraded from Outlook 2007, they could be in the Outlook folder where ost files are stored.

Did you have OneDrive "backing up" your documenta folder? If yes, it might be in OneDrive.

The data file that has the contacts should have a last modified date as of when you last opened it in Outlook - which would be around the time you reinstalled Windows.

 

[Vince]

AFAIK, OST files are for your Exchange account (your locally cached stuff). Outlook-365 is just how you pay for it (subscription instead of one-time-payment).

If you are running Outlook-2021 on your local computer (like a consumer or small-business) I think you are looking for your .PST files (like folders.pst and archive.pst). They should be in a folder together. Just restore that whole folder.

PST file is everything ... including archived Emails, Tasks, Calendars, (non-iCloud) Contacts, all sort of stuff ... your Outlook.

As far as I can tell, you didn't mess-up (yet) or miss a step. You have a full backup there to restore files from, so you are right on course.