Losing contacts after main live email account was added again (Lumia 820 + WP8.1)

[Octavev80]

Is this what's suppose to happen?
The main hotmail email (Microsoft Account) on my wife's 820 were no longer able to sync, so I decided to add it again via email setup and then remove the original one. Essentially resetting new then replacing by deleting the old (both are same email address. New email setup (same Microsoft Account) was able to sync properly.

Problem - her contacts she had on the phone were no longer on the phone.

Other similar posts suggests WP8 is suppose to back-up contacts automatically to the Microsoft Account in the cloud but looks like it has not backed it up. Known issue or is there a setting or manual backup method in WP8.1?

Thank you

 

[N_LaRUE]

The backup method for contacts is through the MS account. If you used a different account you won't have the contacts unless you transfer the contacts to the new MS account.

All backup of WP is tied to the MS account. When you change accounts you lose that backup information.

 

[Octavev80]

Thanks N_LaRUE - "both are same email address.". So new email setup steps were taken on the SAME email address (Microsoft Account) to be clear. This is why I'm questioning as possible Contacts backup issue and trying to figure out solution so it doesn't happen again. The 820 is NOT new or recently reinstalled because it's been in use for more than 6 months - I don't know why contacts were not backed up to the Microsoft Account (People App on outlook.com does not reflect what she had on the phone). Thanks

 

[N_LaRUE]

Have you gone to People and then Settings -> Filer contacts list?

Did she ever have her contacts on SIM? You can also import from there.

 

[dKp1977]

I'm wondering how you were even able to remove the main MS account, as this isn't even possible. oO

 

[Octavev80]

N_LaRUE - I checked and Filter has all the exepected contact sources turned on including this particular email address. My understanding is she's never had it on SIM but woth a check on the side - is there anyway to view what's on SIM without importing? Worst case I guess we can import to dummy email account. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Octavev80]

dKp1977 - Interesting point. I did a long press on that account and you're totally right, SYNC is the only option unlike other accounts which has DELETE option as well. What I remember was changing names in the setting so new setup did not have same name. Memory is bit foggy but I think I then renamed (or deleted) the oroginal then renamed the new to same name as the original to essentially complete the replacement.

 

[Octavev80]

I guess key Question for learning is - is there a way to manually sync contacts from WP8.1 to Microsoft Account and/or way to verify a setting to ensure contacts are backed-up at regular intervals (ideally at least once a day if not real-time)?

 

[N_LaRUE]

Have you logged on Outlook.com and see of the contracts are there with that account? That would be the first thing to do.

The contacts backup I think is real time so that's why I'm confused with your issue.

To answer your question, there's only the force sync option in accounts. That is all.

 

[dKp1977]

dKp1977 - Interesting point. I did a long press on that account and you're totally right, SYNC is the only option unlike other accounts which has DELETE option as well. What I remember was changing names in the setting so new setup did not have same name. Memory is bit foggy but I think I then renamed (or deleted) the oroginal then renamed the new to same name as the original to essentially complete the replacement.

See, the point is, there's not a single way to remove the Microsoft Account you used during the initial setup of the device. No rename and delete afterwards, no nothing. You can't even add an alias of the same Microsoft Account. I don't know exactly what you did and it's hard to think of a way to solve your issue. What you could do is go to people.live.com (I think that's the correct URL. If not, go to outlook.com and choose people from the top left pull down menu), login with the Microsoft Account that was used to setup the device. See, if all the contacts are still there. If so, hard reset your device and use that Microsoft Account during the setup process again. You'll have all your issues sorted. Be aware though that hard resetting means performing a factory reset, hence everything will first be gone. Apps will reinstall and so on, but you should backup pictures, music, videos, documents, whatever you can beforehand.

 

[Octavev80]

N_LaRUE, dKp1977 - thanks again for your prompt advice. I've better understanding of the situation. The account in question was NOT the one used for initial setup but something added later and turned out to be mac.com email account. Even on 8.1, contact SYNC to iCloud is probably not supported and upgrade to 8.1 was done only within 24hrs prior to the issue happeninng so I'm gussing the contacts were tied to mac.com account but standalone on the phone. Both - thanks again.