Saving most of your contacts to your email account is super convenient. It makes sending emails easier and faster. And it prevents incoming messages from people who’re on your list from going to the spam box.
But not all email platforms store contact lists in the same location. If you’ve been using Outlook or Yahoo, for example, and you’re new on Google, I’m guessing your first thought is –where are my contacts on Gmail (I need them yesterday!)
To save you time and a minor headache, I’ve made this simple guide on finding your email contact list on Gmail and other popular platforms.
Take a look!
How can I find my Google contacts?
The simplest way to find contacts on your Google account is to go to contacts.google.com or type Google Contacts in your google search.
If you’re logged into your Google account, your contacts list should be loaded once you type one of the above.
Remembering such URLs is not a regular John or Joe thing. So Google, a trillion-dollar company with heavy budgets for UX research, came up with a bunch of options.
Here are three ways in which you can find your people and do a simple and easy Google contacts search:
Option 1: How to find my contacts list using Gmail’s sidebar?
It’s simple! All you have to do is:
1. Access your Gmail inbox
2. In the upper right side of the page, in the companion sidebar, select the Google Contacts icon.
Once you’ve clicked on it, all your contacts will appear in the right sidebar. This way, you can search and organize your contacts without having to leave Gmail.
*Note that if your phone is linked to your Gmail account, you will also find your phone contacts here.
Option 2: How to find my contact list from Gmail’s inbox?
This is the second option by which you can access your Google Contacts list.
The steps are fairly simple and easy, but the only catch is that you will leave your inbox and browse in a different tab.
1. Sign in to your Gmail account.
2. On the top right side of the page, just next to your profile picture, you will see the Google apps dots or square-shaped dotted icons. Click on it, and a drop-down menu will appear.
3. Scroll downwards, and you will see a blue ” Contacts ” icon.
4. By selecting it, you will be prompted to another tab where a list of all of your email contacts will appear.
Option 3: How do I access my contact list through Google’s homepage?
This method of accessing your email contacts list is similar to the one we just discussed, with the only difference being that you will do it through the Google homepage. Here are the steps:
1. Go to your Google homepage.
2. Select the Google apps icon located in the upper right corner of your homepage.
3. Locate and select the Contacts icon from the drop-down menu.
And voila! You are now on your Google Contacts page.
*Note: you have to be signed in to your Google account for the contacts list to appear.
How to find your email contact list in Microsoft Outlook?
Outlook offers two different ways in which you can access email lists. The first is through the so-called “People pane”, which is basically a fancy name for a contacts list, and the second is called “Narrow search”, another way of saying advanced search.
So, here’s how to find your email contact list in Microsoft Outlook in two simple ways.
Option 1: People pane
1. Sign in to your Outlook email.
2. Select the People icon located at the bottom of the screen.
3. Next, place your cursor just above your contacts list in the search box.
4. Start typing the name or last name of the person you wish to contact. As soon as you’ve started typing the first few letters, your results should start to appear.
*Note that the search contacts box is different from the search people box. The first contains phone numbers, addresses, company names etc., while the second allows search only by name and email address.
Option 2: Narrow search
1. Log into your Outlook account and press Ctrl+E.
2. Next, you should see the Search Tools tab open.
Depending on the scope of your search, you can change the folders you wish to search. Similar to doing a basic browser search, you can also refine, i.e. filter your query by phone numbers, email, or other specific information about the contact you wish to find.
How to find contacts in Hotmail?
Hotmail also offers two methods by which you can find or access your contacts lists. Below are the steps:
Option 1: Saved contacts
1. Sign in to Windows Live with your Hotmail account.
2. Place the cursor over the “Hotmail” sign on the page’s upper side and select “Contacts”.
3. Start typing the name of the contact you wish to find, or if you’ve saved it in a specific group, you can just go ahead and select the group you’ve placed them. The groups are located in the sidebar.
Option 2: Search via Windows Live Profiles
1. Go to the Windows Live Search and select the “People” tab from the left sidebar. Type in the name of the contact you wish to find and just press “Enter”. You can also search via email address.
2. If the person you’re looking for is saved in your Hotmail contacts list, they will immediately appear under the search bar.
3. Next, you can click on the profile to see what information you have stored about this contact. Public profile information, photos, documents and emails you’ve shared with this contact will appear.
*Note that when you do a search with Windows Live profiles, the page will also give you the top three results from Bing.
How to find my address book for Yahoo email?
The contacts tab on your Yahoo Mail is like an address book with the people icon inside. You can find it in the upper left corner of your screen just below the Yahoo Mail logo, so if you just hover over it. A pop-up with contacts will appear.
Alternatively, you can also find it in the upper right side of the screen next to the Calendar, Notepad and Help tabs.
Once you’ve found it, you can search, browse, edit or organize your contacts in whichever way you please.
Where is the Contacts icon in the Yahoo Mail app?
If you wish to access your contacts via the Yahoo Mail app, you should select the “More” tab at the bottom right corner of your screen and tap “Contacts”. And that’s it. You should now have your contacts list available to you on your Yahoo Mail app.
Note, however, that the Yahoo Mail app does not yet have a tool for adding new contacts meaning you’d have to do this on your desktop.