can't find any contacts in outlook

What type of email account do you have configured in Outlook? POP, IMAP, Outlook.com, or Microsoft Exchange?

Only Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 Exchange accounts sync calendar & contacts to classic Outlook. IMAP and POP sync email only. You need to use a 3rd party sync tool to sync calendar & contacts - iCloud add-in is free for iCloud account, or gSyncit, which is not free but sync most calendar & contact providers (including iCloud, but is better than the iCloud add-in in my opinion.)

In Outlook for Windows, this usually happens when contacts are stored in a different Contacts folder than the one Outlook is currently using.

Check for multiple Contacts folders and move items:

1. In Outlook Desktop, go to the People view (Contacts).
2. In the folder list on the left, look for more than one folder named Contacts (or a localized equivalent).
   • One folder will have a folder icon.
   • Another will have a contact card icon.
3. The contacts are often in the folder with the folder icon, while Outlook is using the folder with the contact card icon as the active Contacts folder.
4. Drag all contacts from the folder that contains them (folder icon) into the Contacts folder that has the contact card icon.
5. After moving them, check again in People view; the contacts should now appear as expected.

If People view itself looks broken (overlaid by a contact card and not showing the list), force Outlook to refresh its settings:

1. Close Outlook.
2. Start Outlook while holding down Ctrl and keep it pressed until the Safe Mode prompt appears.
3. Let Outlook open fully in Safe Mode, then close it.
4. Open Outlook again normally and check the People view.

References:

• Contacts folder empty and contacts are in a different folder in Outlook for Microsoft 365
• Outlook cannot display contacts in People View