msdixies

Q: Upgrade to El Capitan.  Contacts lost.  Not using iCloud.

I upgraded my MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) to El Capitan 10.11.3 yesterday.  I upgraded from OS X Lion 10.7.5.  My contacts have disappeared.  I was not using iCloud.  Can anyone tell me where they were stored and how to reload them?  Or, absent that, the steps to find them on a TimeMachine back-up and restore them?  

 

I've looked at communities, tried the solutions posted, to no avail. 

 

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), Safari 9.0.3

Posted on Jan 24, 2016 4:52 PM

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Q: Upgrade to El Capitan.  Contacts lost.  Not using iCloud.

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  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jan 24, 2016 4:59 PM in response to msdixies
    Level 9 (55,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 24, 2016 4:59 PM in response to msdixies

    Restore them from your backup. Just open the Contacts App, then enter Time Machine.

  • by Barney-15E,Solvedanswer

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jan 24, 2016 6:40 PM in response to msdixies
    Level 9 (50,358 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 24, 2016 6:40 PM in response to msdixies

    Even if you were not using iCloud, turn on iCloud Contacts and see if they reappear. If they don't, then use KiltedTim's advice.

  • by msdixies,

    msdixies msdixies Jan 25, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Barney-15E

    Thanks!  Turning on iCloud Contacts was just the ticket.  And FYI, I did try KiltedTim's suggestion, to no avail.  TimeMachine wouldn't restore the contacts data -- probably because the backup was from the old version of the application.  That seems like a glitch . . .  but at this moment, one I don't need to pursue. 

  • by msdixies,

    msdixies msdixies Jan 25, 2016 9:13 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 9:13 AM in response to KiltedTim

    I tried your suggestion of restoring the contacts data from Time Machine.  Interestingly,  TimeMachine wouldn't restore the contacts -- probably because the backup was from the old version of the application.  That seems like a glitch . . .  but at this moment, one I don't need to pursue.  The problem was resolved by turning on iCloud (which I had not previously used); apparently, it accesses the correct file location.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 25, 2016 9:14 AM in response to msdixies
    Level 9 (50,836 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 25, 2016 9:14 AM in response to msdixies

    So, iCloud was on then?

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jan 25, 2016 8:49 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 9 (50,358 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 25, 2016 8:49 PM in response to Csound1

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    So, iCloud was on then?

    Probably not. Several people have reported the same oddity.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 26, 2016 7:10 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 9 (50,836 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 26, 2016 7:10 AM in response to Barney-15E

    It may not have been supposed to be on, but clearly it was. User error or program error is not clear. I think user error is most likely. And if it was, it worked as it is designed to.

  • by msdixies,

    msdixies msdixies Jan 26, 2016 9:17 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 9:17 AM in response to Csound1

    It certainly could be user error.  However, I had never enabled iCloud prior to the upgrade.  Given all the posts I've seen, and the various and sometimes successful suggested solutions, I would conclude that the data location for the new Contacts application under El Capitan is different from that under the Lion OS.  When I turned on iCloud, as Barney-15E suggested, it accessed the new location and updated the pointers in the new Contacts application.  Without seeing code, one can only guess, but . . . .

     

    Thanks to all for the solution!

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jan 26, 2016 6:43 PM in response to msdixies
    Level 9 (50,358 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 26, 2016 6:43 PM in response to msdixies

    The location has not changed. However, your supposition maybe has a clue to the answer. It may be that the Contacts app did not index your contacts when you upgraded, thus they did not appear. When you enable iCloud contacts, it scans the metadata folder for the contacts and creates its own index. I had not considered that in the previous threads I had seen. I was thinking the upgrade somehow migrated them to iCloud. I now think that is re-indexing the metadata folder when you turn on iCloud contacts.

     

    The actual contact "vCards" are stored in the metadata folder inside the ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook folder. The index is a database that stores the information in each individual vCard so that it is quickly accessible. That is what is used for displaying the contact info, not the actual vCards.

  • by msdixies,

    msdixies msdixies Jan 26, 2016 7:58 PM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 7:58 PM in response to Barney-15E

    That makes a lot of sense.  It's a long time since I did any Linux Sys Adm work, and I haven't even tried to explore on the Mac -- it's a new experience, this end-user-only stuff -- so I had no idea where any data actually resides.  Your index update theory could be right, and it would explain the success of some of the other solutions I saw when I searched.  Thanks for the info. and the help.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 27, 2016 5:47 AM in response to msdixies
    Level 9 (50,836 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 27, 2016 5:47 AM in response to msdixies

    msdixies wrote:

     

    It certainly could be user error.  However, I had never enabled iCloud prior to the upgrade.  Given all the posts I've seen, and the various and sometimes successful suggested solutions, I would conclude that the data location for the new Contacts application under El Capitan is different from that under the Lion OS.  When I turned on iCloud, as Barney-15E suggested, it accessed the new location and updated the pointers in the new Contacts application.  Without seeing code, one can only guess, but . . . .

     

    Thanks to all for the solution!

    If you go to www.icloud.com what Contacts do you see there? Dock locations have nothing to do with File locations

  • by AkPaparazzi,

    AkPaparazzi AkPaparazzi May 20, 2016 9:06 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 20, 2016 9:06 AM in response to Barney-15E

    May 20th, 2016 not connected to iCloud.  I added a contact like I have done many times. I then added a new group that I was going to add the new contact to.  All of a sudden every contact disappeared and now I have none.  Started out the morning with over 600.  No updates today, no special account changes.  NOT logged into iCloud nor did I just log out. Pushed "Add Group" everything disappeared.  I shut down the computer and restarted from scratch.  No contacts everything gone. I will try the back-up. Things are really getting scary. Sure does look like we do not have control of our own computers anymore.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 May 20, 2016 9:07 AM in response to AkPaparazzi
    Level 9 (50,836 points)
    Desktops
    May 20, 2016 9:07 AM in response to AkPaparazzi

    AkPaparazzi wrote:

     

    May 20th, 2016 not connected to iCloud.  I added a contact like I have done many times. I then added a new group that I was going to add the new contact to.  All of a sudden every contact disappeared and now I have none.  Started out the morning with over 600.  No updates today, no special account changes.  NOT logged into iCloud nor did I just log out. Pushed "Add Group" everything disappeared.  I shut down the computer and restarted from scratch.  No contacts everything gone. I will try the back-up. Things are really getting scary. Sure does look like we do not have control of our own computers anymore.

    Restore your backup

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E May 20, 2016 1:03 PM in response to AkPaparazzi
    Level 9 (50,358 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 20, 2016 1:03 PM in response to AkPaparazzi

    Things are really getting scary. Sure does look like we do not have control of our own computers anymore.

    Or the Contacts index database file is corrupt.

     

    Try this:

    Copy the following path and paste it into Go To Folder in the Finder--click Go

    ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

    When that folder opens, find the three addressbook-v22.abcddb files and delete them.

    Open Contacts and see if your contacts were restored.

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