Audubon

Q: Address Book is huge

I discovered the map Library/Application Support/AddressBook contains more than 65 GB of data on my MacBook Pro. I do have a lot of contacts. But why is this so huge? What can I do to shrink the data?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7), null

Posted on May 10, 2016 11:33 AM

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Q: Address Book is huge

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 10, 2016 11:48 AM in response to Audubon
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 10, 2016 11:48 AM in response to Audubon

    This procedure is a diagnostic test. It makes no changes to your data.

    Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

    du -ch L*/A*/Add*; ls -l "$_" | pbcopy

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

    Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.

    The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.

    The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.

  • by Audubon,

    Audubon Audubon May 10, 2016 12:25 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 12:25 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thank you very much for this quick answer.

     

    Here is the result:

     

    total 1273648

    -rw-r--r--   1 citizencrump  staff  645685248 10 mei 20:02 ABAssistantChangelog.aclcddb

    -rw-r--r--   1 citizencrump  staff      32768 10 mei 21:02 ABAssistantChangelog.aclcddb-shm

    -rw-r--r--   1 citizencrump  staff    2088872 10 mei 21:02 ABAssistantChangelog.aclcddb-wal

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff     372736  7 mei 21:44 AddressBook-v22.abcddb

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff      32768 10 mei 20:50 AddressBook-v22.abcddb-shm

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff    3806912 10 mei 20:57 AddressBook-v22.abcddb-wal

    -rw-r--r--   1 citizencrump  staff        295 24 okt  2015 Configuration.plist

    drwx------   4 citizencrump  staff        136 24 okt  2015 Images

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff      40960 24 okt  2015 MailRecents-v4.abcdmr

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff      32768 24 okt  2015 MailRecents-v4.abcdmr-shm

    -rw-r--r--@  1 citizencrump  staff       4152 24 okt  2015 MailRecents-v4.abcdmr-wal

    drwx------   7 citizencrump  staff        238 10 mei 20:57 Metadata

    drwxr-xr-x  14 citizencrump  staff        476  3 apr 21:17 Sources

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 10, 2016 12:45 PM in response to Audubon
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 10, 2016 12:45 PM in response to Audubon

    Do you synchronize your contacts with a network service such as iCloud or Google?

  • by Audubon,

    Audubon Audubon May 10, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Linc Davis

    iCloud

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 10, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Audubon
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 10, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Audubon

    1. Please export your contacts directly from icloud.com to a file for safekeeping.

    2. Back up all data.

    3. Open the iCloud pane in System Preferences. Verify that you're signed in with your usual Apple ID. Uncheck the box marked Contacts. When prompted to confirm, select

              Delete From Mac

    The contacts will still be on iCloud and on any other devices that sync with the same account. Leave the preference pane open.

    4. Launch the Contacts application and verify that your iCloud contacts have been removed. If you keep all your contacts on iCloud, the database should now be empty.

    5. In the iCloud preference pane, re-check the Contacts box and close the window. The contacts should reappear within a few seconds, if you're connected to the Internet. Otherwise, stop here and post your results.

  • by Audubon,

    Audubon Audubon May 10, 2016 1:43 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 1:43 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks again.

     

    If I follow your steps the contacts wil be exported to my MBP and merged with the Contacts on the computer. In that case all the contacts are double.

     

    How van I export/archive contacts from iCloud.com to a directory and not to my Contact on the MBP?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 10, 2016 3:01 PM in response to Audubon
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 10, 2016 3:01 PM in response to Audubon

    If I follow your steps the contacts wil be exported to my MBP and merged with the Contacts on the computer.

    No, the contacts will be exported to a file, which can be used as a backup if needed.

    How van I export/archive contacts from iCloud.com to a directory and not to my Contact on the MBP?

    By following the instructions in the support article linked to my earlier comment.

  • by Audubon,

    Audubon Audubon May 10, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I followed your steps successfully.

     

    I found out that Contacts also syncs with Facebook and LinkedIn. I unchecked all the applications.

     

    Result: amount of data still stays the same.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 11, 2016 7:01 AM in response to Audubon
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 11, 2016 7:01 AM in response to Audubon

    Contacts, and other applications that use its database, may not work reliably if you sync the database with more than one network service, as you're doing. I suggest that you consolidate all your contacts in one network account. Then see below.

     

    Please quit Contacts and disable Contacts sync again. Move the AddressBook folder to the Desktop. Reenable the sync and test. If all your contacts reappear, you can delete the folder you moved.