Pam T

Q: contacts disappeared in Sierra upgrade

Spent the last three days going through the rigorous job of upgrading from OS X 10.6.8 all the way to Sierra today. My CONTACTS seem to have disappeared. When opened, there is NOTHING there. I tried two things:

1. to import the .abbu file that I had saved on my desktop and to iCloud

2. tried to export  the whole (unseeable) address book to the desktop

 

When I compared the data from yesterday's file to the file I exported today the size is exactly the same.

 

If all the data is there . . . somewhere on the computer . . . why isn't it showing?

 

I only did this massive upgrade so I could sync a new iPad to the version of iTunes required. Wish I had stayed at 10.6.8 as it seems as if Apple has dumbed down the whole OS by hiding all the functions needed to have control of your system.

 

Help is most appreciated.

Macbook Pro

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 3:47 PM

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Q: contacts disappeared in Sierra upgrade

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  • by alex_h1,

    alex_h1 alex_h1 Oct 1, 2016 5:21 PM in response to Pam T
    Community Specialists
    Oct 1, 2016 5:21 PM in response to Pam T

    Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, Pam T.


    If I’m understanding your post right, you upgraded from OS X 10.6.8 to macOS Sierra and now all of your contacts have disappeared. I know how important it is to have access to your contacts on your Mac, so I’m happy to help you get this sorted out. 

    You've made a big leap going from 10.6 to macOS Sierra, and a lot of things have changed since Snow Leopard was the most recent OS X available. With that being said, the way contacts are stored on your Mac is a little different now. In OS X 10.6, contacts were stored as an ABBU file in the Address Book application. In macOS Sierra, contacts are stored as a CSV file in the Contacts application. To get everything moved to Contacts, you will have to import the ABBU file. Follow the steps in Contacts for Mac: Import contacts, specifically this section:
     

    Import from an archive file (.abbu)

    Important: Importing an archive file replaces your current contact information.

    1. Choose File > Import.

    2. Select the archive file, then click Open.


    Another option, as well as something you may want to use going forward, is to sync your contacts with iCloud. iCloud is built right into System Preferences in your Mac now. If your contacts are already synced to iCloud already, signing into iCloud on your Mac and enabling iCloud Contacts should sync them to your Mac. Even if you don't have contacts synced to iCloud already, enabling this feature will make sure that contacts stay up to date across your Mac, iPad, and any other iCloud compatible devices you have signed in with the same Apple ID. Take a look at Set up iCloud on all your devices. The rest is automatic. for detailed steps on setting this up. 


    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

    Take care.
  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 2, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Pam T
    Level 5 (5,753 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Pam T

    Did you install Sierra over your Snow Leopard install? If yes, I recommend you move to a new User. There is a lot of "old baggage" in your User's Library. Starting with a clean new User would give you a better experience.

     

    How to bring back hidden features:

     

    Select a Finder window.

    Under View in the Menu bar select:

    • Show Path Bar
    • Show Status Bar
    • Show Sidebar

     

    My image shows "hide" not "show" because I have these options selected.

    Finder-show.png

     

    "Show View Options" Will allow you to customize the Finder item that is selected (window, desktop, folder)

     

    Under Finder in the Menu bar, select Preferences > Sidebar

    Check Home folder and any other folder you want. You can also deselect items like All My Files, AirDrop and iCloud Drive if you do not use these folders.

     

    Show User's Library

    Select your House in the sidebar.

    Under View in the Menu bar, select Show View Options

    Select Show Library Folder

    Finder-show-lib.png

     

     

    Now that you have the Sidebar added you can drag items to the Sidebar. You should see a blue line to show location.

     

    drag.png

     

    Removing items from Sidebar, Menu bar and Dock now require you to select "remove from..." or drag the item a longer distance. This is to keep you from accidentally removing an item.