Macs & Device Contacts Not Syncing to iCloud

Question

Level 1

29 points

Macs & Device Contacts Not Syncing to iCloud

Today when I entered a new contact into Contacts on my iMac, it failed to sync with my iCloud account

( & correspondingly with my other Mac & devices). This seemed odd since this never occurred before & all of my Macs & devices have the Contacts app turned on in iCloud. When I manually entered the new contact enrty directly into Contacts on iCloud, it still failed to sync with my Macs & devices.

So after doing a bit of housecleaning in Contacts on iCloud, I thought that I would restore all of my Contacts entries from iCloud back to my Macs & devices. Starting with my iPhone8, I went to Settings > {my name] > iCloud & turned off Contacts. I selected Delete Contacts From My iPhone & then turned Contacts back on. However, only 30 of the 199 Contacts entries were restored to my phone. The same thing occurred when I did the same with my wife's iPhone7.

So here is my question: now that I have Contacts in my iCloud account up to date, how can I restore them back to my Macs & devices?

Thank you kindly for any help you can offer.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on May 23, 2020 6:58 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Eric Root

Level 10

684,681 points

May 23, 2020 7:27 PM in response to kitjv

Try going to System Preferences/iCloud (Apple ID for Catalina) and stop syncing by unchecking the box. Wait a couple of minutes, then check syncing. Allow time for the sync to complete.

Try Settings/Your Name/iCloud and slide off syncing. Wait a few minutes and then slide syncing on. Allow time for syncing to occur.

Last resort - have you tried signing out of iCloud and then sign back in?

See the Apple Support article below.

Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders - Get help using iCloud.

Reply

Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

64,788 points

May 24, 2020 12:16 AM in response to kitjv

The devices iPhones / Mac were signed in with same Apple ID and password on the same network .

You deleted contacts from an iPhone see the article ( read the last paragraph ) .

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT207207

just check out the contacts in iCloud.com using a web browser ( if they are in advanced section ) see the article https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud/mme6182cfc37/icloud

The restored contacts and contact groups appear on all your devices set up for iCloud Contacts.

For new contacts created that didn't appeared on the other devices read the article https://support.apple.com/en-bw/HT205754

Another method is export contacts as v card and then reimport in another device .

Take help of a web browser and enter in www.icloud.com with the apple id and password used in an iPhone , the contacts that were saved in will be visible select the desired contacts and click on gear icon in the left bottom corner and click on export as v card .

Open finder , click on downloads , right click on .vcf file and open with contacts .app( default ) .

The address book will get opened , a pop up window will appear stating are you sure you want to add number of cards , click on add .

Again open your address book the contacts that were in the iPhone will be transferred under the section “ All contacts “ in the Mac address book .

Sign out from www.icloud.com used with Apple ID and password for an iPhone .

Then enter in www.icloud.com with the apple id and password used in the Mac , click on gear icon and click on import as v card all the contacts will be transferred in the iCloud server , click on create group on the bottom right corner an untitled folder will be created in the side bar and the contacts from iPhone are transferred to the iCloud server account .

See some articles iCloud: Export a contact as a vCard from iCloud Contacts

iCloud: Import a contact into iCloud Contacts

iCloud: Create a group in iCloud Contacts

Reply

Answer 3

kitjv Author

Level 1

29 points

May 23, 2020 10:41 PM in response to Eric Root

Eric: As per your sugesstion, I first tried unchecking the Contacts box in System Preferences > iCloud & then re-checking Contacts. I then restarted the iMac. The same problem persisted: namely, only 30 of the 199 Contacts entries were restored to my iMac. Next I signed out of iCloud & then signed back in. Again, I restarted the iMac. Again, only 30 of the 199 entries were restored.

I also looked at the Apple Support article that you linked. That offered no solution either. The only thing that might be a clue is the fact that when I attempted to restore my Contacts from iCloud to both my iMac & my iPhone, the same 30 Contacts entries were restored. Hopefully someone might be able to help me with this! Thank you so much!

Reply

Answer 4

kitjv Author

Level 1

29 points

May 28, 2020 8:25 PM in response to Eric Root

Sorry for the delay in responding, but I needed to spend some time trying to better identify this syncing issue with iCloud. Here is what I have learned. I was able to restore my Contacts from my iCloud account using Export vCard. So my Contacts on my Macs & devices are okay.

But 2 issues remain. (1) When I enter either a new Contact or Calendar event on my iPhone or iMac, it syncs fine. However, the new Contact or Calendar event does NOT appear in my iCloud account. (2) When I enter a new Contact directly into my iCloud account, it will not sync with either my iPhone nor my iMac. However, when I do the same with a new Calendar event, it will sync with both my iPhone & iMac.

So, with my limited knowledge, it seems that the issues are related to iCloud. Any suggestions to resolve these issues would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Reply

Answer 5

kitjv Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 1, 2020 10:47 AM in response to kitjv

But 2 issues remain. (1) When I enter either a new Contact or Calendar event on my iPhone or iMac, it syncs fine. However, the new Contact or Calendar event does NOT appear in my iCloud account. (2) When I enter a new Contact directly into my iCloud account, it will not sync with either my iPhone nor my iMac. However, when I do the same with a new Calendar event, it will sync with both my iPhone & iMac.

I'm still having the above issues. What is particularly frustrating is the fact that newly entered Contacts or Calendar entries don't appear on iCloud.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you kindly.

Reply