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Contacts doesn't sync properly between Mac and iPhone

Quite a few contacts on my Mac don't appear on iPhone Contacts. I tried making a minor edit on one of the missing contacts on the Mac and then changing it back to see if making an update would cause it to sync, but no luck. Is there a way to force a sync so my iPhone Contacts match the Mac Contacts?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 7:11 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 10:58 AM

Contacts uses the default mail account but if you turn off contacts for every account except for iCloud then they will always be synced. I am going to give you the step by step to get them all.


On iPhone -

  1. go to settings>Apple ID (your name at the top)>iCloud>turn contacts off - choose to keep on device. Do not turn it back on yet!
  2. Go to settings>mail>accounts>tap any account except iCloud - turn off contacts
  3. Go to settings>mail>accounts>tap iCloud - turn on contacts. Stop here on the iPhone until you perform the Mac steps.
  4. Go back to settings>Apple ID>iCloud>turn contacts on and merge.


On Mac

  1. Go to system preferences>internet accounts>tap iCloud account - turn on contacts
  2. Go to system preferences>internet accounts>tap any account that is not iCloud - turn off contacts.
  3. Stop there and go to iCloud.com


On iCloud.com

  1. Sign in and select contacts - make sure they are correct.
  2. Go to step 4 for iPhone.


15 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 1, 2022 10:58 AM in response to Dennis Shedd

Contacts uses the default mail account but if you turn off contacts for every account except for iCloud then they will always be synced. I am going to give you the step by step to get them all.


On iPhone -

  1. go to settings>Apple ID (your name at the top)>iCloud>turn contacts off - choose to keep on device. Do not turn it back on yet!
  2. Go to settings>mail>accounts>tap any account except iCloud - turn off contacts
  3. Go to settings>mail>accounts>tap iCloud - turn on contacts. Stop here on the iPhone until you perform the Mac steps.
  4. Go back to settings>Apple ID>iCloud>turn contacts on and merge.


On Mac

  1. Go to system preferences>internet accounts>tap iCloud account - turn on contacts
  2. Go to system preferences>internet accounts>tap any account that is not iCloud - turn off contacts.
  3. Stop there and go to iCloud.com


On iCloud.com

  1. Sign in and select contacts - make sure they are correct.
  2. Go to step 4 for iPhone.


Jan 1, 2022 6:47 PM in response to Dennis Shedd

Ah, that is a good question. I apologize it has been a long time since I dealt with contacts so please have patience with me.


  1. On the Mac when you go to system preferences>internet accounts - are the contacts turned on for those? I know you said iCloud contacts are on so I am not asking about that.
  2. in system preferences>iCloud>contacts - uncheck that, and then check it again and it will ask to merge. This should force it to merge all the contacts you have for the Mac. I am not sure how many contacts you have or how many you are missing.

Jan 1, 2022 6:28 PM in response to askbarnabas

The contacts aren't on the phone. That's what got me to post the question in the first place - some contacts in Mac Contacts aren't appearing on the phone Contacts. Your suggetions got to me to check iCloud.com, so now I know the missing contacts are missing in iCloud Contacts which explains why they aren't on the phone. The question is why aren't they transferring from the Mac to iCloud.com even though Internet Accounts/iCloud/Contacts is on?

Contacts doesn't sync properly between Mac and iPhone

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