I suddenly discovered today that my Contacts groups are completely corrupted. Groups with only a few legitimate members suddenly have virtually all of my Contacts. I'd like to use Time Machine to restore the files used by Contacts. Do I do this with Contacts open or do I open some library files and then open Time Machine?
iMac 27″, macOS 12.5
Hey there Gil,
We can surely help you restore items backed up with Time Machine on your Mac!
1. On your Mac, open a window for the item you want to restore.
For example, to recover a file you accidentally deleted from your Documents folder, open the Documents folder.
If you’re missing an item from the desktop, you don’t need to open a window.
2. Use Launchpad to view and open apps on Mac and open Time Machine. A message may appear while your Mac connects to the backup disk.
You can also open Time Machine by clicking the Time Machine iconin the menu bar, then choosing Enter Time Machine. If the Time Machine icon isn’t in the menu bar, choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Time Machine
3. Use the arrows and timeline to browse the local snapshots and backups.
If you see a pulsing light to semi-dark gray tick mark, it represents a backup that’s still loading or validating on the backup disk.
4. Select one or more items you want to restore (these can include folders or your entire disk), then click Restore.
Restored items return to their original location. For example, if an item was in the Documents folder, it’s returned to the Documents folder.
To read more about this process check out this resource:
Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support
Cheers!
iCloud restore Contacts. doesn't go back far enough. I need to go back to September 6, 2022. My email shows me sending email to a group of about 60 people in my biggest group. I need to restore Contacts back to that date.
In addition, Contacts has been really difficult lately. I start to enter a new Contact and as soon as I've entered the last name, I am seeing a different contact. I discover a column of no name contacts at the bottom of my Contacts list. Each time I try to enter a new first and last name, I get the same result. A new no name contact is added at the bottom of my contacts list.
The only way I can make a new contact entry is to do a save after both the first and the last name. Then I can continue entering email and phone number and other details. Unless I do the Done, the data disappears. I believe that my Contacts is corrupted in some way that I don't know how to uncorrupt.
We understand Gil Woolley,
Did you try the Time Machine method mentioned before? If iCloud Contacts don't go back far enough Time Machine would be your best bet.
Cheers!
Contacts Corruption in Mac OS
