How can I sync contacts from my iPhone to my iMac via a USB cable?
I have found many articles on how to sync from iMac to iPhone, but I need to go the opposite way. Contacts on iPhone are complete, but about 150 are missing on the iMac!
Thank you for any assistance...
Bill
iPhone SE, 16
Except that contacts (and calendars) never sync device to device. All contacts sync with email servers, and 2 (or more) devices that share a username and password on the mail server will have the same contacts and calendar entries.
If your contacts are all associated with your iCloud account then it can appear that they sync to device to device through iCloud. But they are still syncing with the iCloud server. If all your contacts are iCloud then there is a way to recover them→iCloud: Restore contacts, calendars, and more in iCloud Settings
If they are associated with a different email account the email provider may have a way to recover contacts.
The one possible exception: Before iCloud, you could sync contacts and calendars between contact and calendar apps on a Mac and iPhone using iTunes and a USB cable. If you had done this in the past it might still work, but you would have to turn off syncing to any email server and view your contacts in the “On my iPhone” list in Contacts and Calendar. And make sure that’s where they are before you start, or you will lose them when you disconnect from your email servers. If you have iOS 16, as you appear to do, you can open Contacts and move all of your contacts to “on this iPhone” (if it exists) using the List feature.
Except that contacts (and calendars) never sync device to device. All contacts sync with email servers, and 2 (or more) devices that share a username and password on the mail server will have the same contacts and calendar entries.
If your contacts are all associated with your iCloud account then it can appear that they sync to device to device through iCloud. But they are still syncing with the iCloud server. If all your contacts are iCloud then there is a way to recover them→iCloud: Restore contacts, calendars, and more in iCloud Settings
If they are associated with a different email account the email provider may have a way to recover contacts.
The one possible exception: Before iCloud, you could sync contacts and calendars between contact and calendar apps on a Mac and iPhone using iTunes and a USB cable. If you had done this in the past it might still work, but you would have to turn off syncing to any email server and view your contacts in the “On my iPhone” list in Contacts and Calendar. And make sure that’s where they are before you start, or you will lose them when you disconnect from your email servers. If you have iOS 16, as you appear to do, you can open Contacts and move all of your contacts to “on this iPhone” (if it exists) using the List feature.
Firstly, thank you Mr. Finch.
That being said, allow me to elaborate on my dilemma. While syncing calendars between my Mac and iPhone, I must inadvertently removed most of my contacts on Mac's address book. Fortunately, the contacts are still on the iPhone.
Ideally, what seems to me as an option is to completely remove contacts from the Mac and replace them with the ones on the iPhone.
Alternatively, I could restore address book on the Mac from a back previous to me screwing up the address book. To do this, however, I would need to know where does OS Ventura store these files.
Any thoughts on the above?
Thank you again,
Bill
Contacts sync to email servers, not device to device. If you have the same email accounts on both devices you will have the same contacts.
Mr. Finch,
Thank you so much for the clear explanation and link to iCloud operation manual.
Best regards,
Bill
sync contacts FROM iPhone (iOS 16) TO iMac (macOS Ventura) via USB (No iCloud)
