Unable to add contacts to lists on iCloud on Mac

Hi,

I had the same problem today. I could add a contact to a list using the iCloud website and on my iPhone but couldn't on my Mac. Nor could I delete any of my contacts using the Contacts app on my Mac.

What finally worked for me was by going into the Contacts>Settings>Accounts>iCloud. I unchecked Enable this account then rechecked it.

When I unchecked Enable this account all my contacts disappeared and when I rechecked them, they all got downloaded again. After that I could add contacts to a list and delete old contacts.

Hope this helps.

I frequently have this issue. I notice it happens right after I create a new contact and then cannot drag it to a list. However, I have found that if I quit Contacts and restart, it always works after that. Seems like an annoying glitch. I hope Apple fixes it. And I hope this works for you!

The only way I found is to make sure your contacts are synced with iCloud online. Log into iCloud and click on contacts there. You will be able to drag the contacts to the correct contact group.

@Liteyear

I can't cut the story shorter – text but – time: Just read on reddit a description to delete all contacts in iCloud and so on...

I logged in iCloud.com, went there to contacts.

DID NOT deactivate sync anywhere locally or in iCloud.com.

Created a new group – very fast (<1s).

Then copied all members of the first of my old groups the the new – very fast (<1s).

Then deleted the old group.

Then renamed the newly created to the old name.

Repeated this procedure on all groups I had - 21. Needed perhaps 10 minutes.

After that - ALL preexisting problems gone.

ZERO.

Very fast actions in macOS.

Incredible.

This problem happens to me periodically as well. The solution to uncheck then immediately recheck Enable this account worked as advertised.

Thanks and much appreciated.

The quit-restart trick worked for me (after trying other suggestions that didn't work here).

It's annoying, but since I don't make changes to lists often, I can live with it as an ugly workaround.

Problems with syncing lists seem to have been around for ages (I found discussions of similar problems from over ten years ago). It may be that there's some gnarly problem with synchronizing over iCloud that I don't understand, but on the surface it's hard to see why this should be so difficult to get working happily.

Use the option key when launching contacts and try.

This was just the tip of the iceberg for me. Glitchiness returned almost immediately, whack-a-mole style.

I found this exhaustive solution on Reddit.

To cut a long story short:

1. Stop syncing on every device!
2. Delete all contacts on every device.
3. Use iCloud (which turns out to be the master, even if you've never used it before) to tidy up any left over junk, like duplicates and empty lists.
4. Re-sync every device.

But read the original for all the details - it's wonderfully explicit and evangelical in the joy that the outcome brings!

I also find that I have no problem if I create the contact within the list in the first place. It's then automatically put into the All iCloud list, as well.

This fix worked for me in Contacts (MacOS Ventura 13.7.1). After a year of frustration. It only took two mouse clicks to enable and re-enable iCloud; and it is scary to see your contacts disappear and then reappear. I have 1,569 cards in iCloud that I share across devices. Thank you.

I can now once again create a new contact and add it to a list on my iMac. I will report back if this reverts again.

I cannot do the above. I keep trying to drag a contact from All Contacts into a List of contacts and it won't work

TO me it's getting to the point that Apple clearly isn't supporting mac software very well... this is the most basic levels of functionality that does not work and requires some flakey work around due to lack of apple testing.

Hello K_Faith,

Part of these instructions from Apple make no sense to me.

1. In the Contacts app  on your Mac, select one or more contacts listed in the sidebar.

Is near as I can tell Contacts are not listed in the sidebar just lists/groups.

I can't populate my lists either.

Thank you!

THANK YOU! This is the only suggestion that actually worked for me. Apple Contacts is an unacceptably lousy piece of software, considering how long it's been around, and I'm researching replacements.