Why are my Contacts blank after importing .abbu file on Monterey?

Hello,

I had the same problem with an old backup that I couldn't import. I made a small python script that converts .abcdp -> .vcf (vCard) files, you can use it in a simple way (it only matters: name, surname, company, telephones, emails, addresses and notes).

Instructions

1.- change the file extension .abbu to .zip

2.- download abcdp2vcard.py file

replace codes for quote: " -> ", and single quote: ' -> '

3.- run the script with the following parameters

    python abcdp2vcard.py "your_abbu_file.zip/Sources/<uuid>/Metadata" "output_vcard_dir"

4.- select all the vCards and send them to the address book application

I have always been able to transfer the Contacts database from one Mac to another by exporting to .abbu and then importing the .abbu into Contacts on the second Mac.

BUT ... when I installed Monterey on one of my iMacs, I discovered that when I import the .abbu into Contacts on Monterey, the imported contacts don't show up. However, through experimentation I discovered that after I rebooted the Mac, all the imported Contacts showed up!

Try importing the .abbu and then reboot the Mac. See if that does the trick.

One possibility if these are On My Mac contacts,

Open ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook and delete these three files:

AddressBook-v22.abcddb
AddressBook-v22.abcddb-shm
AddressBook-v22.abcddb-wal

Those are the database and logging files that maintain what is shown in the app. If they are gone, it will attempt to regenerate them from the metadata folder.

That archive has not worked since they change the backing store to XML files. Previously, all of the files in that back up were Vcards which contacts can import. It cannot import XML files.

you should contact AppleCare and complain that you’ve lost data because you believed the contacts archive would be usable.

I’ve reported it several times over the years and I’ve done nothing to fix it

How do you know there is an "abbu" file, if you don't actually have access to it?

If it is an error message due to the abbu file not being able to be read, you can locate files deep in the bowels of the system with Devon Technologies Easy Find.

Keep in mind, always work off a copy of the file to see if it is manageable.

You may want to get an older computer that supports an OS that supports those formatted files http://www.dvwarehouse.com/ and http://www.macsales.com/ both have older computers of various vintages you can run older Mac OS on. Once imported into Apple's addressbook, it no longer is an abbu file, but instead an XML file. An XML file is like HTML only the markup is tags matching the fields of the addressbook file itself.

The fact the file doesn't import in Library -> Application Support really says more about the quality of the file sitting in that folder than anything else. It may no longer have the XML content Addressbook expects.

You are better off finding the last readable bootable backup you had, and exporting the file to CSV or VCard there, and then bringing into Mac OS X now from one of those formats.

CSV are simply comma delimited text files that Microsoft Excel can handle.

joesh2 wrote:

I exported my Contacts as .abbu files since a loing time (since Tiger). I've already changed OS several times, and reloaded my contacts with the .abbu backup (File > Export > Contacts archive).

Yes, it worked great until they changed the backing store from a vCard to an XML file. Contacts cannot import an XML file.

As for finding a copy elsewhere, I already have backups (many). I've always made copies using Crash-Plan and nowadays, Acronis.

If you have an Address Book Backup From when they used vCards, that should import.

An Address Book Backup is merely a copy of the AddressBook folder. There is a metadata folder inside of it that stores the individual contact files. They used to be vCards and now are XML. I can't remember when it changed--maybe five years ago.

https://www.cisdem.com/resource/convert-abbu-to-csv.html

has some helpful hints. I've not had the opportunity to try them, but once a CSV it is easy enough to manage.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/111422/how-to-access-data-from-a-mac-contacts-backup-a-abbu-file