Can't sync contacts from Mac Monterey and iPhone 11.

Question

Can't sync contacts from Mac Monterey and iPhone 11.

Both devices are signed in to the same iCloud account.

I have followed all the steps from Apple Support.

but There is an unclear sentence in the Finder instructions saying if I want to sync contacts, I should turn off contacts in my device (which one is unclear).

Contacts is ticked in both iCloud accounts.

Each time I connect my iPhone 11 by USB the phone backs up, syncs my music but does not sync Contacts.

I have just edited contacts on my Mac to reduce it by 128 and change many others, so the change is significant amount of work. But the iphone will not sync.

I also tried ticking the box to replace all contacts on the phone, but just nothing happened. Not a single contact was different.

Should I perhaps wipe all the contacts from my phone?

If you reply, could you please state each step clearly?

Thanks and best wishes

JH

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Sep 3, 2023 4:29 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

chuckbl

Community Specialist

Sep 4, 2023 1:01 PM in response to jonathanfromlittlegrove

Hello jonathanfromlittlegrove,

The sentence you are referring to from Finder is advising that you need to disable the contacts option for iCloud on your iPhone in order to sync your contacts manually using Finder.

You can accomplish that by tapping on your name at the top of Settings on your iPhone, and then tapping on iCloud. You may then need to tap on the Show All option in order to see the toggle for Contacts.

Once that option has been disabled, you should then be able to adjust your contact syncing options under the Info tab after clicking on the entry for your iPhone in the Finder sidebar.

Hopefully that clarification puts you on the path to getting your contacts synced.

Take care.

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Answer 2

Lee_ms

Community Specialist

Sep 7, 2023 7:35 AM in response to jonathanfromlittlegrove

jonathanfromlittlegrove,

If you're using iCloud you can disregard any syncing dialogue from your Mac since iCloud handles that for you. What you'll want to do is make sure that all of the changes you are making on your Mac are reflected on the iCloud.com website. This ensure that your contacts are being synced with the database properly. If they are, the issue is likely happening on the iPhone's end. You'll want to make sure iPhone is up-to-date to see if that helps as well. You can learn how here: Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If the contacts are not syncing to the iCloud website, that likely means you're storing your contacts on the Mac itself, or with a different account. You can take a look at your contact lists to see which account you're adding contacts to in order to narrow things down. Here's a resource on how: View your contacts in Contacts on Mac - Apple Support

With that information you should be able get your contacts syncing properly. If you continue to run into an issue you can reach out for additional support here: Get Support

Take care.

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Answer 3

Sep 13, 2023 7:22 AM in response to Lee_ms

Thanks Lee

I checked the Mac Contacts - all the contacts and the groups I have made are subsets of iCloud.

I expect that means it is syncing them with iCloud - but I have no way to actually check.

My iPhone 11 is up to date/

It still had no contacts.

I still had no idea what steps to take.

The links provided were interesting, but didn't explain what to do next.

So I returned to chuckbl's reply.

How can my phone sync with iCloud, if I have turned off that feature in the phone's iCloud settings?

Now all the contacts have been deleted, should I turn Contacts on again?

So I turned Contacts back on in the iPhone iCloud and left it for a day.

Contacts synced.

Thanks guys - I got there in the end.

Jonathan

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Answer 4

Sep 7, 2023 12:34 AM in response to chuckbl

Thanks chuckbl.

So far so good.

I now have no (zero) contacts on my iPhone.

I've gone back to the Mac. It says its syncing contacts, but its actually doing nothing.

There are no check boxes for replace all, calendars or contacts.

So what next?

Cheers

Jonathan

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Answer 5

SnickZ.

Community Specialist

Sep 13, 2023 7:43 AM in response to jonathanfromlittlegrove

You're welcome jonathanfromlittlegrove,

We're glad we could help! Feel free to reach back out if you have any further questions or issues with an Apple device or service.

Have an excellent day!

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Can't sync contacts from Mac Monterey and iPhone 11.

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