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dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

updated to macOs Sequoia now contacts gone

I updated to macOs Sequoia 2 days ago and none of my 1000+ contacts are visible in the Contacts App. I have an iMac 5K 2020, and my contacts are fortunately on my other devices and in iCloud. After searching Apple Support and the web, the most up-to-date (Aug 28, 2024 or last month) help was on iDownloadBlog (thanks Ankur Thakur) and I tried everything suggested (eg restart, force quit, sign out of contacts on my iCloud settings & re-sign in, rename the Addressbook folder in Library and even to copy the .vcf from iCloud and paste locally.)

Nothing helped. The closest I came was when I tried pasting the copied cumulative .vcf file from iCloud, there was a greyed out or ghost of my contacts visible for a moment behind the dialogue box, but it then became a repeating "No Name" 1000+ times after clicking the blue Import button. (confusing description but the best I could do)

Any ideas? Thx

Posted on Sep 21, 2024 11:44 AM

Top-ranking reply

Nick Peronti

Level 1

39 points

Posted on Nov 8, 2024 8:04 AM

Think I have this figured out.

I had multiple folders called "Contacts" in ~/Library/Containers/. At least the Finder was calling them "Contacts".

If you copy them to the Desktop you see they are actually named "com.apple.AddressBook", "com.apple.PeopleViewService", "com.apple.PeopleViewService.PeopleWidget-macOS".

Assuming you have all your contacts safe and sound in icloud, try the following:

Turn off contacts syncing in your icloud settings.
Close the Contacts.app.
In the Finder, click the Go menu then Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Containers
In there, look to see if you have multiple folders called "Contacts". Drag all of them to the Desktop.
Now turn contact syncing back on in icloud settings and open the Contacts.app.

Hopefully everything is groovy after that. If it is, I think you can safely delete those folders dragged to the desktop.

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66 replies

Oct 29, 2024 2:46 PM in response to jp_leif

Agreed. I can tell you that if you create an additional user on your Mac, the contacts do show up. But that still doesn't fix the problem...

AlWeir

Level 4

3,164 points

Oct 31, 2024 6:22 AM in response to jp_leif

Thought it might work. It's a Apple problem that they have figure out.

OCMG

Level 1

64 points

Nov 9, 2024 8:07 PM in response to dkkerr

Brilliant! Thanks dkkerr, for starting this thread, and Nick Peronti for this fix. Cheers all.

OCMG

Level 1

64 points

Sep 22, 2024 9:16 AM in response to dkkerr

Same thing here. iPad, iPhone, iCloud all show all contacts. Tried disabling and re-enabling the two accounts (iCloud-based CarDAV accounts) to no avail. Did not delete accounts yet, as all other apps are syncing correctly and was hoping for a less invasive fix. Can't believe that you and I are so special, can you dkkerr?

snf123

Level 1

8 points

Sep 22, 2024 1:56 PM in response to dkkerr

Likewise after updating to OS Sequoia - 'Contacts' not loading on my MacBook Air, but do on my iphone and iPad. Tried re-starting and switching Contacts on and off but to no avail. Not sure where to find an answer.

dougchia

Level 1

8 points

Sep 27, 2024 11:48 AM in response to dkkerr

Ditto here. Sequoia 15 wiped out all Contacts on my Mac Mini. I tried rebooting, signing out of and back into iCloud, and all of the other standard stuff. I don’t know if I’m going to bother with the more advanced DIY hack solutions since I’ve been so frustrated with how glitchy Contacts has been for me for years now. Not sure I even need it on my desktop. I also ditched the iOS Contacts app on my iPhone and now use the A2Z contacts app.

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 2, 2024 10:55 AM in response to jp_leif

Good point, thanks for clarifying: the Contacts are not "gone" in the conventional sense, they are being prevented from populating the application's fields. They are gone from view but still in the data base.

I am grateful that someone from the Apple Support team has heard that this is a glitch in the coding that will be fixed. Perhaps I will stop my fruitless attempts to get around the problem and just wait to see if that will happen or not.

I am curious about the steps you took to make the Shortcuts app reveal the hidden Contacts. Thx

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 2, 2024 11:10 AM in response to OCMG

Thanks for the question. I returned from my trip yesterday and followed the link provided by Apple (in follow-up to my hour-long session) to re-install Sequoia. However, I chose Recovery method Option-Command-R on Startup and that triggered Internet Recovery rather than the base System loaded on my hard drive on upgrade.

Regardless, as I waited for the re-install process the time blossomed from '2 1/2 hours' to '72 hours' (always a bad sign) and then got stuck at '50 hours.' The numbers themselves are meaningless but my conclusion is that there is an inherent error that re-installing can't resolve. I did try several times; part of the problem with this step may also be in my anemic Internet connection.

I am encouraged by Leif Jensen-Pistorius' post and will work without Contacts for a little while, although patience is a trait I dislike having to practice. Thx

Oct 14, 2024 6:48 AM in response to dkkerr

I've got the same problem after upgrading to 15.0.1. on my MacBook Pro M2 Contacts don't show up in the Contacts app. The Contacts App crashes when I try to add a contact. All contacts show up in Flexibits Cardhop 2.3.1. I'm able to add and delete contacts in Cardhop and they will show up on other devices in the Contacts App (2024 iPad pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and MacStudio M1).

MadMark

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2024 6:07 PM in response to dkkerr

Contacts OK on iCloud.

Contacts OK on iphone.

NO contacts on Mac Studio.

Tried all the usuals, restarts, logging in/out, etc.

Tried to restore DB from backup: No directory to place restored DB.

Tried to create a single Contact to force a recreation of the directory and the DB file.

Quit and restarted Contacts, crash dialog box.

Restarted Contacts, no entries still, tried to create another new contact: App quit silently repeatedly.

---------------

Wife updated and ZERO calendar entries.

She found a painful workaround: Change the time on EVERY entry and each reappeared.

After update a few, she logged out/in and it fixed her calendar.

All of her wallet entries gone.

All of her News preferences are nuked also.

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 18, 2024 4:49 PM in response to Axel Foley

Axel Foley, many thanks for this update and your persistence - especially the feedback/reporting to Apple part. Indeed one other poster also is actively participating in testing of software versions to come and his observations were the same as yours. Disappointing, but one can only hope ...

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 18, 2024 6:09 PM in response to AlWeir

Yes, hmm, interesting question. If I understand your intent, I would say it might have been that simple back in the old days (like System 7, 8 and/or 9) but not so simple now. When I worked the suggestions of removing ~System/Library/... files under the guidance of Apple Support (Sept 24th), I removed 39 files & folders including "Address Book" but then restarting did not change the problem.

It's likely in the coding. That's the best conclusion I can make without further information.

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 22, 2024 3:35 PM in response to bikinijack

bikinijack: yes, discouraging that we are not as squeaky a wheel as it takes to urge the engineers to look into our problem.

Regarding 3rd party contact databases, Fred Bock above suggested Flexibits Cardhop 2.3.1; dougchia suggested A2Z contacts app, but I have multiple devices sharing the iCloud CarDAV accounts and I am not as brave as Fred Bock in seeing if there is seamless sharing between native Contacts and 3rd party apps.

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 22, 2024 3:44 PM in response to bikinijack

bikinijack, I will also point out jp_leif's post with Alfred and Raycast, but as before, I have no experience with 3rd party Contact apps and I am reluctant to endorse them. Just answering your question. Thx

dkkerr Author

Level 1

84 points

Oct 29, 2024 5:00 PM in response to AlWeir

AIWeir, I do respect your input. But my experience (as summarized in the OP) started with that particular page, and didn’t help. Plus my multiple Time Machine backups didn’t help either; in fact trying to restore caused a shut down reminiscent of a kernel panic. Shame, since I was hoping that would have been why those Apple-created backup were invented.

But “user experience may vary”.

updated to macOs Sequoia now contacts gone