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Restore deleted address book contacts

I have synchronized the address book via iSync with my Sony Ericsson Cedar. The Sony Ericsson Cedar was empty and the MacBook address book had all addresses, that should be sent to the Sony Ericsson Cedar. While synchronizing all contacts on the MacBook were deleted! How can I restore the contacts on the MacBook? I can't find the deleted contacts in the trash.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 12, 2011 3:01 AM

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Posted on Mar 12, 2011 7:27 AM

You'll have to restore them from your most recent backup.

There are a number of ways to backup Address Book (Time Machine, Export Address Book Archive..., or vCard), so restore them whichever way you backed them up.

Once your contacts are back in Address Book, chose Reset Device in iSync to ensure the contacts go from Mac to phone.
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Question marked as Best reply

Mar 12, 2011 7:27 AM in response to _Stephanie_

You'll have to restore them from your most recent backup.

There are a number of ways to backup Address Book (Time Machine, Export Address Book Archive..., or vCard), so restore them whichever way you backed them up.

Once your contacts are back in Address Book, chose Reset Device in iSync to ensure the contacts go from Mac to phone.

Apr 11, 2011 9:48 PM in response to Julian Wright

I also lost all Address Book Contacts the first time I tried to sync my iPad2 with my iMac. I do have recent Time Machine backups, so I restored this file:

username/Library/AddressBook/AddressBook.data

from a suitable backup, making sure that Address Book was not running during the restore. I quit and restarted the iMac, but Address Book still shows 0 cards.

Any ideas on what I did wrong, or what I can do to get my contacts back?

Mar 8, 2012 12:41 AM in response to _Stephanie_

I just had the exact same problem. I went into iCloud on my iPhone, switched off contacts, selected "Keep contacts on iPhone". Then I went to iTunes, connected my iPhone to my mac and clicked on the Info tab. Just tick the box that says "Sync address book contacts" a=then hit apply at the bottom of the screen.

And there are some tutorials about iPhone Contact Transfer, maybe it can help keep you contact safe.

For PC: How to transfer iPhone contacts from iPhone to Windows

For Mac: How to transfer or sync contacts from iPhone to Mac OS

Hope this works for you.

Oct 9, 2013 8:16 AM in response to _Stephanie_

Thanks so much for posting that information - I had been trying for days to get my contacts from my iPhone and iMac to somehow upload to 'the cloud' with no luck - calendar seemed to upload to the iCloud okay and has been syncing between devices, but contacts just were stuck where they were. Anyway followed the tip about exporting the contact v.card file thingy, and then putting it back (on the iMac) and now my contacts are up in the magical cloud finally, and it syncs with the iPhone... At last!
So thanks again - it was really helpful for me (and relieved to hear that you got your info back after that drama too!)

Oct 20, 2013 6:55 PM in response to _Stephanie_

1.Connect your iPhone to the computer using the supplied USB cable; if you have a Wi-Fi connection, your iPhone does not require a connection. Launch iTunes if it does not launch automatically. The iTunes software displays your iPhone on the left panel under "Devices."


2.Select "Restore" from Summary tab.


3.Decline the option to make a backup by selecting "Don't Back Up."


4.Select "Restore" to confirm you wish to restore your iPhone. Your last backup, including restore lost contacts of your iPhone. Your iPhone will re-start and display the Apple logo.


5.Follow the steps offered by the iOS Setup Assistance for iOS 6 and later to clear the "Connect to iTunes" message. For earlier versions, leave your iPhone connected via your USB or Wi-Fi until the message "iPhone is activated" appears.

Mar 29, 2014 11:21 PM in response to _Stephanie_

I had the same problem so solve: I deleted addresses by accident. My situation: iMac and iPhone synced via iCloud, backups done with Time Machine.


After a few wrong trials i found the simplest and most straight forward solution:

  1. Open the address book using Contacts app.
  2. Open Time Machine and go backward in time: Contacts automatically shows the entries for that time stamp.
  3. Chose Restore in TimeMachine

Done.


(Restoring the Library/..AddressBook/.. did not solve the problem: After reconnecting to icloud the adresses got overwritten again)

Jun 10, 2014 2:31 AM in response to _Stephanie_

I do not know what program you still have the possibility via Gmail on your pc retrieve lost contacts from sony phone. For it opens Gmail, top left click on the drop down menu to select contacts. Once the contact list displayed (which should be empty for your case) you click on the drop which is just after "add contact" and you can request a restore menu.

Also, you can try the iPubsoft Android SMS+Contact Recovery.

http://bit.do/oQD9

Sep 11, 2015 5:49 PM in response to _Stephanie_

Go to Contacts > Preferences > Accounts. Make sure iCloud is enabled. You will see all your contacts in your address book.


Go to the File menu and export the data as an archive (This is just to be safe. This is an iCloud-specific archive.)


Go to System Preferences > Mail, Contacts and Calendars and uncheck Contacts. You will be prompted to save them to your Mac. Do so.


Look at your address book. At the top left where it said "iCloud" you will see the spinning caterpillar. Once it stops, "iCloud" has been replaced with "On My Mac".


While in Contacts, use the File menu to export as an archive. This will provide an address book archive of the contacts on your Mac.

Restore deleted address book contacts

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