iCloud Contacts Sync Trashes My Outlook Contacts

You are obvoisly not running a PC, rather an iMac or sort. And I like how you use "if"... It is not a matter of outlook not being up to apple language, it's a matter of apple trying to get us Microsoft loyals to use their software. It's not outlook or microsofts problem. That's why we are frustrated!

For the record, I do run not 1 PC but 3. I build PCs in my spare time. I am also a power user of Microsoft Office, writing VBA code to automate tasks not otherwise handled so I have to have a pretty good understanding of whats happening in the background. Inevitably, those who didn't create a data backup of their contacts before starting to use iCloud and also run into the mass delete issue are out of luck. There is no way to recover the data. My suggestion is to broadcast on Facebook that you are updating your contact list and rebuild it from there.

This discussion is meant to help people to fix the problems that iCloud has created for all of us. I could care less if you wrote software for NASA, how does that help me?? Telling everyone they're SOL because of their own stupidity makes you look a fool... Could you give some usefull advise that might help someone, rather than you looking like an apple spokesman idiot???

I will give you advice on how to use iCloud or to make it work. You are asking Apple to give you advice on how to remove their product from your system. Can you see why they might be silent?

Is that what you get out of this forum?? We all have iPhones, iPads, and PC's... We want them to work together. Who said anything about removing apple software?? You are the one talking about backup! I want my old outlook contacts, which I figured out a way to resurrect, to intertwine with my new contacts and my devices... Why is this so difficult??? And don't tell me it's outlooks problem. Did Steve Jobs not finish the Job???

andrewfromyucaipa wrote:

That has to be the worst response ever... What good is installing and utilizing iCloud if you have to restore to previous settings?? Yes, back up is important, but if the software doesn't support what you are trying to use it for, what good is it????

If you think that backup is not needed you too are foolish, things go wrong, users make errors, what will you o when your hard drive fails.

Frankly I would never use iCloud with Windows, Office is awful and Windows only slightly less so, if you want iCloud get a Mac.

andrewfromyucaipa wrote:

You are obvoisly not running a PC, rather an iMac or sort. And I like how you use "if"... It is not a matter of outlook not being up to apple language, it's a matter of apple trying to get us Microsoft loyals to use their software. It's not outlook or microsofts problem. That's why we are frustrated!

The solution is to use Microsoft software (Exchange) with Microsoft products!!

Outlook is terrible, but it is much better when used with Exchange, why don't you?

Andrew, can you tell me how you worked around this problem?

I like the idea of a centra place to ensure syncing but I dont' like knowing that a contact or other could be deleted everywhere and its up to me to instantly know it happened with over 1500 contacts fat chance of that,

I heard that Google can be used like I cloud but with less issues do you have any thoughts on this as well as how you fixed your issue?

I have a notebook pc, an Ipad and A Iphone.

Thanks for your input.

I have been using the cloud for contacts since it launched. It works beautifully. All you have to do is save your contacts to a CSV file before you install the cloud. If you lose your contacts, restore from the CSV. It's darn nearimpossible to accidentally delete your contacts once you have the cloud set up.

Ok I don't know what i did but now im totally freaked out.

I was coping mky outlook .pst files as well as their long name file that looks to windows liek a folder that ends in .aplzod

I closed outlook to copy these files and rebooted

the next think I know when I open outlook the icloud isn't there and all contacts etc are gone.

OMG what did I do?

Do you have a backup?

I feel your pain!!! iCloud trashed all of my outlook contacts.

Would have been nice if the iCloud application would have stated" Oh BTW this will trash all of your Outlook Contacts". I don't want to hear any crap "Like if you knew what you were blah, blah, blah..."

If Apple knew what it was doing it would have pointed this out Immediately.

yenzerbob wrote:

I feel your pain!!! iCloud trashed all of my outlook contacts.

Do you have a backup?

Only the icloud and it is missing so much data it isn't worth much.