I can't get iCloud to sync

Question

Level 2

176 points

I can't get iCloud to sync

I just upgraded to Lion 10.7.2 and I can not get iCloud to Sync. I have my iMac, my Macbook Pro, my iPhone and iPad. On all of them I have used my MobileMe ID and on my iMac and MacBook Pro it says that my address book account is iCloud/Enabled with Apple ID to xxxxx@me.com

I am able to see my iCloud information by going to https://www.icloud.com/#contacts and a newly entered contact does not show up so it appears that the new information is not going getting to iCloud. Since it is not getting to the cloud, it can not be propagated to other devices.

One question I have is does it make a difference of I use xxxxx@mac.com vs xxxxx@me.com?

Posted on Jan 29, 2012 7:33 AM

Reply

Answer 1

e2photo Author

Level 2

176 points

Jan 29, 2012 7:48 AM in response to e2photo

I would add to this story that if I make an entry into my iCal, it seems to sync very quickly. As such it appears to be a problem with the address book.

Reply

Answer 2

Jan 29, 2012 9:00 AM in response to e2photo

@me.com and @mac.com are the same thing and it shouldn't be any different - though occasionally the odd program will seem to prefer one to the other.

In Address Book you may have a group under iCloud and another under 'On My Mac'. Any contact you place in the latter will not sync to iCloud. You need to make iCloud the default account in Preferences>Accounts.

Reply

Answer 3

e2photo Author

Level 2

176 points

Jan 29, 2012 9:09 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

iCloud is the default account. Other suggestions?

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 8, 2012 7:03 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thanks, that worked for me! You saved me a lot of headaches.

I didn't even know the cards could be in two accounts. Wish there was an easier way to show which account cards belonged to, and more importantly into which account to create new cards than having to use the All Contacts page.

Reply

Answer 5

Feb 8, 2012 7:08 PM in response to e2photo

e2photo: I had the same problem. After changing iCloud to the default account, I also had to manually move all cards from my other accounts into the iCloud address book. Do this by clicking on the red groups button at the top of the address book. Now changes I make on my Mac's address book propagate to iCloud, and all my contacts show up there as well.

Also, for me, the setting to make iCloud the default account was under Preferences>General, not Preferences>Account.

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 8, 2012 11:43 PM in response to Fine_scotch_and_rum

Fine_scotch_and_rum wrote:

Also, for me, the setting to make iCloud the default account was under Preferences>General, not Preferences>Account.

This is a change from Snow Leopard's address book: thanks for picking that up.

Reply

Answer 7

e2photo Author

Level 2

176 points

Feb 9, 2012 5:06 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

I did all the steps listed in this link

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3998

and all the things mentioned above. I would enter a new name in my contacts, but it still would not appear in the cloud. A couple of days later, I had some other things to do and traveled for a couple of days. I shut my iMac down before I left. While I was traveling, I noticed that a contacted that I entered on to my iPhone, appeared on my iPad, and then on my Laptop. I was quite excited, but the new contact entered on my iMac was no where to be seen. I entered a new contact on my Laptop and within a few minutes it was on my iPhone and my iPad.

When I got home, I turned on my iMac, curious to see if the contacts I had entered while traveling would show up on my desktop. Within a couple of minutes, the contacts that I had entered while I was away showed up on my desktop! This was great news, but still the contact on my desktop that I had entered the previous week was no where to be seen. A few minutes later, it miraculously appeared on iPad, then Laptop and iPhone.

So for the moment, the problem seems to be solved (using iCloud with my address book). Been using it for about a week without further hiccups. I am not sure as to which of the things I did actually worked, but something in this thread plus the apple support link seemed to work.

Reply

Answer 8

Jun 30, 2012 11:22 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

I had the problem that you described. I have fixed it, but there are some unknown number of new or changed contacts on my mac that are not in iCloud. Do you know how to find them and sync them?

Reply