Address Book: Deletes new contacts made on iPhone, Can't delete groups

Question

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Address Book: Deletes new contacts made on iPhone, Can't delete groups

Hi all-

I hope I got this in the right spot; this is my first post in this forum.

When I make a new contact on my iPhone, my iPhone recognizes it and it syncs and everything, but if I open Address Book on my laptop, it automatically deletes any new contacts I've made. Also, the "Delete Group" and "Delete Card" options in the Edit menu are always grayed out now.

This has become quite a serious problem as my contacts are dissapearing every couple days! Is there any way to reset address book to it's previous state (of WORKING) without losing all my contacts? Anyone else have this problem?

HELP! (Thanks!)

Address Book-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.3), iPhone4, 2008 MBP, iTunes 10.6.1

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 10:04 PM

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Answer 1

MadisonP

Level 5

4,832 points

Apr 10, 2012 10:49 PM in response to lamboman2008

Greetings,

Backup your computer Address Book: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=AddressBook/4.0/en/ad961.html

Try:

Quit all open Applications
Go to Apple > System Preferences > iCloud > Sign Out (if you are using it)
SafeBoot your computer: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
While in SafeBoot remove the following to the trash:
- Macintosh HD > Library > Caches (contents of this folder, not the folder itself)
- Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.AddressBook (remove any and all files with this in the title)
- Home > Library > Preferences > ByHost > com.apple.AddressBook (remove any and all files with this in the title)
- Home > Library > Caches > com.apple.AddressBook (remove any and all files with this in the title)
  NOTE: To get to "Home > Library" in Lion: Click anywhere on the desktop and then click on the "Go" menu at the top of the computer screen while holding down the "option" key on the keyboard. You will see "Library" in the menu.
Restart the computer normally to take yourself out of SafeBoot
Open the Address Book -- See if the menu options are available now.

Assuming the menu items are available and you use iCloud Go to Apple > System Preferences > iCloud > Sign In

If the same issue occurs reply back.

Hope that helps!

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Answer 2

putnik

Level 4

1,179 points

Apr 11, 2012 1:26 AM in response to lamboman2008

Since the link in the previous post is not working, I suggest backing up your existing Address Book on the computer by selecting File>Export>Address Book Archive and saving the file to a backup folder (I do this for calendar, bookmarks and other archive data, just because I have OCD).

Perhaps you need to check the sync settings on your phone and the computer. The AB preferences account needs to be set to iCloud. It maybe that you are looking at the On my Mac version, which does not sync.

I hope it doesn't come to this, but the procedure for restoring AB from backup is discussed here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3861916?answerId=18075676022#18075676022

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Answer 3

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 9:38 AM in response to MadisonP

Thanks for the excellent response, MadisonP. Unfortunately, it didn't make any difference. (And I went through the steps twice just for added confirmation). =/

(For reference, I don't use iCloud. I much prefer a manual sync.)

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Answer 4

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 9:40 AM in response to putnik

I made an archive before I started messing with any of the cache and preference files as it was just in case =)

What's an AB preferences account? I don't use iCloud, so if it has something to do with that, then I wouldn't know anything about it.

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Answer 5

putnik

Level 4

1,179 points

Apr 11, 2012 9:53 AM in response to lamboman2008

I don't understand, how is the iPhone syncing to the computer, if you are not using iCloud?

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Answer 6

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 2:46 PM in response to putnik

I use the USB cable that comes with the iPhone. The one you use to charge the phone.

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Answer 7

putnik

Level 4

1,179 points

Apr 11, 2012 2:55 PM in response to lamboman2008

It still looks like iCloud is syncing back down and wiping your updates. Can you login to iCloud.com on Safari, and check you really don't have anything there?

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Answer 8

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 3:17 PM in response to putnik

I've never ued iCloud before for anything, but I checked anyways and sure enough, there was nothing there.

Also, I've noticed that if I add a contact on my iPhone and sync with the computer, it's all normal. But if I open address book on the computer, however, none of the additions or changes to existing contacts show up. When I sync my phone again, the phone erases all the new contacts and deletes changes (to match the address book on the MBP).

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Answer 9

putnik

Level 4

1,179 points

Apr 11, 2012 3:25 PM in response to lamboman2008

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity! I've not got experience of what you do, is it using iTunes for the sync process?

I presume you have checked the settings for syncing. It looks like it only works the one way, from the computer to the iPhone. Maybe there is a choice of direction?

Maybe somebody else uses this method...

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Answer 10

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 5:43 PM in response to putnik

No offense, but you're kidding, right? How did you sync your iOS devices before iOS 5 allowed WiFi sync?

Yes, it's the exact same thing as syncing over WiFi except with a cable. You plug one end into the iPhone and the other into the USB port, open iTunes, click on your phone on the left panel, and click sync.

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Answer 11

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2012 6:27 PM in response to lamboman2008

EUREKA! I've figured it out!

Quit Address Book
Go to ~/Library/Application Support/
Delete the entire "AddressBook" folder
Open Address Book and wait 30sec for the address book to automatically repopulate
...
PROFIT!!

Thanks for all your help anyways, putnik and MadisonP!

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Answer 12

putnik

Level 4

1,179 points

Apr 11, 2012 9:24 PM in response to lamboman2008

I just got a hand-me-down iPhone 3G when my son got his shiny new 4GS, so I never had these problems before, and now I am a full fledged iCloud convert.

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Answer 13

Apr 26, 2012 10:55 PM in response to lamboman2008

This finally solved my problem of being unable to delete a group. Thank you! I have spent hours on this one.

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Answer 14

lamboman2008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 27, 2012 9:07 PM in response to PeteMcCabe

Glad to be of help =)

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Answer 15

Oct 2, 2012 9:00 AM in response to lamboman2008

This was very helpful to me, I really appreciated it! All is well and errant group is GONE! I was a bit nervous about your advice, however, so I saved the a copy of the "Addressbook" folder to a temp folder on my desktop before I deleted it under Application Support.

It worked just fine, though, and now I'll delete the back up.

Thanks so much!

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