Contacts crash when I try to access old smart lists

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Level 1

18 points

Contacts crash when I try to access old smart lists

I have multiple smart lists in Contacts that are hold-overs from Address Book. Whenever I try to access them (click on them in the left bar), the program crashes. I cannot even delete them, because simply highlighting them (even using the keys to cycle down to them) causes the crash. Is anyone else experiencing this?

This is doubly disappointing because I hoped in Mountain Lion they would have fixed the smart list problems from Address Book. I sought to make a list of contacts that were not in other lists, and this smart list structure never worked properly. I had long conversations with their support people who acknowledged this was a problem that they would have to solve. It appears they did not.

Is there a way for me to delete smart lists that are in Contacts without actually accessing Contacts?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Aug 22, 2012 6:28 AM

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Answer 1

mende1

Level 10

93,694 points

Aug 22, 2012 6:31 AM in response to Mike Antos

If you have iCloud, go to icloud.com, press Contacts and delete them

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Answer 2

Mike Antos Author

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18 points

Aug 22, 2012 6:33 AM in response to mende1

Thanks mende1, it was a good suggestion, and I just went to iCloud to check if this would work. Unfortunately, the smart lists are not visible at iCloud.

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Answer 3

mende1

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93,694 points

Aug 22, 2012 6:37 AM in response to Mike Antos

Open icloud.com, select Contacts and press the bookmark button to delete them

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Answer 4

Mike Antos Author

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18 points

Aug 22, 2012 7:24 AM in response to mende1

Why are you proposing the same thing twice? I do not want to delete my contacts, I need to delete smart lists.

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Answer 5

mende1

Level 10

93,694 points

Aug 22, 2012 7:26 AM in response to Mike Antos

Sorry. I don't know how to delete the list without crash Contacts application

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Answer 6

captfred

Level 7

26,556 points

Aug 22, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Mike Antos

The good news is that the "member of no groups" now works in Mountain Lion.

The first thing I'd do is make a backup of your contacts in the event things go south. In Contacts > File > Export.. > Contacts Archive.. > Save it on your desktop where it's easy to find and import if needed later.

Quit Contacts, Then I'd try deleting com.apple.AddressBook.plist located in

~/Library/Preferences

This library is hidden but can be opened in Finder > Go > hold the option key down > select Library.

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Answer 7

Mike Antos Author

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18 points

Aug 22, 2012 10:11 PM in response to captfred

Hey captfred, that action helped me solve the problem that Contacts would not open because it was trying to restore itself to a condition where it is viewing one of my old smart lists (and therefore crashing). It did not, however, erase those old smart lists, so they are still there threatening a crash whenever I click on them. Other thoughts?

And, thanks for the help!

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Answer 8

Mike Antos Author

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18 points

Aug 22, 2012 10:24 PM in response to Mike Antos

So, I tried exporting to an archive, and then deleting all my contacts. Once the address book was empty of contacts, I was able to delete the old smart lists. However, when I restored from the archive I also got the smart lists back...(in every case but this one that seems like a helpful feature).

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Answer 9

Mike Antos Author

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18 points

Aug 22, 2012 10:51 PM in response to Mike Antos

Okay, through a harrowing process of exporting my contacts, disconnecting from the internet, deleting everything, deleting my icloud account, loading the archive to On My Mac storage, then deleting my contacts at icloud before recreating my icloud account in Contacts - I managed to get the old lists deleted.

So, problem mostly solved.

captfred, while I still have you? You suggested that the "member of no groups" now works. I am unable to get it to perform properly. Could you point me to a thread where I can find the how-to?

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Answer 10

captfred

Level 7

26,556 points

Aug 23, 2012 4:41 AM in response to Mike Antos

I just made a smart group like this:

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Answer 11

Sep 26, 2012 9:09 AM in response to captfred

I am having a similar problem, related to Contacts, not with old but with brand new Smart Groups.

This morning, I tried to add a Smart Group using the OSX 10.8.2 Contacts app, but upon hitting OK, the program froze.

Your suggested list of steps to remove the offending smartlist begins by exporting the contacts to a separate file. Since, at the moment, the contacts app is unable to load without freezing immediately, the option of exporting the contacts to a file is not available.

How bout the simple solution of having a program that works? If I create a smart group it should just work! Not cause the freezing of the app! OK now having said that. Any suggestions for how to either use Smart Groups or Eliminate them (perhaps using third party apps to clean up the Smart Group mess?).

Thanks

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Answer 12

Dec 26, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Mike Antos

I had the same issue.

After working through with Apple telephone support, my issue was resolved by:

1. System Preferences/iCloud, uncheck contacts.

2. Re-enable contacts in iCloud.

3. Successfully delted rogue Smart Group.

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