I did a Time Machine backup before I changed anything.
It was not possible to save the contacts as a vcard file (I could export individual vcards, but I would have to do that one at a time). The .abbu file restored everything. I also exported the iCloud contacts to a .abbu file under a different name.
Everything is working fine ... except Birthdays. Not worth losing sleep over, I think, just frustrating.
I just performed the following suggestion on the Apple Support page:
Turn iCloud Calendars off and back on
- Quit Calendar (or iCal).
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences > iCloud.
- Remove the checkmark in the checkbox next to Calendars.
- Close System Preferences and wait about a minute.
- Open System Preferences and choose iCloud.
- Replace the checkmark next to Calendars.
- Close System Preferences.
- Open Calendar (or iCal) and test to see if the issue has been resolved.
Still no effect.
I have already followed the instructions for Birthdays ( except the "wait a day" part):
If you include people’s birth dates in the information you have in iCloud Contacts, you can enable a special Birthdays calendar that displays them all.
Note: The Birthdays calendar must be enabled separately on each iCloud-enabled device where you want to use it.
- In iCloud Calendar, choose Preferences from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window.
- In the General pane, select the “Show Birthdays calendar” checkbox, then click Save.
The Birthdays calendar appears in the Calendars list below Subscriptions.
Note: You can’t modify birth dates within iCloud Calendar. To modify a birthdate, use iCloud Contacts; changes are reflected in iCloud Calendar within a day.
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So now I am waiting to see if any Birthdays wiil be restored, but I am thinking, considering the related issues that others have posted, that this is a either bug, or a conflict with sharing with multiple devices, or a conflict with a now deleted google caldav. The only device I am using is my MacBook Pro; the other shared devices are iPhones belonging to family.
That all the news that fit to print. Thanks for trying! -jw