iPhone won't synch with server after iOS7.2.1 upgrade

Hi rtiffany,

Welcome to the Support Communities! The article below will help you troubleshoot the issue you are having syncing your contacts with Outlook:

iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Contacts

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3998

Troubleshooting iCloud Contacts update or setup issues with Microsoft Windows (Microsoft Outlook)

If you are having trouble with a PC (with Outlook 2007 or later) and iCloud Contacts, try each of these steps, testing after each to see if the issue is resolved.

Note: iCloud Control Panel does not support Outlook 2010 Personal Edition.

• Verify that you are using a Windows configuration that is supported by iCloud.
• Make sure your computer is online. Attempt to view www.apple.com. If you can't connect to the Internet, your iCloud Contacts and events will not update in Outlook. Learn about troubleshooting your Internet connection.
• Open a secure website to test if ports 80 and 443 are accessible. Outlook requires port 443 access to iCloud in order to push and fetch updates to and from the iCloud Contacts servers.
• Open the iCloud Control Panel and make sure that you are signed in to the same iCloud account that you are using on your other supported devices.
• If you recently made changes in Outlook, and they are not moving to your other devices or vice versa, click the Refresh button in Outlook.
• Turn iCloud Contacts off and back on:
  1. Close Outlook.
  2. Open the iCloud Control Panel:
     • In Windows 8.1, go to the Start screen, click the down arrow in the lower-left corner, then click the iCloud app.
     • In Windows 8, go to the Start screen and click the iCloud tile.
     • In Windows 7 and Vista, choose Start menu > All Programs > iCloud > iCloud.
  3. Deselect the Mail, Contacts, Calendars & Tasks checkbox, and click Apply. Wait a few seconds, then replace the checkmark, and click Apply.
  4. Open Outlook, and test to see if the issue has been resolved.
• Ensure the iCloud Outlook Add-in is active within Outlook.
  • For Outlook 2013 and 2010, follow these steps to verify the iCloud Outlook Add-in is active:
    1. Open Outlook 2013 or 2010.
    2. Click the File menu.
    3. Click Options in the left panel of the Outlook window.
    4. Click Add-Ins in the left panel of the Outlook Options window.
    5. Look at the list of add-ins beneath "Active Application Add-Ins," and verify that the "iCloud Outlook Add-in" is listed
  • For Outlook 2007, follow these steps to verify the iCloud Outlook Add-in is active
    1. Open Outlook 2007
    2. From the Toolsmenu, choose Trust Center.
    3. Select Add-ins from the left column.
    4. Look at the list of add-ins beneath "Active Application Add-Ins," and verify that the "iCloud Outlook Add-in" is listed.
• Make sure that iCloud is not your default account in Outlook.
  • In Outlook 2013 and 2010, select File > Info > Account Settings > Data Files. If iCloud is listed as the Default account in the Comments column, select a different account and click Set as Default.
  • In Outlook 2007, select File > Data File Management > Data Files. If iCloud is listed as the Default account in the Comments column, select a different account and click Set as Default.
• Restart your computer. This may sound simple, but it does reinitialize your network and application settings and can frequently resolve issues.
• Learn more about managing Add-ins with Microsoft Outlook.

Note: When enabling Mail, Contacts, Calendars & Tasks in the iCloud Control Panel, part of the setup is to copy your Contacts data from the default Outlook .pst file to iCloud, and then remove the Contacts from the .pst file by placing them in the Deleted Items folder in Outlook. The Contacts data is then stored in the iCloud data set within Outlook so that changes can be pushed to and from Outlook by iCloud. Be sure you are looking for your data within the iCloud folder within Outlook after enabling Contacts in the iCloud Control Panel. The deleted file can be seen by viewing the Deleted Items within your Outlook Folder List. This is not iCloud removing your data; iCloud simply copies your data into the iCloud data set and then removes the local Contacts data by placing it in the Deleted Items folder.

I hope this information helps ....

- Judy

Sorry, Judy's solution is not the solution.

My husband and I both have iphone 5's. We both have Dell Laptops running XP Pro SP3. Neither of us use iCloud for syncing. (We only use it for FMI app.) We both have Outlook 2003. We've been able to easily sync our phones via iTunes (plugged in via cable) with no problems...UNTIL we both upgraded to the latest iOS 7.1.2. Something was changed in there to create the issue. Immediately prior to the latest iOS upgrade, we could and did successfully sync all contacts, the calendar, notes with Outlook 2003. Immediately after the iOS upgrade, we get the error message, and information is not transferred.

He also upgraded to the latest iTunes to see if that would fix things. (He was running iTunes 11.2.2.3. I am running that, right now.) He upgraded to iTunes 11.3. Nothing changed. Uninstall and install iTunes did not fix anything, either.

What was changed in the latest iOS update to create the problem? Is it possible to go back to the previous iOS, somehow? (Back-ups seem to be successful. That means the back-up file has been overwritten with the current iOS in there. So, we're out of luck on that one.) Suggestions?

Since Apple no longer supports Outlook 2010 PE, I can't find any info on what to do about Icloud upgrades that are pushed. Right now, the old version of Icloud works fine with Outlook 2010 PE. Any attempt to upgrade to new Icloud versions "fails". I am running fine for now by ignoring all upgrade requests. What I can't find is any info on whether Apple is going to fix this in the future, will the current version of Icloud be discontinued or should I embark on the painful path to use Google Gmail/Calendar/Contact as the intermediary to link Icloud and Outlook. Any info would be appreciated..