Duplicate shortcuts keep returning (Settings>Keyboard>Text)

Question

Level 1

116 points

Duplicate shortcuts keep returning (Settings>Keyboard>Text)

For a while now I am encountering a very strange issue on my iMac (Yosemite 10.10.3):

In System Settings > Keyboard > Text, duplicate suggestions keep returning. See attached screenshot: e.g., there are 3 entries "lg", or 2 "mfg", "sg" and some more duplicates in the left column; each of them with several different replacement suggestions in the right column.

Of course, I have (several times already) deleted those duplicates from my iMac and only kept those I wanted to keep. However, the duplicates always keep returning after a while, and I have not the slightest idea where they come from. 😟

I was guessing that these replacement suggestions might get synced across from other devices via iCloud. So I checked all my iCloud connected devices: iMac, iPhone, iPad, and a second iMac. I found that - very strangely - test entries get synced over from iPad (Settings > General > Keyboards > Shortcuts) to iMac and vice versa; but not my iPhone. And - to make things even more confusing - those duplicate entries shown in the screenshot don't show up anywhere else than on my iMac!

Any idea what's happening here and what I can do to solve the issue?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Jun 11, 2015 1:43 AM

Reply

Answer 1

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Jun 16, 2015 3:22 AM in response to iCoco

No idea, anyone? 😢

Reply

Answer 2

Dalboz

Level 1

0 points

Jun 27, 2015 4:23 AM in response to iCoco

I have this issue and it is driving me crazy. Apple needs to fix it ASAP or I'm switching to Windows Phone

Reply

Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Jun 27, 2015 11:18 AM in response to iCoco

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

Or you can use your Apple ID to register with this site and go the Apple BugReporter. Supposedly you will get an answer if you submit feedback.

Feedback via Apple Developer

Reply

Answer 4

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Jun 28, 2015 2:30 AM in response to Eric Root

Eric, thanks for your reply. I am aware of this and I didn't intend to ask Apple, but rather I wondered if some Apple user around here might have an idea what's going wrong with this issue.

Reply

Answer 5

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Jul 13, 2015 9:29 AM in response to iCoco

Very interestingly, as I am just setting up a new Mac, these duplicate entries magically re-appear here again. As I'm setting this Mac up from scratch, this indeed looks like some strange iCloud synchronization issue. Of course I deleted those duplicates, however I've learned that they'll keep returning like spooks after a while. Very strange, indeed.

Reply

Answer 6

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Jul 14, 2015 4:46 AM in response to iCoco

As I've lost hope that I'll ever get rid of them, I am now trying to work around this issue by adding a "--" at the beginning of those duplicate entries. So if I can't delete them, at least they are now titled differently and won't get in the way any more, hopefully. Let's see how that works.

Reply

Answer 7

swxxii

Level 1

15 points

Jul 14, 2015 5:15 PM in response to iCoco

Don't give up hope people! There is a way to get rid of these but it's not for the faint-hearted. The issue as identified by other users is your zombie devices - devices you no longer own but still have their data stored in iCloud. Basically you have to accept that your Apple ID is corrupted. The shortcuts will re-sync until Apple gives us a proper way to delete this zombie data from iCloud. I have tried all your hacks thank you for the suggestions but nothing worked for me.

Here is my drastic but permanent solution.

Back data on your phone or iCloud. For me it was just Notes (there is a great AppleScript here)
Log out of iCloud on any Macs you own.
Set up a brand new Apple ID with a different email address.
Reset all your mobile devices (iPhone, iPad etc.) and log in with your new Apple ID.
From your new Apple ID, invite your old Apple ID to family sharing (choose enter a code as it's easier).
This will let you download your purchases from your old Apple ID via the App Store.
NEVER use your old Apple ID again. It is dead to you.

Reply

Answer 8

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Jul 15, 2015 1:26 AM in response to swxxii

Wow. Zombie devices. Yeah, this indeed would be an explanation. If that's the reason, your solution would certainly work. However, as we say here in Germany, that would be a bit like "shooting with cannons at sparrows". 😉

Thank you for this solution, anyway. Maybe I'll go that way, as I wanted to "merge" my two Apple-IDs for a while, anyway (which is not as easy as it should be, if I may say).

In the meantime I guess that everybody should use Apple's Feedback page to inform them about this issue.

Reply

Answer 9

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Aug 14, 2015 12:54 AM in response to swxxii

Ok, I followed swxxii's advice and switched to a new Apple-ID some two weeks ago. (Take care, everybody, that's not a small deal, you'll be losing some data, like shared photo streams.) However, yesterday those "zombie" shortcuts have returned again!! 😠 And they have kept returning, no matter how often I'll delete them. So I'd say it's not an issue related to my old Apple-ID - or both must be corrupted in the same way ...

However, on my iPhone (same new Apple-ID) only a subset of those shortcuts is synced, some are missing.

So I'm not at all sure any more what is being synced with what and what's not ...

Veerry mysterious! 👿😮

Reply

Answer 10

iCoco Author

Level 1

116 points

Oct 6, 2015 1:44 AM in response to iCoco

Meanwhile, I ve upgraded iPhone 6 and iPad Air to iOS 9.0.2 and my iMac is running El Capitan. The "zombie shortcuts" issue however still occurs. 😟

I've been clearing up the whole shortcut mess on all three of my devices manually, so for a short time I managed to have identical shortcuts on all devices. A few minutes later, however, they were messed up again on my iMac! Old shortcuts that I had deleted long ago just keep returning out of nowhere. The whole thing is very strange.

Reply