contacts disappeared in Sierra upgrade

I didn't back up my files before upgrading, and wouldn't have thought to export the contacts even if I had. I did find an ancient contacts file with abbu as part of its name that had been bzip-ed, but it was not helpful. I use Time Machine, So in principle everything should be there.

The problem seems to be that stuff got moved to iCloud without my understanding that's where it was. I try very hard not to use iCloud because I like to know where my data live, but occasionally one or another of my devices somehow connects. My solution was to turn on iCloud, restore my contacts, archive them locally and turn iCloud back off. Hope I didn't lose something else in the process.

PS

To the person who edited my "rant", know I have been a proponent and owner of many Apple products since 1984, and am a stockholder. When Apple aggravates me so much I want to return to my 800k Mac Plus, I think you would want to know that.

Always backup your drive BEFORE upgrading the operating system (OS X is now called macOS)

Big jumps like Snow Leopard to Sierra is huge but even going from El Capitan 10.11.6 to Sierra 10.12.x you need a clone backup. With a clone you can boot back into the old system in cases like this, where the upgrade failed and you need to go back and export your data.

If you don't have a clone backup it's time to start. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection.

Create a Clone backup:

A clone is an exact bootable copy of your internal drive. Unlike standard copying of all files to another drive, the clone software copies hidden files along with other in-use files that are not available when you copy over files to another drive.

Time Machine is not bootable. You could only restore from Time Machine

Software used to Clone:

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

Over the past 20 years I've always been able to resolve any Mac issues I have had by reading comments & reviews from the online forums. Until now, I have never had to reach out in complete "I don't know what to try next" mode. Maybe you can help Diane. You seem to know what up. I can't locate a solution after spending hours and hours searching. Like the original poster, I just upgraded my operating system... 10.8 (Mountain Lion) to 10.12 (Sierra)... and I lost all my contacts. I didn't know to export an AddressBook ABBU file before upgrading or to make a bootable "clone" backup. I did create a Time Machine backup just before upgrading but cannot locate a folder named AddressBook in the location you specified above. Furthermore, and this is crazy, using the Search Filename option on the backup drive yields no files or folders containing the work "Address"... which is simply not true because I located a folder with the name "Address Book Plug-Ins" on the backup drive. I then tried searching for other filenames I know exist on the Time Machine backup drive... searching does not work on the backup drive... not even when I follow the directions on clicking the Time Machine icon in the menu bar > then click Enter Time Machine. Search Filename works fine on my harddrive... just not on the Time Machine backup drive. :-( And I'm no closer to a solution to retrieve my Address Book contacts. Any ideas?

Hi xoxosage,

I've got this problem and I just can't find a way to get everything as it was, all I get in Time Machine is 'ALL Contacts' OR one or the other of my 'Groups'. But I can't get them all together with my groups.

Can you advise me please?

makey.

Hi alex-h1, I also have this problem.

I've made a smaller leap, from OSX Mountain Lion (I think it was 10.8.5) to Sierra 10.12.4 and I just can't get round the 'Missing Contacts' problem.

How do I find this .abbu file? I followed the File>Import but I don't know where to look for the 'archive file' for .abbu and Spotlight wasn't any help!

Would you please help?

Thank you,

makey.

Hi Eric Root,

I followed your advice and, using various methods (like Time Machine and your instructions), I've not had any problem retrieving all my contacts. The problem is that all I keep getting is 'ALL contacts' but I can't retrieve the various 'Groups' that I had set up.

Must I sort them all out over again, or is there a way to get Contacts back like it was before?

makey.

Hello Eric Root (and others).

Eric, thanks for your tip on deleting several files from the Addressbook Application Support file. That really excited me, as I thought it was the missing piece... but alas, it did not help.

Like others, I upgraded to Sierra (currently at 10.12.4). Once the upgrade was finished, I checked my various Apps, and found Contacts empty/zero of my 6000+ contacts.

I didn't despair... this is not my first system upgrade.

I imported the abbu file, exported from before the upgrade to Sierra.

And all my contacts and groups were visible and accessible. Hallelulah!

However, when I quit Contacts and reopened it... all contacts and groups were gone.

I have reimported the abbu file now numerous times, and it always works, but the data always disappears when I quit Contacts, or shut down or restart the computer.

I have tried a few times now importing the abbu file and deleting the 3 files Eric Root specified, but with no success.

Any ideas how to get Contacts to retain the contacts and groups once they have been imported?

Thanks!

If the above doesn't work, boot to your Recovery partition (holding down the Command and R keys while booting) and open Terminal from the Utilities menu. In Terminal, type: ‘repairHomePermissions’ (without the ’s), hit return, and select the admin user.

Thanks Eric. I tried this twice, and interestingly, it failed both times with this error message:

"Repair Home Failed

Unable to launch the underlying task process"

I then tried the same process on my admin partition, with the same failure.

Any ideas on that?

Thanks dianeoforegon,

Great idea and thanks for the thorough instructions.

I created a brand new user and tried this.

It worked exactly like with my regular existing user:

I was able to import the ABBU file into Contacts.

All my contacts and groups appeared.

When I quit and reopened Contacts they were all gone again.

This could be a sign of a hard drive failure or bad sectors on the drive. It's recommended that you backup your drive. I suggest a clone backup added to Time Machine backup.

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/repairprocess.html

Create a Clone backup:

A clone is an exact bootable copy of your internal drive. Unlike standard copying of all files to another drive, the clone software copies hidden files along with other in-use files that are not available when you copy over files to another drive.

Software used to Clone:

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

You can boot from the clone and wipe your internal drive using Disk Utility > Erase. This can often fix bad blocks. While you can boot from the Recovery Drive, unless you have a backup of your data, Erase in Disk Utility will erase everything on your Mac.

Do a clean install of Sierra. Do not use Migration. This might bring over any corrupt files from your backup. Import your data and see if it's saved correctly. We can discuss how to manually bring over your data when you know your drive is working.

Just did what xoxosage did and viola! Contacts were back. I know a lot of people put down Time Machine backups, but I find them incredibly easy to use compared to previous methods. What threw me off in this case was that I normally restore a document. I don't normally open an application and then go into Time Machine. Anyway, thanks xoxosage for taking the time to make your entry. It was the prescription I needed.

I had this problem also, knowing the contacts where not lost because there are on the cloud. (not just this device) I went to system preferences signed out if iCloud. it asked me if I wanted to save copy, I clicked no on all. Waited then shut the machine down. Restarted, then went into system preferences logged back into iCloud, it asks for the system password then for the MAC and it then reloaded everything.

Log into your Exchange account using Safari or anther web browser. Do you see your contacts online in your browser?

If yes, go to System Preferences > Internet Accounts and uncheck Contacts for your Exchange account. Quit Contacts then open again. Add Contacts back in System Preferences > Internet Accounts.

The .abbu file is the extension used when you export your contacts as a backup file. If you have not created a backup, this is not an option for restore.

I'm confused. Which is my "Exchange account"? The Contacts (the Contacts Book) is where they were missing from. Surely they wouldn't appear in Safari or any browser and, if so, where would I look for them within Safari?