Contacts not syncing, iPhone > Mac

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Contacts not syncing, iPhone > Mac

Contacts entered on my iPhone (5s with iOS 10.2) are not syncing to my iMac (late 2009 with Sierra 10.12.2). or to Contacts in iCloud. Syncing in the other direction (iMac to iPhone) does work, This seems to have been a problem for some time.

• Both devices are logged in to the same Apple ID.

• In the iMac’s System Preferences > iCloud, the Contacts item is checked.

• In the iPhone’s Settings > iCloud, the Contacts switch is on (showing green).

• Syncing from iMac to iPhone does work.

Why then is syncing from iPhone to iMac not working?

iPhone 5s, iOS 10.2

Posted on Dec 29, 2016 7:41 PM

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Answer 1

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Dec 30, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Geelong Mac

Hi Geelong Mac,

I understand that you are unable to sync contacts from your iPhone to iCloud or your iMac, but it works in the other direction. I know that it's important to have your contacts up to date across all of your devices, so I'm happy to help.

Be sure to go through the information in the following article. Based on your description of the issue, I suspect that the key to your problem will be checking that iCloud is your default account for Contacts:

Get help using iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders - Apple Support

See which account your contacts are in:

Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner.

Deselect the All [account] option for any third-party account, like Gmail or Yahoo.

Make sure All iCloud is selected.

Tap Done to see your list of contacts. If you don't see the contact you're looking for, it's stored in another account.

You can import the contact from a third-party service into iCloud.

Set iCloud as the default account for your contacts in iOS 8 or later:

Tap Settings > Contacts.

Tap Default Account.

Select iCloud.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Cheers!

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