Level 1

54 points

iCloud Contacts failing to sync after High Sierra

All of my other iCloud information synchronizes perfectly. Photos, Notes, Calendars, Reminders... But Contacts is not updating. The only account I’m using is iCloud. It downloads a version that might be a day old, but any changes I make are not synchronized back to the server.

I have tested my iPhone running iOS 11 and iCloud.com to make sure they are talking to each other, both ways. I can create a contact on both, and it will show up on the other consistently and instantaneously. My Mac, on the other hand, will never update changes in either direction.

I have attempted to disable and re-enable Contacts (with or without a restart in between), I have signed completely out of iCloud and back in (ugh), which seemed to get the latest Contacts initially, but then it failed to update after that. I’m now back to a stuck Contacts list. I’ve also disabled Contacts and deleted ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook as well as anything with AddressBook in the title in ~/Library/Preferences.

Has anyone else experienced this issue, and has anyone found a workaround?

MacBook Air, macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Sep 26, 2017 5:11 PM

Top-ranking reply

Dave Sag

Level 1

18 points

Posted on Oct 11, 2017 2:40 AM

I have found a solution that works for me.

quit Contacts
open ~/Library/Containers and delete anything with addressbook in its name
open ~/Library/Application Support and delete anything with addressbook in its name
open ~/Library/Preferences and delete anything with addressbook in its name
open ~/Library/Caches and delete anything with addressbook in its name
opened System Preferences : iCloud and uncheck contacts
restart your mac
when it boots back up open System Preferences :iCloud and check contacts

a little spinner spins saying "setting up"

Once that's done then open Contacts and wait. I have around 5000 contacts so it took about 10 minutes to fully sync.

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237 replies

Sep 26, 2017 7:37 PM in response to Rob Hulson

Glad this solved your problem.

Oct 2, 2017 12:09 AM in response to dianeoforegon

This worked for me too, thanks!

Oct 17, 2017 3:28 AM in response to Dave Sag

Thanks very much. This worked for me.

Oct 21, 2017 7:03 AM in response to Dave Sag

Even though it appeared that High Sierra would not allow certain files to be sent to Trash, the process still worked for me. Thank you!

Oct 21, 2017 7:19 AM in response to Dave Sag

I thought it had worked, but still not syncing between phone (iOS 11.0.3) and MacBook Pro w/ High Sierra 10.13 -

Hopefully, they're getting this fixed - terrible implementation!

kauai

Level 1

43 points

Oct 23, 2017 9:49 PM in response to donconnors

Did not work for me.

Oct 25, 2017 5:54 AM in response to Dave Sag

Same here. The solution above only worked once. Contact sync works between iCloud.com, iPad and iPhone, die Mac is completely ignored...

Oct 29, 2017 3:54 AM in response to Dave Sag

I have this problem too, and it’s driving me insane.

Oct 29, 2017 3:46 PM in response to kauai

You wouldn't loose your data. When you download the files, it's saved locally. You can put it back on the cloud, but the question is 'will the new data sync properly'.

Dave Sag

Level 1

18 points

Nov 1, 2017 11:19 PM in response to kauai

I updated today to macOS 10.13.1 and the issue is still there so I have also logged a bug at https://bugreport.apple.com/web/?problemID=35309521

Dave Sag

Level 1

18 points

Nov 2, 2017 6:17 AM in response to michaelandel

I've got thousands of contacts and most of them have pictures associated with them. This all worked fine in Sierra but not High Sierra.

How do you know it's the contact's pictures that are the issue?

kauai

Level 1

43 points

Nov 2, 2017 8:57 AM in response to michaelandel

I see no correlation to a contact containing a picture, and whether iCloud sync occurs from macOS.

In my case, regardless of whether a picture exists a new contact does not sync to other iOS devices.

Dave Sag

Level 1

18 points

Nov 9, 2017 5:44 PM in response to kauai

Alas I am still experiencing this issue after updating, on both my laptops.

Nov 13, 2017 1:46 PM in response to Rob Hulson

Unfortunately, this does not work either. Contacts will sync ‘down’ from iCloud the first time only. Groups will still not sync at all under High Sierra. We await a real solution from Apple…

Rob Hulson Author

Level 1

54 points

Dec 7, 2017 7:18 PM in response to chrisadamswilson1087

Very interested in what you find out. Contacts stopped syncing and now I’m starting to have Notes syncing problems as well.

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iCloud Contacts failing to sync after High Sierra