Problems adding a new contact since upgrading to high Sierra?

I spoke with a senior advisor at Apple about this bug yesterday who told me that it's a known issue and they are working on a fix to be rolled out in a future update but who knows when that will be so here are a couple workarounds I came up with in the meantime:

Workaround #1 (use the Google web interface when adding new Contacts)

Workaround #2 (using the Contacts App):

1. Start a new Contact but don’t enter anything besides the first name and then wait a few seconds until the undesirable buggy behavior happens (the card goes blank and a new “no name” card appears at the bottom of your list of Contacts).
2. Locate the new “no name” contact and enter the info you started entering in step 1. Fill out the card entirely and it should stick and sync.

Hope this helps someone else for now…

I've seen the same type of issue and have figured out how to reproduce at-will (and also how to now avoid). If you enter something into the "search" field and then attempt to add a new contact.. some short period of time later the edit of that new contact will abort and you will have some other contact already in your database open in edit mode. You can at this point click "done" without changing anything for the existing contact. The partially completed new contact might not show up in your contacts for a short while.. or you can close contacts and re-open to hopefully now find that new partially completed (because interrupted) new contact.. edit and complete the input of the new contact.

The bug has to do with having an active search first and then trying to add a new contact. Very common thing.. have new contact info for Joe Bug.. search first to see if already in contacts.. don't see him in your search results. Start adding new and then *wham* it aborts while in the middle of typing..

If you do not search or if you clear the search first before entering the new contact, it will not do this anymore.

So, there's the bug.. please now Apple - go fix it.

Now.. I've seen another bug.. which I can't replicate at-will yet.. sometimes I begin entering new info (like a name) into a new contact and the name is displayed backwards!! I'm not typing it backwards.. Jane Bug shows up as enaJ guB. Very weird...

My workaround to be able to add a new contact is a bit of a hassle but it works. I go into contacts >Click on + to add new contact. I then have to add any name. It will immediately boot me out and bring up a highlighted address that is already in my address or contact folder. Then I go ALL the way down to the end of all my names and find NO NAME for the fake one I was booted out of. I have to enter the new contact through this means. Click on NO NAME then for some reason I can add the new contact info and click done. It works. My computer guy has duplicated this problem on his iMac and he believes it is an Apple problem. He has reported to them for all that matters. All I know is this works and I can add new contacts this way. You have to create a NO NAME by trying to add a contact via normal means then click that open and add the new information. This happened after I upgraded to High Sierra. Try it and let me know. I am a novice but I figured this workaround for myself which is easier for me than to mess with technical fixes that I don't understand.

Um..re all of the above 8 pages on this issue: has anyone thought of opening Contact Preferences and changing Default Account to "On My Mac". I did after reading first 2 pages of replies. You guessed it - problem solved (for me anyway).

My Default A/c was set to my gmail address. As I don't trust gmail/google to handle my comms I tried the above and absolutely no issues as yet. (I have only just fired up a new Mac 5K 27, and am working through the details of set up from a Yosemite user backup. So far so good.)

It seems someone gave the correct answer to this problem.

1) Open Mac "Contacts"

2) Preferences

3) General tab

4) Uncheck the tab "show contacts SIRI found in apps."

5) Then uncheck iCloud Cardav In Accounts (leave Goggle CarDav checked.)

Worked for me. Now I am able to add contacts without them vanishing.

Thanks for posting this issue! I was having the same problem on my iMac. Was I saw jeffersons post on this thread, I recognized the same problem with a refresh every 22-26 seconds. I disabled my wi-fi, thereby severing my connection to the Internet, added my contact and it worked! I was able to save the contact without the refresh and once I saved it, I reconnected to wi-fi and the contact remained.

I am also using Gmail accounts in addition to my Mac account and so, there is most likely something happening when connecting to something external to your computer - like Gmail or iCloud. Hope this helps.

Same problem here. Everytime you try to create a card, Contacts create an empty card.

I found the solution. Make sure you have a backup.

First quit Contacts.

Then, go to the AddressBook folder in Application Support :

Users/your user/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

Delete theses three files :

AddressBook-v22.abcddb

AddressBook-v22.abcddb-shm

AddressBook-v22.abcddb-wal

Open Contacts.

Everything should be back to normal.

Hi there, amg1957.

I see that you sync the contacts on your MacBook Pro with your Gmail account. The issue happens when you try to add a new contact. As you're entering the information, the Contacts app seems to refresh and the information from the contact below is added to the new one you're creating. I'm happy to help.

How to turn on or turn off your Mac -- Restart your MacBook Pro, then test the issue.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac -- If restarting your MacBook Pro didn't resolve the issue, test how it responds in safe mode. If there are no issues, reboot normally and test again in your own user account. Remember this when booting in safe mode: Limited graphics performance in OS X recovery or safe mode

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac -- If the issue is also happening in safe mode, use this article to test another user account. This will demonstrate if the issue is isolated to your account, or if it's system wide. You'll need to set up your Gmail account for Contacts in order to test.

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

Let me know how that goes.

Take care!

I have exactly the same problem - can't create a gmail contact in High Sierra. My workaround is to create them as an iCloud contact, then copy it over to a gmail contact - however, it's not efficient and it's definitely a bug in High Sierra Contacts.

I am also having the same problem entering new contacts after upgrading to High Sierra. After a bunch of testing, here is what is happening very consistently:

1. Type Command+N to create a new contact. A contact called "No name" appears in the contact list and the cursor is in the "First" name field. Do nothing else. Wait 22-25 seconds and the area for entering the new contact refreshes to display "No card". The "No name" contact has been saved.

2. I can repeat number one but enter content in any of the fields and if I haven't saved the contact within about 22-25 seconds I get the same result as #1.

3. If I create and save a contact within 22-25 seconds it will appear in the contacts list to the left. However, it will disappear from the list a great deal of the time at the 22-25 second mark after having started the new contact. The "No name" contact will then stay in the contact list.

4. If I create and save a contact within 22-25 seconds as in #3 above, the chances of it being saved permanently is increased the faster I save. For example, if I save the contact within 5-10 seconds it often saves the new contact permanently, but not always. If I save the contact within 15-22 seconds after creating it, it usually doesn't save permanently but once in a while it will.

5. If I disable the Google account being synced by going to Contacts preferences>Accounts> and deselecting the "Enable this account" checkbox, none of the issues above present themselves.

6. The issues are repeatable after restarting, in Safe Boot mode, and after disabling/reenabling the synced Google account under Contacts preferences.

It seems pretty clear that Contacts is trying to sync with Google approximately every 22-25 seconds and something about the sync is going wrong and deleting new contacts most of the time.

No, it is not the only way. As someone else pointed out, just hit the plus sign to add a new contact. Do NOT type anything. Wait about 30 seconds until it kicks you out of the new contact screen, and scroll to the bottom of your contacts. You will see an entry that says "No Name". Just edit that one with the new contact info and it will sync with Google's servers.

asking to re-install OS for such simple add/sync issue is a non-sense. The problem is still there months later, not serious from both providers.

I choose to create my contacts within the google contacts page, then sync works fine.

Same here. I just disconnected my Gmail address from Internet Accounts > (gmail address) > Contacts.

For me, that's no problem because I never use that gmail account. I don't even know how it got in there in the first place. But many people do use it, so this bug is pretty shocking in terms of something that should never have gotten through QA, and Apple's inability to fix it is a bit mind-boggling.

I didn't upgrade to High Sierra until November. I had same problem yesterday when trying to add a new contact. No problems prior to upgrading to HS. I found a simple "work around" for what it is worth.

1. Click on + to add a new contact

2. Enter the EMAIL ADDRESS FIRST (and cell or phone info)

3. Then go up to add the name up top

4. Click done

I am not a tech person but I've been able to add 2 fake contacts to try it out plus 2 new contacts. It works. I just updated to 10.13.2 last night with high hopes, but alas, NOPE. The issue still is there. I will check this forum thread to see if there are any updates. I don't want to deal with Apple Support and am glad to keep this simple for now.