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Level 1

40 points

High Sierra contacts not working

Hope someone can help. I am trying to use Contacts on my Mac since upgrading to High Sierra.

I keep my contacts in iCloud.

Whenever I open Contacts, no window opens. It changes the menu bar to Contacts but nothing happens. Right clicking the dock icon says "Application Not Responding".

I unchecked contacts in iCloud (System Preferences > iCloud) and was then able to open contacts. The second I re-enabled contacts in iCloud and immediately the app froze again.

Is anyone else having this issue? I'd love to know how to fix it - I use contacts all the time.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), macOS High Sierra (10.13), null

Posted on Oct 11, 2017 6:55 PM

Best reply

dianeoforegon

Level 5

7,287 points

Posted on Oct 11, 2017 7:01 PM

Start with this fix:

Quit Contacts.app
Go to User’s Library.
Navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook
Make a backup copy of this entire "AddressBook" folder. (in case things goes wrong.
Delete the file AddressBook-v22.abcddb
Restart Contacts app (on Mac) and this file will be repopulated.

Dave Sag posted these steps that fixed sync for him. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8086745?answerId=32374121022#32374121022

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

Another user posted this fix:

I logged in to iCloud.com, and under Settings > Advanced chose "Restore Contacts", and then restored the contacts from a backup that iCloud.com had automatically performed yesterday. Then, all my contacts appeared on my iMac. Do note that all contacts that have been added after the backup will be lost.

Show User's Library

The User's Library folder is hidden by default. To unhide:

Option 1) Select the Finder in the Dock. Under Go in the Menu bar > hold down the Option key and you’ll see the Library.

Option 2) You can also select the Home folder in the sidebar of a Finder window.

Pull down the “View” menu and select “Show View Options”

Check the box for “Show Library Folder”

View in context

126 replies

Davo10101 Author

Level 1

40 points

Oct 11, 2017 7:29 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Thank you (again) Diane but none of those steps worked.

It seems to be an issue with the contacts app itself. My iCloud contacts are just fine on my iPhone - but the app on MacOS keeps giving me the spinning beach ball as soon as I re-enable iCloud contacts and freezes without letting me do any more. Funnily enough, google contacts are working on it just fine.

Oct 11, 2017 7:33 PM in response to Davo10101

My guess is after you deleted the items you didn't restart then empty the trash before opening contacts.

You can verify if Contacts.app is working by testing in a new User.

CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Users & Groups.

Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

Open Contacts.

Do you still see the issue?

Oct 17, 2017 9:59 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Hello, My Mac has been working fine since upgrade to High Sierra a couple of weeks ago. Sorted all my contacts last week.

Then tonight, same problem as Davo10101. One bounce, then nothing and right click shows app not responding message.

Tried in another user account on same machine and exactly the same problem.

Any new suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

Oct 20, 2017 4:33 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Yes, they are visible on the web, and work appropriately. They also work on my iPhone, and iPad, and a second computer that is running 10.12, Just not on my MacBook that was recently updated to 10.13.

The contacts app loads and within a few seconds goes to the spinning beach ball and indicates "Application not responding". Curiously enough I created a second login on the same machine using the identical AppleID login, and that newly created login works correctly.

I have reloaded the OS with no change. I have also and logged out and back into iCloud and contacts still hangs. I have also deleted the .prefs, and removed Addressbook folder in ApplicationSupport with no change in behavior, Booted in Safe Mode, and all the other suggestions found here. Annoying.......

mimizan

Level 1

8 points

Oct 21, 2017 8:05 AM in response to imanc-dan

Hello,

I have just reported this bug as a developer at Apple Bug Reporter. You could do the same, but be prepared to submit technical details. Open the Console app, under the category System Reports, you should see a Contacts_DATE_MACHINE.hang report. Right-click on it, select "Show in finder", and attach the file to your report.

Or else you can use the standard customer feedback system. See here for a list of feedback mechanisms : :http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/04/15/how-to-submit-feedback-and-bug-reports-t o-apple/

Oct 26, 2017 1:41 AM in response to Davo10101

Hi guys/girls :-)

I'm having problems with the Contacts app in High Sierra as well! Different symptom though:

I'm not using iCloud to sync contacts, only via Google Contacts. What's happening is that when I start to create a new contact, the entry disappears after a few seconds. I'm guessing it's when the OS wants to check/sync any changes, despite me not using iCloud for my contacts.

I then used my iPhone (iOS 11.0.2) to create the contact and within a minute I have my new contact in macOS Contacts app as well. The syncing via Google Contacts works as normal, which leads me to think, as others have, that the fault is with the Contacts app - as I'm not using iCloud for this.

I hope Apple recognises the bug and provides a fix asap. For now I get by using the phone as entry for new contacts.

mimizan

Level 1

8 points

Oct 26, 2017 7:14 AM in response to jwestveer

Apparently, the original bug report is #35087630, so any further report will be closed and marked as a duplicate.

On the other hand this means that Apple is likely to fix this bug in the next iOS update.

It has been known for long that major X.0 MacOS updates are buggy, with X.1 updates solving almost all the problems.

auxbuss

Level 1

31 points

Nov 2, 2017 2:42 PM in response to dianeoforegon

I've reported this a number of times to Apple -- it's been almost one and a half months -- so I surmise that they aren't interested. It's pointless continuing to report an error, diagnostics, and a proposed fix if the recipient doesn't not wish to listen or respond. I do not wish to be accused of abuse.

I am now more interested to hear whether anyone is seeing the same diagnostics I mention.

mimizan

Level 1

8 points

Nov 8, 2017 12:24 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Here is the cold, formal, and hollow answer I got from Apple:

Apple Developer Relations

November 7 2017, 6:37 PM

Thank you for contacting us. It has not been determined how or when the issue will be resolved. The original report on this issue, Bug ID 35087630, is still under investigation. We will notify you when it is closed. Please note that you will not be able to directly view the original report in order to keep its information confidential. We will do our best to keep you informed as new information becomes available. Please check release notes regularly for changes affecting this issue.

auxbuss

Level 1

31 points

Nov 8, 2017 1:54 AM in response to tygb

I've already performed a reinstall. It didn't fix the problem unfortunately.

I'm currently having to work with SIP off and suggestd unloaded. I'm not happy about this, but I really have no other option if I wish to access my contacts, which is about as fundamental an action as I can imagine these days. It's also been a massive time-sink trying to unearth the issue.

tygb

Level 9

64,588 points

Nov 8, 2017 2:12 AM in response to auxbuss

If you are talking about clean install ( cleaning the hard drive completely ) and after that no unidentified apps are installed the machine will be as in new condition also there are no issues in hardware .

In my system sometimes if an issue is there in any application and creating a new user account also not helps , then what to do its an immediate decision to install the operating system , also after installation cleaners , apps , anti virus are not be installed , that will create more and more issues .

This is an experience , but in the forum the members can only given suggestions , implementation to follow or not follow totally goes to the user .

And regarding SIP do not disable it by terminal command , let it be enabled .

Try to use the system in a very easy way , the more apps are installed probability of computer malfunctioning increases .

Thanks !

Nov 8, 2017 12:32 PM in response to auxbuss

I've seen this happen on a new iMac fresh out of the box. Logged in with Apple ID and selected sync. Nothing else installed. Sync failed. User had three other devices. Sync worked perfectly with one device but not on others.

The fact that is only affects some users and some devices is making it very difficult for Apple to track down the cause.

In the mean time, you could try adding a Gmail account and move your contacts to Google and see if that syncs properly.

auxbuss

Level 1

31 points

Nov 8, 2017 2:54 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Google are an advertising platform. The last thing I would choose to do is give them my private information. Many of us can't do that without breaking client confidentiality.

Regarding tracking the issue. It might help Apple if they talked to those of us who have the problem rather than ignoring us. They might find some of us have the chops to assist.

auxbuss

Level 1

31 points

Nov 10, 2017 3:18 AM in response to auxbuss

One more thing I found today:

If one attempts to open the Contacts app with suggestd loaded -- although behind the scenes it is failing with "Service exited with abnormal code: 1" -- then unloading suggestd while Contacts is unresponsive results in the Contacts app opening and behaving normally.

Nov 10, 2017 7:30 AM in response to auxbuss

I will try unload/load suggestd. Contacts could just be waiting for a flag that never occurs.

Nov 10 07:22:42 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22525]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:42 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:22:45 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22526]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:45 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:22:48 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22527]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:48 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:22:51 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22529]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:51 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:22:54 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22530]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:54 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:22:57 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22531]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:22:57 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:00 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22532]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:00 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:03 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22533]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:03 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:06 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22534]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:06 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:09 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22535]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:09 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:12 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22537]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:12 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

Nov 10 07:23:16 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd[22538]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Nov 10 07:23:16 sati com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.suggestd): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 3 seconds.

High Sierra contacts not working