After updating to High Sierra all my 'Contacts' info is lost. All my Contacts are listed in the left pane but the right side pane says No Cards. I've tried iCloud restore and most of the suggestions in the Community but to no avail.
Is this a case of best to wait for the next update?
Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.
Isolating an issue by using another user account
If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer or by using the developer’s uninstall instructions. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.
Safe Mode - About El Capitan
also Sierra
Safe Mode Startup – El Capitan. also Sierra
If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.
Copy the following Path and paste it into Go To Folder in the Finder (Go menu).
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/
Click Go
When the AddressBook folder opens, find these three files and delete them.
Open Contacts and see if your contacts are re-populated.
Thanks for your reply Eric, but unfortunately it didn't solve the problem. I can't even add a new contact. As soon as I enter the info the vcard goes blank. I am hoping Apple will fix this bug in the next version of High Sierra.
You are welcome.
Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.
Quit the application.
Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.
Restart the computer, open the application, and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.
If the application is the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.
Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.
Thanks for the try, Eric, but again no luck. Do you think this is the type of problem that will be addressed in future updates? Is there any way I can use a .plist from my older computer? Can Contacts be deleted and then reinstalled and just reenter the info?
Is this what you did when you tried the iCloud restore?
Go to iCloud.com using a computer and select Settings. When that page loads, look at the bottom left side under Advanced and see if you can restore from there.
How to Recover Files, Contacts, Calendars and Reminders in iCloud
Yes. I've tried several times with iCloud restore but it does not work. I've also exported the vcf file and tried to import that but that didn't work. I've tried to add a contact card but that doesn't work.
Thanks again
Hey Eric
I'm glad to say some progress has been made. I created a new admin user account and Contacts does seem to work in the new account. I went back to my regular account but Contacts is still not working.
I don't know why or how but I went into Contacts and started to delete some duplicate groups and all of a sudden some contacts started to appear. I then unchecked facebook, yahoo, and gmail contacts in system preferences and more contacts appeared. All seems well for now thanks again Eric for your replies.
You are welcome. Do you want to delete them or export and reinstall using commands under the File menu? Either way, you can reenter the data or create a new card.
I guess I can try to export and reinstall.
Thanks
Try the Safe Mode. Third party software isn't loaded.
I tried Safe Mode but got the same result. I signed in my normal account and there were no cards in the contacts. I did try again with the new admin account and the contacts were there.
You are welcome. I'm glad it is back to normal.
Problem with Contacts after High Sierra
