When I update Contacts on iCloud, the change is reflected immediately on my iPhone, but not on my Mac. I know how to force sync Contacts on iOS (swipe down in Groups), but can't find anything on force syncing Contacts on a Mac. Does anyone know?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12), Late-2013
YOu can try toggling off/on the contacts in
>System Preferences>iCloud>Contacts
The next step is to signout of iCloud, then back in again usually jump starts the sync.
It can be done in Mac , open system preferences > icloud > sign out and again sign in with the Apple ID and its password , for better results a Mac user must click on keep a copy as the data will get saved as archive folder in home folder
see this article macOS Sierra: If you sign out of iCloud
Before we confuse anyone else, this is about force syncing (or instant syncing, or manually syncing) over iCloud (no cables), initiated by the user. This can be done from iOS devices. Apparently it can't be done on the Mac side of things.
The contacts and all other data like notes , calendars ... are saved on iCloud servers and at present there is no feature of refreshing contacts .( and the process is syncing ) .
What observed and experienced is if the data is massive it will always take time to sync and the network speed also counts , any expectations or thoughts can be sent through a link Product Feedback - Apple
Thank you, though is there a way to do this on a more regular basis, the equivalent of swiping down in Groups while in Contacts on the iPhone? Say, when I've updated a contact on my Mac first (for various reasons), and it still hasn't synced to my iPhone, and I have to leave the house...
This was already stated. I'm looking for the instantaneous equivalent of a 'refresh' button, not something that requires maintenance and file saving to execute. You can do this in a hot second on iOS devices, and command-R or View > Refresh Calendars on Mac's Calendar. Nothing like this I can see for Contacts.
His solution should fix it. It should be automatically sync'd without any user intervention.
If it is not updating almost instantly, and both devices are connected to iCloud, then something else is wrong with your Mac or iPhone. I've never had to force it to sync.
For syncing contacts , the two devices must be connected to network and usb cable must be connected with two devices , in Mac system preferences - iCloud - the box for safari must be checked , high network speed is essential .
See this article Keep your contacts up to date on all of your devices with iCloud - Apple Support
How does one force sync Contacts on a Mac?
