Contacts missing w/OS X Yosemite upgrade

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I upgraded to OS X Yosemite, now all my contacts are missing. I do not know how to restore from my back-up. When I find it in back-up and click on it to restore it takes me to my applications and asked me to select a folder for the restored items, however it will not allow me to click on Contacts folder to restore it there, where I want it to go.
 

chscag

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What version of OS X did you upgrade from? Installing Yosemite should not have removed any of your contacts. When you say backup, we're assuming you're trying to restore from a Time Machine backup?
 
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And have you checked in the Applications Folder under the Go menu item Susie? Should Contacts appear there, simply drag the file to the Dock and an alias will be placed there. That is what the Dock is - a home for short cuts.
 
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I believe it was Mavericks- I think I upgraded to it from Mountain Lion.

The backup I'm referring to is my Time Machine backup.

I did find Contacts in my Applications folder, but it is also empty.

My contacts are still in my iPhone. Is there any way I can get them synced?
 
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This looks great and I thought it would work, however, when I went to the "info" tab to make sure my sync contacts option is checked it only gives me the option to sync from iCloud. My iPhone is set to sync over wifi.

I don't use iCloud because I don't trust it. I signed up for it a few years ago and all my text immediately changed to an asian language I couldn't read. It made me nervous and I immediately deleted it.

Is there a reason why iTunes doesn't give me the option to sync via wifi?
 
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Don't know as I don't use iTunes nor Cloud. Sorry but someone else may be able to assist further. Other suggestion is start saving to Contacts via 'Add Sender' option in Mail.

To get the Contacts icon on the Dock, open Applications Folder and drag it there.
 

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I don't use iCloud because I don't trust it. I signed up for it a few years ago and all my text immediately changed to an asian language I couldn't read. It made me nervous and I immediately deleted it.

Is there a reason why iTunes doesn't give me the option to sync via wifi?

You need to sync those contacts back using iCloud as iTunes will not sync via WiFi. Using iCloud is perfectly safe. Just make sure you have an Apple ID and strong password and use them to sign in to iCloud. You also need to set iCloud up in your System Preferences, iCloud preference panel. Be sure to select contacts.
 
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Contacts gone after Yosemite upgrade

I hit the exact same bug, or a similar one.

After upgrading my MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) from the latest version of Mavericks to Yosemite 10.10.1, everything appeared to go flawlessly — until I opened my Contacts and found it completely empty.

Luckily I have a desktop Mac Mini with my Contacts (I use ChronoSync to periodically keep laptop's Contacts synced with my Mini). In fact, the reason I upgraded to Yosemite on my laptop first is to make sure that there would be no glitches before upgrading my Mini. It seems that was a very good idea!

I first tried replacing the AddressBook folder on my MacBook Air:
Users/John/Library/Application Support/AddressBook
with a copy of this folder from my Mini. That worked, and when I opened Contacts all my data were back. Cool, I thought. But after quitting and re-opening Contacts, the data were gone and I was back to a fresh, empty Contacts.

Then I tried exporting the data from my Mini, using Contact's "Export…" feature. Then I had a file called:
Contacts - 11-21-2014.abbu
I opened my empty Contacts on my Air and used the "Import…" feature to import the data. That worked, but again, after quitting and re-opening Contacts, the data were gone and I was back to a fresh, empty Contacts.

This is extremely frustrating, to say the least. A pretty major bug, which renders my Contacts unusable.

BTW, I at no time was I logged in to iCloud. I do not use, and have never used, iCloud, for anything.

Does anyone know how to fix this bug?
 

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If you still have all your contacts intact on the Mini, give this a try:

Export the entire contact file to a Vcard file (vcf format). Then import that vcf file into your empty contacts file on your MBA and save it. You may have to go thru the contacts and clean them up a bit but after using that method, the contacts should stick.

I've done that very thing with a large amount of contacts from a "dumb" phone sim card and it worked just fine. Once the contacts are in place you can sync them using iCloud drive. If you have an iPhone or iPad, that's the easiest way other than spending hours typing them in.
 
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… Export the entire contact file to a Vcard file (vcf format) …

Thanks for your reply!

But how can I export the entire file as Vcard? It seems that I can only export one card at a time (which would be ridiculous, as I have hundreds of contacts). I can't not have a single card selected when I try to do this export, no matter what I do.
 

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The entire contacts file will export as one vcf file. Give it a try.....
 
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Yes, thanks, I did get it to export into a file called:
ADFAC -Sam and 785 others.vcf

But when I import it, it says "Importing Vcard…" and takes a tad less than one second for the progress bar to finish, and then, you guessed it, still an empty Contacts.

Any other suggestions?
 
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You know, having iCloud probably would have prevented the issue in the first place ...

(not saying its not a bug or that it shouldn't be fixed)

For the record, I haven't seen this problem occur on any of the machines I have upgraded to Yosemite. But then I follow a very strict upgrade regimen of backups and OnyX repair before such things.
 
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OK, now I've fixed it … mostly …

The solution is to use the Vcard format — but it only works after first completely wiping out the AddressBook folder in the Applications Support folder.

In other words, first delete (or rename if that makes you nervous) the folder called AddressBook in Application Support, as in:
Users/[username[/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

Then, launch Contacts (and a fresh AddressBook folder will be re-created). Of course there will be no one in your Contact list (except a card for Apple and maybe yourself).

Now you can import the Vcard file, and all the contacts will be restored — and actually still be there after you quit and relaunch Contacts.

Yay! But …
All groups will be lost. I had quite a number of contacts in quite a number of groups, and it will be a major pain to re-create all the groups from scratch. But I guess that's better than losing everything.

BTW, importing a Contacts "archive" format file into a fresh AddressBook folder doesn't work; the data will all be lost the next time you lauch Contacts. Only after using the Vcard format import will the data not disappear.

So I appreciate the Vcard idea. I just wish there was a way to keep the groups data, too.

Does anyone know if Apple will actually fix this bug?
 
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chscag

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I just looked over the entire Address Book folder. It appears there are actually two sets of data bases shown: One lists the new format for contacts, the other is in the older format. I'm not sure it's a bug but what I think happens is that during the conversion and update to Yosemite, data gets confused and it wipes out the data base. When you removed the entire folder there was nothing left over from before the upgrade so the Vcard file imported OK. Anyway, I'm glad you got it working.
 
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… I'm not sure it's a bug but what I think happens is that during the conversion and update to Yosemite, data gets confused and it wipes out the data base. …
Well, that's defined as a bug in my book. I'd say it fits the classic description of a bug, and a serious one at that. I've just spent the last hour re-creating my groups, so I'm a little bummed about it.

But I appreciate your thoughtful message. Thanks for looking at this. Any other insights would be appreciated!
 
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"iCloud" missing from the list of Groups in my Contacts

I've been sharing similar problems to everyone else but a key difference is this...

In the list Groups in my Contacts on my MacBook Air; "iCloud" is missing - only groups I have created exist, yet in Contacts on my iPhone 6, there are 2 copies of each group I created and the iCloud group.

Any ideas on how to resolve the issue please?

Many thanks!
 
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Contacts Restore in Yosemite via Archive. A way to make restorable backups.

Contacts Restore in Yosemite via Archive. A way to make restorable backups.
Here is what I did.
SITUATION: I have MacBook Pro and an iMac. I upgraded both to Yosemite recently. I think I upgraded the iMac first but am not sure. I do not have the iCloud drive turned on. My Contacts on the MacBook were OK at first. I added one Contact a couple days ago. Then this morning I found that all my contact data was gone except for the one card I had recently added. I Googled the problem and found this forum. I saw the advice about transferring Contacts from another Mac,if available. Fortunately, I found that my Contacts were all still there on my iMAC — including the one I had added. So I guess it had been syncing. So maybe iCloud had been on at one time.
SOLUTION: On my iMAC I saved an Contacts Archive. Go to Contacts. Make sure All Contacts is selected in the left panel. Go to File Menu, Export >, Contacts Archive …. This will create a file, e.g. Contacts - 10-13-2015.abbu . Then I copied the file to my MacBook. On the MacBook, in Contacts, File menu, Import — I selected the copied abba file and clicked Open. Voila! Everything was fixed. Note: To import you have to confirm that you will replace all the existing contacts. If you have some there, you want to save, you should archive/ vCard them first,
BACKUPS. You can also export Contacts as PDF. Contacts, file Menu, Export As PDF …
And of course the vCard format as describe in this forum.[File Menu, Export >, Export vCard ….]
So I did Backups in three formats: Contacts Archive (abbu); PDF; and vCard. I made a Contacts Archive folder in Documents for them so the files would get backed up in Time Machine,
 

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