Address Book Contacts Disappeared with new App Installation

Hello! I would LOVE anyone who can help me resolve this issue!
Yesterday, thinking it was smart to have another place where all my contacts would be backed up, I downloaded the Plaxo App for Blackberry. After following the installation instructions the application synced with my blackberry curve, and then I pulled up my address book to call someone I realized ALL MY CONTACTS WERE GONE.
They were backed up in the application still, but if I wanted to call or text anyone the number was gone. Any incoming calls show up as random numbers not saved in my phone book as well.
The random thing now is that when I receive a call, the number just shows us the normal xxx-xxx-xxxx format without a name. But in my call history a "name" appears from my contacts. It seems they are still somewhere in my phone's operating system, but maybe the app was corrupted and now the path is gone?
Any help is appreciated!!!!! I already tried the Plaxo support directly and they told me to uninstall the application, which I did - which did not make my address book reappear.
Desperately yours,
Ashley

You’re welcome.
All you have to do is copy those files & folders from the backup to the location where they should be, replacing any files with the same name that may currently be there. Your home folder is /Users/username/. And you must first quit any applications that may access those files.
Things are more involved if you do any kind of synchronization, though. Actually that could be the reason your contacts disappeared in the first place. In that case, the procedure would be as follows:
1. If you have a .Mac account and .Mac synchronization of Address Book data is enabled either in Address Book > Preferences > General or in System Preferences > .Mac, disable it before proceeding.
2. You may also need to reset the entire sync history (iSync > Preferences > Reset Sync History) to avoid synchronization issues if you use .Mac or iSync to synchronize your Address Book with other computers or devices.
3. Quit Address Book, Mail, and any other applications that might use Address Book for something. Or just quit all applications to be on the safe side.
4. In the Finder, copy the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist preferences file and the ~/Library/Application Support/AddresBook folder from the backup to the corresponding location within your home folder, replacing the files with the same name currently there. Alternatively, to avoid accidentally overwriting any files, you may first move to the Desktop the files that should be replaced and trash them after checking that everything is OK.
5. If your data has been successfully restored and .Mac synchronization of Address Book data was enabled at the beginning, enable it again, go to System Preferences > .Mac > Advanced, click Reset Sync Data, and choose the appropriate options to reset the Address Book data stored on the .Mac server with the data locally stored on the computer, i.e. sync data must flow from the computer to the .Mac server.

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Address book contacts disappeared yesterday out of nowhere... how do I -

Hi,
Address book contacts disappeared yesterday out of nowhere... on my new MacBook Pro Core Duo. How do I re-import contacts from a "Carbon Copy" of my old MacBook G4 address book? I have a perfect copy of my Hard Drive on an External Hard Drive. However, I didn't set up my new MacBook Pro - and can't believe all my contacts just disappeared yesterday...
Suggestions? Step by Step instructions?
Thanks in advance...!

You’re welcome.
All you have to do is copy those files & folders from the backup to the location where they should be, replacing any files with the same name that may currently be there. Your home folder is /Users/username/. And you must first quit any applications that may access those files.
Things are more involved if you do any kind of synchronization, though. Actually that could be the reason your contacts disappeared in the first place. In that case, the procedure would be as follows:
1. If you have a .Mac account and .Mac synchronization of Address Book data is enabled either in Address Book > Preferences > General or in System Preferences > .Mac, disable it before proceeding.
2. You may also need to reset the entire sync history (iSync > Preferences > Reset Sync History) to avoid synchronization issues if you use .Mac or iSync to synchronize your Address Book with other computers or devices.
3. Quit Address Book, Mail, and any other applications that might use Address Book for something. Or just quit all applications to be on the safe side.
4. In the Finder, copy the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist preferences file and the ~/Library/Application Support/AddresBook folder from the backup to the corresponding location within your home folder, replacing the files with the same name currently there. Alternatively, to avoid accidentally overwriting any files, you may first move to the Desktop the files that should be replaced and trash them after checking that everything is OK.
5. If your data has been successfully restored and .Mac synchronization of Address Book data was enabled at the beginning, enable it again, go to System Preferences > .Mac > Advanced, click Reset Sync Data, and choose the appropriate options to reset the Address Book data stored on the .Mac server with the data locally stored on the computer, i.e. sync data must flow from the computer to the .Mac server.

My Address Book contacts disappeared twice. Where do they go?

My Address Book contacts have disappeared twice; moreover, I can't seem to find them on Time Machine so that I can restore them. Is anyone else having this problem, and 1. how do I get my contacts back, and 2. how do I prevent this happening again?

Hi, open these Folders...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/com.apple.AddressBook/
List what all is in them please & sizes.
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

Why have my Address Book contacts disappeared after uploading to iCloud?

I am using my MacBook Pro w/OSX Lion.
After having many, many problems with contacts, calendars and bookmarks in MobileMe, migrating to iCloud, encountering a huge mess of duplicates and even completely missing contacts I decided to start over. So I disabled the iCloud account on all Macs and IOS devices. I then ensured all contacts, calendars and bookmarks were deleted from the MacBook Pro. I then used the Address Book export I'd made just prior to the migration from Mobile Me to iCloud and imported this onto my MacBook Pro. I've completely gone though the Address Book and removed or merged duplicates and cleaned up all contacts with detail. I backed up my Address Book again at this point. I then logged into iCloud.com using my original Apple User ID (NOT the MobileMe/me.com account which I'm going to vacate) and ensured that there were no contacts in the cloud and I deselected the default calendars here as well. My intention was/is to begin by starting small and deal only with the MacBook Pro Address Book and iCloud Contacts. So after I confirmed there is no data in the cloud I go into the MacBook Pro System Preferences > iCloud > Account Details ensuring I was signed out of the me.com user and entered my original Apple ID I've had since I started using iTunes many years back. I quit the browser and the Address Book and verified the non me.com user was saved under the System Preferences. I then selected Contacts under these iCloud System Preferences and I was asked If I wanted to merge my contacts with those in the cloud. Because there were no contacts in the cloud I selected yes. The spinning indicator indicated that the upload was occurring. Now, there are no contacts in the cloud and the Address Book contacts are missing. Thinking that my doing the Address Book backup may have removed all the data from the Address Book, I deselected Contacts in the iCloud System Preferences, reimported the backup into Address Book that I'd just done, confirmed the contacts I just imported appear in Address Book and I reselect Contacts in the iCloud System Preferences and again I get the spinning indicator. Again, there are no Contacts in the cloud and the contacts are missing from Address Book.
What the heck am I doing wrong? I've simplified my original attempt with iCloud by concentrating my efforts to just contacts AND I'm only using the MacBook and the iCloud cloud and I've still got problems. I thought this approach would narrow down where the issue lies and allow me to monitor the process more easily but I seem to be worse off than before I'd tried to resolve the initial migration problems because now I have no contacts.
I'm new to Macs so if you have a solution, please help and please give specifics because I'm still learning the structure and don't understand a lot of the acronyms and jargon.
Thanx

If you have a back up file, I'd try turning off iCloud contact syncing on all macs from system preferences > iCloud –
DONE
as well as any secondary accounts from system preferences > mail, contacts and calendars –
DONE (this was confusing but I figured out that you meant System Preferences > Mail, Contacts & Calendars which is what you said in lowercase. For some reason without the capital letters I didn't clue in that Mail, Contacts and Calendars was an icon option under the System preferences and so I overlooked it multiple times. I see your use of "secondary account" which I note used also as a term in the User Tip link you referred me to view. Although, I still don't understand what this 'secondary' account is, I'm not interested in any secondary accounts because I've got my hands full with just iCloud for now. I did delete all accounts under the Mail, Contacts & Calendars).
If you have any iOS devices I'd do the same on those as well. –
DONE (not even introducing other Macs or IOS devices to the equation until I get the iCloud and MacBook syncing contacts correctly)
I'd log into iCloud.com and check my Address Book was empty and empty it if necessary –
DONE (it was empty already)
and then delete all contacts from every Address Book on every device
         DONE
Then I'd turn Address Book syncing back on –
DONE (This assuming that by ‘turn back on’ you mean System Preferences > iCloud and check marking the box next to Contacts)
and import my contacts from the backup file –
DONE (This assuming that by ‘import my contacts’ you mean importing the previously exported Address Book back up file back into the Address Book. I see contacts listed in the Address Book when I did this.)
No syncing seems to happen at this point?
you might also take a look at this User Tip, to ensure you understand the differences between the different accounts in Address Book before adding the contacts back.
         I did read this but understand is probably not an accurate term for my interpretation of what I read. I get that On My Mac will not sync with what is in the cloud and iCloud will sync with the cloud. In Address Book under the single head red ribbon I see neither account heading that is mentioned. I also was not asked at the time of import to select which ‘account’ I’d like the contacts setup under.
A) If there is no indication as to what Address Book account the contacts fall under, how does on find this out?
User Tips states
Your Address Book when synced with iCloud will have more than one account.
     My assumption is that I'm not synced with iCloud if I don't see either account option listed. I also would think that if I'm not synced and thus don't have more than one account then perhaps the All Contacts default to an On My Mac account but don't reflect an account heading of 'On My Mac’ as seen on the screen shot of the User Tips example.
Furthermore, User Tips also states
Default Account
Your 'default'account is set in address book preferences > general (the option is only displayed if you have more than one account).
         It would seem relevant to list which account your defaulted to even if you do not have more than one account because elsewise how are you supposed to know which account it is setup under?
B) How do you change which ‘account’ your contacts are setup under if they are under the wrong account?
         Assuming again that my contacts are ‘On My Mac’, then how do I move them to the ‘iCloud’ account of which is not listed?
C) Will any of this be affected by groups?
The five listings under All Contacts are groups that I set up as a sort of invitation list (so Christmas cards is one I’d probably setup this time of year). Although this question is secondary I would like to confirm that my interpretation of groups is accurate. I understand groups to be a sort of tagging of selected contacts from All Contacts but that the contacts in these groups are not duplicates to those in All Contacts. Is this correct? I ask because the User Tips states
To quickly duplicate a contact, drag it to your desktop, navigate to 'Groups', select the account you wish to duplicate to, double click the contact on your desktop.
            When reading this tip, I interpret that dragging and dropping contacts from All Contacts into a group would be similar to what is suggested in this tip which would indeed ‘duplicate’ the contact. I did drag and drop when I setup my groups so I’m concerned I duplicated the contacts in Address Book. I do not see two copies of the same contact under All Contacts though.
By the way, don't take it personally –
I don't, I have reading difficulties galore and am happy to accommodate if I can. I hope this is better. Helping you helps me if you're not struggling to read when thinking about the solution.
Thanx

Address book/Contacts sync with Windows Mobile

Hi.
Curious if anyone has tried getting a Windows Mobile to wirelessly sync with Address Book Server and with iCal Server?
IMAP mail works great, but I have a client with mostly Windows Mobile phones and was wondering if there was a way to do this.
Thanks.

For a Windows Phone 7 you can use this http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/windows-phone-7-connector/id415571499?mt=12
For an 'older' Windows phone 6 this http://www.markspace.com/products/windowsmobile/mac/windows-mobile-sync-software .html
Stefan

Address Book contacts disappear

All of a sudden all my contacts disappear from the address book on my MacBook Pro. ì can get them back from Time Machine, but that's no use.
I now have a completely empty Address Book. When I create a new contact in the Address Book, it's there, but as soon as I create another one and save it, it takes about three seconds and the first created contact has disappeared.
The same when I restore my contacts form Time Machine: they are all there, until I change of add ONE contact. As soon as I save the changes, it takes about three seconds and ALL contacts have disappeared.
Recently I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion, but I can't remember if this 'contact disappearing' started at exactly the same time or just before or after this upgrade. Don't know how to check this.
Anyone any suggestions why my contacts keep disappearing from the Address Book?

Hey Barney-15E, you did a great job!
The phenomena in my case were a little different from the thread you mentioned, but after all it was Repair Permissions function (using Disk Utility) that made it all working stable again.
Thanks again!

Address Book not syncing with Google Apps

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did anyone manage to get this working ? i have a feeling its not out of the box...

Hi guys,
I have a similiar problem. My address booked has synced correctly with google contacts since 2 years
And suddenly it stopped syncing. Furthermore when I go to settings/acconts I still find
my "Local" account where i configured my google account, but now the right window is empty.
There is no button to edit or show this account !!
(I mentioned this after update to 10.6.8, but I'm not sure if it worked shortly before doing the update)
What could be wrong ?
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Address Book contacts disappeared after Mac OS X 10.4.8 upgrade

I opened my address book this morning to find it blank except for me and Apple. I did not delete anything at any time - the only thing I can think that happened between now and the last time everything was there was the 10.4.8 upgrade process.
The library/application support/address book directory on my home directory contains the following files (I didn't create them):
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ABPerson.skIndexInverted.285
ABSubscribedPerson.skIndexInverted
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AddressBook.data.previous (created yesterday, later than above)
Please help get my contacts back!
Not newbie - but I thought updates were supposed to be transparent.
Promise faithfully to execute backup in future.

researchta:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. If If yo can't get the machine to boot into OS X try booting into Single User Mode and run the File System Check to repair the HD as follows:
FSCK - File System Check
To start up in single-user mode
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the startup sound, press and hold both the Command (Apple) and "s" keys on your keyboard. The computer will display a series of text messages, at which time you may release these keys.
When the computer has started up, it will display a command line prompt (#). The computer is now in single-user mode.
How to Run the File System Check from the Command Line
Once you have reached a command line, follow these steps to use fsck:
1. At the prompt, type: fsck -fy (NOTE, there is a space between the k and the “-”)
The fsck utility will go through five "phases" and then return information about the disk's utilization and fragmentation. Once the check is finished, if no issue is found, you should see "** The volume <name of volume> appears to be OK."
If fsck alters, repairs, or fixes anything, it will display the message:
**** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ***
IMPORTANT: If this message appears, repeat the "fsck -fy" command until this message no longer appears. It is not unusual for your computer to require several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional errors. Run it until you get two consecutive times with an "OK" result.
3. When fsck reports that no problems were found, type: reboot
4. Press Return.
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Do you Twango?

Address Book contact disappeared.

Hi all,
Just now I had to force quit Mail because it wasn't responding. Then a few minuted later I had to get a contact and noticed there were no entries!
I restarted Address Book and still nothing. I'm scared, please don't tell me I lost everything, because of course I haven't backed it up.
But under Application Support the AB file is only 2MB, which seems kinda small to me, but under Images there are quite a few files, so I'm assuming it's my contacts images.
Any help is greatly needed, thanks.

Why doesn't somebody at Apple respond with a fix?
Because this is a user-to-user forum with no Apple official participation other than through forum moderators. Please read "Help & Terms of Use," available through the link on this & every Discussions page, to familiarize yourself with the forum's purpose.
Also note that this is an isolated problem & that while one symptom is the same throughout the thread, some posters report others as well, some don't. Thus, it is unclear if the cause is the same for all, or if the fix would be as well.
In general, erratic behavior of this sort implies permissions problems or file corruption. Using Disk Utility to repair permissions & disk(s) generally can repair that, & may or may not restore access to missing files.
It is also important to backup at least your most important files regularly. Even without software problems of any kind, hardware failures like dying drives, power failures, & accidents can destroy data. If you don't have a current backup, you are living dangerously. This is true for any computer & always will be.

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Oh flip what did i do.
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Hi,
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A quick update. I have determined that there are contacts missing from all of my groups.
Message was edited by: Jake Wallace

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Address Book Contacts Disappeared with new App Installation

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